Smith, Xavier Martin, 1894-1973
Biography
Xavier Martin Smith was born to Peter Xavier Smith and Edith M. Smith in Norfolk, Virginia, on November 30, 1894. He spent much of his early life in his hometown of Norfolk before leaving college and enlisting in the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of World War I. Mr. Smith was commissioned as an Ensign and sent to the European theatre in December 1917. In April 1919, he was awarded the command of the submarine chaser USS SC-206 and was deployed to clear mines from the North Sea. As a result of his meritorious and distinguished service while in command and his hazardous work, he was presented with the Navy Cross.
During the inter-war period, Xavier Martin Smith began service with the U.S. Navy Reserve and continued to rise in rank. During World War II, he served as an instructor contributing to training Naval personnel in mine warfare techniques at the U.S. Naval Torpedo Testing Range in Maryland and the Naval Mine Warfare School in Yorktown. In the later years of the war, he was stationed in Australia. Upon retirement from the United States Navy and the United States Naval Reserve, he had reached the rank of commander.
On July 16, 1930, Xavier Martin Smith married Mary Bartol. USNRF Commander Xavier Martin Smith passed away on February 3, 1973, in Los Angeles, California.