Reservist

ISS3 2014

Reservist Magazine is the award-winning official publication of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. Quarterly issues include news and feature articles about the men and women who comprise America's premier national maritime safety and security

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Lt. Cmdr. Edward "Iceberg" Smith and the 1931 Arctic Expedition of the German Airship Graf Zeppelin Story by William h. Thiesen, Ph.D., Atlantic Area historian "It was a magical journey, this Arctic cruise of 8000 miles in 136 hours! In the kaleidoscope of swiftly moving scenes the highlights of our voyage seemed like flashes upon the screen, so quickly was one impression replaced by the next." In the above quote, co-authors Lt. Cmdr. Edward "Iceberg" Smith (United States Coast Guard) and arctic explorer Lincoln Ellsworth captured their enthusiasm for a little-known Arctic flight in the famous German airship Graf Zeppelin. As dawn broke on Friday, July 24, 1931, Lt. Cmdr. Smith and his airshipmates embarked the zeppelin in its hangar at Friedrichshafen, Germany, and its 300-man ground crew walked the airship to the take-off point. Of the approximately forty crewmembers on board the zeppelin, Smith was one of only two Americans and the only member of a U.S. military service. By 8:35 a.m., the zeppelin was on its way to Berlin, where it arrived at 6:00 p.m., circled the city several times for the benefit of local spectators and set down at Templehof Field for the night. Edward H. Smith graduated from the Revenue Cutter Service Academy in 1913. He was born and raised on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., and descended from a family long associated with whaling and the sea. Like many 1913 graduates, such as Elmer F. Stone, Fletcher W. Brown and Carl Christian von Paulsen, Smith enjoyed a distinguished and interesting career in the Coast Guard. Early in his career, Smith served on board several cutters, including the Manning, which performed convoy duty in World War I. It was in 1920, when he received assignment to the cutter Seneca and the International Ice Patrol that Smith developed a life-long interest in oceanography and the Arctic A Light on Yesteryear 38 RESERVIST � Issue 3 • 2014

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