In early September 1923, when he learned that Tokyo and Yokohama had been nearly destroyed by an earthquake, tsunami, and fire on 30 and 31 August, Admiral Edwin Anderson, Jr., Commander in Chief of the Asiatic Fleet, immediately sent "Smith Thompson" and her destroyer division with medical supplies to render assistance. "Smith Thompson" arrived on 5 September and acted as radio relay ship at Yokohama and station ship at Tokyo until departing on 21 September. The American destroyers were the first foreign vessels to arrive at Yokohama and earned the gratitude of the Japanese government. The following year, "Smith Thompson" carried out another special mission, providing support off the China coast between 7 and 10 June for the flight of four United States Army aircraft around the world. "Smith Thompson" returned to the U.S. East Coast in 1925 via San Diego, California and the Panama Canal, arriving in Hampton Roads on 16 July.