Don Walsh (November 2, 1931 – November 12, 2023) was an American oceanographer, U.S. Navy officer and marine policy specialist. While aboard the bathyscaphe ''Trieste'', he and Jacques Piccard made a record maximum descent in the

Challenger Deep The Challenger Deep is the List of submarine topographical features#List of oceanic trenches, deepest known point of the seabed of Earth, located in the western Pacific Ocean at the southern end of the Mariana Trench, in the ocean territory o ...

on January 23, 1960, to . Later and more accurate measurements have measured it at . Bathyscaphe Trieste Piccard-Walsh

Early life and education

Walsh was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

on November 2, 1931. He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in engineering from the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

in 1954, and later, a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in political science from

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

, and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in physical oceanography from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

Career

Walsh served 24 years in the U.S. Navy upon graduation from the Academy, spanning the Korean and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

s.CAPT Don Walsh, USN (Ret.)
National Maritime Historical Society. Retrieved August 4, 2024. He served as a submarine officer and was a qualified Navy Diver. He attained the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

by the time he retired. He spent fifteen years at sea, mostly in

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s, and was a submarine commander. He also worked with ocean-related research and development for the Navy. Walsh was appointed as special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research and Development from 1971 to 1972. Serving as Dean of Marine Programs and Professor of Ocean Engineering at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, Walsh initiated and directed the university's Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies. In 1989, his company, International Maritime Incorporated, contracted a joint venture with the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology to establish an underwater maintenance company, Soyuz Marine Service, which continues to operate in the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Walsh continued to support ocean sciences in his work on the Ocean Sciences Board at the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

. He managed a marine consulting business beginning in 1976, and conducted about five deep-sea expeditions per year. Walsh held a faculty appointment at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. It was reported in 2010 that Walsh visited the deep-sea submersible ''Jiaolong'' and its makers at the China Ship Scientific Research Center. The craft had "planted a Chinese flag on the bottom of the South China Sea during a two-mile-deep dive in June" as the Chinese program—which Walsh characterized as "very deliberate"—proceeded toward its ambitious goal of diving to 7,000 meters, or 4.35 miles, in 2012.

Personal life

Walsh lived with his wife, Joan, in Sitkum, Oregon, on a ranch which they bought 1992. They had two children together. Walsh remained active with the

and the Ocean Elders organization. Walsh was on-site to congratulate

Victor Vescovo Victor Lance Vescovo (born February 10, 1966) is an American private equity investor, retired naval officer, sub-orbital spaceflight participant, and undersea explorer. He was a co-founder and managing partner of private equity company Insight ...

when he completed his own record-breaking series of dives in the

in 2019. In June 2020, Walsh's son Kelly dived to the bottom of the Challenger Deep with Vescovo, becoming the eleventh person to reach the deepest point in the ocean. Walsh died at his home in Myrtle Point, Oregon on November 12, 2023, at the age of 92.

Media

Walsh visited the wreck of the RMS ''Titanic'' on board the submersible MIR 2 on 20 July 2001. Walsh joined the team that oversaw the dive of the '' Deepsea Challenger'' mission, during which

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...

dived solo to the bottom of the

, on March 26, 2012. Walsh was the inspiration for Chris Wright's 2015 book ''No More Worlds to Conquer'', and his interview constitutes the opening chapter. The book, about moving on from the defining moment in one's life, was inspired by Walsh's answer to Wright's question, "What came next after the ''Trieste'' dive?" Walsh responded, "Well, a lot of people think I died."

Honors

Walsh was appointed by Presidents Carter and Reagan to the U.S. National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere, was a member of the Law of the Sea Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of State, and served as a member of the Marine Board of the

U.S. National Research Council The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), also known as the National Academies, is a Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization that serves as the collective scientific national academy of the Uni ...

from 1990 to 1993. In 2001, Walsh was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

. Walsh was named one of the world's great explorers by ''Life'' magazine. On April 14, 2010, The

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, natural sc ...

awarded its highest honor, the Hubbard Medal, to Walsh. The U.S. Navy awarded Walsh its Distinguished Public Service Award. On September 22, 2020, The Marine Technology Society and The Society for Underwater Technology announced that the inaugural recipient of their new MTS/SUT Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration was Edith Widder. On January 10, 2025,

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

Carlos Del Toro announced the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...

of the of ocean surveillance ships will be named the USNS ''Don Walsh'' (T-AGOS 25) after Walsh. Walsh's spouse and daughter, Joan Walsh and Liz Walsh, were named

ship sponsor A ship sponsor, by tradition, is a female civilian who is invited to "sponsor" a vessel, presumably to bestow good luck and divine protection over the seagoing vessel and all that sail aboard.Eyers, Jonathan (2011). ''Don't Shoot the Albatross!: ...

Awards and decorations

Recognitions include the following:

Legion of Merit citation

:Citation:

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Legion of Merit to Lieutenant Don Walsh, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services from January 1959 to January 1960 as Officer-in-Charge of the Bathyscaph Trieste. Throughout this period, Lieutenant Walsh exercised marked professional skill and resourcefulness in carrying out an important assignment. During deep-diving operations in the Marianas Trench, he successfully completed a series of record-breaking dives, culminated by a dive to the unprecedented depth of 37,800 feet on 23 January 1960.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Don 1931 births 2023 deaths American oceanographers Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Military personnel from California People from Coos County, Oregon Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award San Diego State University alumni Texas A&M University alumni United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy officers United States Navy personnel of the Korean War United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War