Attached to the United States Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters, Rear Admiral Mark L. Bristol commanding, the destroyer operated in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea for over a year, visiting ports in Turkey, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Syria, Greece, Egypt and Palestine.

Rear Admiral Newton A. McCully, on a mission to south Russia as a special agent of the State Department for observation purposes, received assistance from the naval forces; and, on several occasions, Smith Thompson acted as his flagship.

During September and October 1926 and January 1927, the destroyer was temporarily attached to the U.S. Special Service Squadron for duty on the coast of Nicaragua, observing conditions in that country during a revolutionary outbreak, protecting American interests, and furnishing transportation to Naval and Marine Corps personnel.

Between June 1927 and January 1928, Smith Thompson cruised in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, and then proceeded to the United States West Coast to join Destroyer Squadrons, Battle Fleet.

Inspection showed the ship not worth repair, and Smith Thompson was decommissioned at Olongapo on 15 May, struck from the Navy list on 19 May, and sunk at sea off Subic Bay on 25 July 1936.