Don Walsh

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 on January 23, 1960, to Template:Convert. Later and more accurate measurements have measured it at Template:Convert.

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Lt. Don Walsh, USN (bottom) and Jacques Piccard (center) in the bathyscaphe Trieste

Early life and education

Walsh was born in Berkeley, California on November 2, 1931.<ref name="nyt" /> He graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1954, and later, a Master's degree in political science from San Diego State University, and a PhD in physical oceanography from Texas A&M University.<ref name="NMHS_award">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Walsh served 24 years in the U.S. Navy upon graduation from the Academy, spanning the Korean and Vietnam Wars.<ref name="society">CAPT Don Walsh, USN (Ret.) National Maritime Historical Society. Retrieved August 4, 2024.</ref> He served as a submarine officer and was a qualified Navy Diver.<ref name="society"/>

He attained the rank of captain by the time he retired. He spent fifteen years at sea, mostly in submarines, and was a submarine commander. He also worked with ocean-related research and development for the Navy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

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, 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. Walsh continued to support ocean sciences in his work on the Ocean Sciences Board at the National Academy of Sciences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He managed a marine consulting business beginning in 1976, and Template:As of conducted about five deep-sea expeditions per year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Walsh held a faculty appointment at Oregon State University in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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 National Academy of Sciences and the Ocean Elders organization.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Walsh was on-site to congratulate Victor Vescovo when he completed his own record-breaking series of dives in the Challenger Deep in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In June 2020, Walsh's son Kelly dived to the bottom of Challenger Deep with Vescovo, becoming the eleventh person to reach the deepest point in the ocean.<ref name="BBC_Kelly">Template:Cite web</ref>

Walsh died at his home in Myrtle Point, Oregon on November 12, 2023, at the age of 92.<ref name="nyt">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="USNI">Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

Walsh visited the wreck of the RMS Titanic on board the submersible MIR 2 on 20 July 2001.<ref name="Walsh_at_Titanic">Template:Cite web</ref>

Walsh joined the team that oversaw the dive of the Deepsea Challenger mission, during which James Cameron dived solo to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, on March 26, 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Honors

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Walsh in 2010

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 from 1990 to 1993.

In 2001, Walsh was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.<ref name="NAE">Template:Cite web</ref>

Walsh was named one of the world's great explorers by Life magazine.<ref name="NMHS_award" />

On April 14, 2010, The National Geographic Society awarded its highest honor, the Hubbard Medal, to Walsh. The U.S. Navy awarded Walsh its Distinguished Public Service Award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref name="MTS_SUT_award">Template:Cite web</ref>

On January 10, 2025, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the lead ship of the Template:Sclass2 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 sponsors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards and decorations

Recognitions include the following:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Navy Distinguished Public Service Award
Legion of Merit	Legion of Merit
Meritorious Service Medal	Meritorious Service Medal
Antarctica Service Medal

Legion of Merit citation

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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.<ref name="valor.militarytimes.com">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="All Hands">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

See also

• List of people who descended to Challenger Deep

Further reading

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External links

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