On the shore of Mere Point in Casco Bay, Maine, two hundred feet west of this spot, the United States Army Round-the-World Aviators made their first landing on the soil of the United States on September 5, 1924, after starting westward from Seattle, Washington, on April 6, 1924. By that point they had covered a distance of 22,369 miles in 153 days, with actual flying time of 300 hours. They arrived at Seattle on September 28, 1924, completing the first air flight around the globe, a distance of 26,103 miles in 176 days, with actual flying time of 375 hours, 11 minutes. The personnel and airplanes were Air Cruiser Chicago, with 1st Lt. Lowell H. Smith in command and 1st Lt. Leslie P. Arnold; Air Cruiser New Orleans, with 1st Lt. Eric H. Nelson and 2nd Lt. John Harding, Jr.; Air Cruiser Boston, with 1st Lt. Leigh Wade and 2nd Lt. Henry H. Ogden, which flew from Seattle to a point near Iceland and sank there on August 3, 1924, after which the officers proceeded by steamer to Pictou, Nova Scotia, and from there in Boston II flew to Seattle; and Air Cruiser Seattle, the flagship, with Major Frederick L. Martin and Sgt. Alva L. Harvey, which was wrecked off the Alaskan coast on April 30, 1924.