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