Victor Vescovo

Vescovo grew up in Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University, a master's degree in Defense and Arms Control Studies (Political Science) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker scholar.{{cite web |title=Executive Profile: Victor Lance Vescovo |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=3037527&privcapId=346625 |website=Bloomberg LP |access-date=December 22, 2018}}

Vescovo served 20 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve as an intelligence officer, retiring in 2013 as a Commander (O-5).{{cite web |title=Victor Lance Vescovo Bio |url=https://www.insightequity.com/team/victor-l-vescovo/ |website=Insight Equity |access-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-date=June 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621120624/https://www.insightequity.com/team/victor-l-vescovo/ |url-status=dead }} On January 10, 2025, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the second ship of the {{sclass2|Explorer|ocean surveillance ship|4}} of ocean surveillance ships will be named the USNS Victor Vescovo (T-AGOS 26) after Vescovo. Victoria Vescovo Webster, Vescovo's sister, was named ship sponsor.{{cite news |title=SECNAV Del Toro Names T-AGOS Explorer-Class and First Two Ships |url=https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4025333/secnav-del-toro-names-t-agos-explorer-class-and-first-two-ships/ |access-date=10 January 2025 |work=United States Navy |date=10 January 2025}}

In 2018, Vescovo launched the Five Deeps Expedition, whose objective was to dive to the deepest location in all five of the world's oceans by the end of September 2019.{{cite web|url=https://fivedeeps.com/home/expedition/|title=Expedition|website=fivedeeps.com|access-date=January 9, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://fivedeeps.com/home/expedition/pacific/live/|title=Pacific Ocean Live Updates|website=Five Deeps Expedition|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-13}} This expedition was filmed in the documentary television series Expedition Deep Ocean.{{cite web |url= https://atlanticproductions.tv/productions/expedition-deep-ocean/ |title= Expedition Deep Ocean |date= 2021 |publisher= Atlantic Productions }} This objective was achieved one month ahead of schedule, and the expedition's team carried out biological samplings and depth confirmations at each location. Besides the deepest points of the five world oceans, the expedition also made dives in the Horizon Deep and the Sirena Deep, and mapped the Diamantina fracture zone.

File:Limiting Factor at the Cumberland East Bay (South Georgia Island).jpg during sea trials]]

In December 2018, he became the first person to reach the deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean, piloting DSV Limiting Factor, a reported US$50 million submarine system (Triton 36000/2){{Cite web|url=http://46.32.233.48/news/atlantic-productions-film-victor-vescovo-becomes-first-human-dive-deepest-point-indian-ocean-java-trench/|title=Atlantic Productions film Victor Vescovo as be becomes the first human to dive to the deepest point of the Indian Ocean: the Java Trench|website=Atlantic Productions|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-13}} – including its support ship the DSSV Pressure Drop and its three ultra-deep-sea robotic landers – {{Convert|8376|m|ft|abbr=on}} below the ocean surface to the base of the Puerto Rico Trench, an area subsequently referred to by world media as Brownson Deep.

On February 4, 2019, he became the first person to reach the bottom of the Southern Ocean, in the southern portion of the South Sandwich Trench.{{Cite web|url=https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/02/explorer-completes-another-historic-submersible-dive|title=Explorer completes another historic submersible dive|date=February 6, 2019|website=For The Win|language=en|access-date=February 11, 2019}} For this attempt, the expedition used a Kongsberg EM124 multibeam sonar system to achieve accurate mapping of the trench.

On April 16, 2019, Vescovo dived to the bottom of the Sunda Trench south of Bali, reaching the bottom of the Indian Ocean. Likewise, this was done aboard the Limiting Factor. The team reported sightings of what they believed to be species new to science, including a hadal snailfish and a gelatinous organism believed to be a stalked ascidean.{{Cite web|url=https://fivedeeps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/JT-Diamantina-Press-Release-FINAL-UPDATED.pdf|title=Deep sea pioneer makes history again as first human to dive to the deepest point in the Indian Ocean, the Java Trench}} The same dive was later undertaken by Patrick Lahey, President of Triton Submarines, and the expedition's chief scientist, Dr. Alan Jamieson. This dive was organised subsequent to the scanning of the Diamantina fracture zone using multibeam sonar, confirming that the Sunda Trench was deeper and settling the debate about where the deepest point in the Indian Ocean is.

File:Victor Vescovo.jpg

On April 28, 2019, Vescovo descended nearly {{Convert|11|km|mi|abbr=on}} to the deepest place in the ocean – the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. On his first descent, he piloted the DSV Limiting Factor to a depth of {{Convert|10928|m|ft|abbr=on}}, a world record by {{Convert|16|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url=https://fivedeeps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/FDE-Challenger-Release-FINAL-5132019.pdf |title=Deepest Submarine Dive in History, Five Deeps Expedition Conquers Challenger Deep |access-date=May 14, 2019}} Diving for a second time on May 1, he became the first person to dive the Challenger Deep twice, finding "at least three new species of marine animals" and "some sort of plastic waste".{{cite news |last1=Thebault |first1=Reis |title=He went where no human had gone before. Our trash had already beaten him there. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/05/15/he-went-where-no-human-had-gone-before-our-trash-had-already-beat-him-there/ |access-date=23 May 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2019-05-14 |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/victor-vescovo-deepest-dive-pacific/index.html|title=Deepest ever manned dive finds plastic bag|first=Francesca |last=Street|date=2019-05-13|publisher=CNN Travel|language=en|access-date=2019-05-14}} Among the underwater creatures Vescovo encountered were a snailfish at {{Convert|26250|ft|m|abbr=on}} and a spoon worm at nearly {{Convert|23000|ft|m|abbr=on}}, the deepest level at which the species had ever been encountered.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/victor-vescovo-record-deepest-dive-mariana-trench-1423586|title=Meet Victor Vescovo, who just broke the world record by diving 35,853 feet into the deepest part of the ocean|first=Hannah |last=Osborne |date=2019-05-13|website=Newsweek|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-14}}

On May 7, 2019, Vescovo and Jamieson made the first human-occupied deep submersible dive to the bottom of the Sirena Deep, the third deepest point in the ocean lying about 128 miles northeast from Challenger Deep. The time they spent there was 176 minutes; among the samples they retrieved was a piece of mantle rock from the western slope of the Mariana Trench.{{cite news |title=Deepest Ever Submarine Dive Made by Five Deeps Expedition |url=https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/deepest-ever-submarine-dive-made-by-five-deeps-expedition |access-date=15 June 2019 |work=The Maritime Executive |date=14 May 2019 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=Victor Vescovo Makes Deepest Submarine Dive in History |url=https://www.ecomagazine.com/news/industry/victor-vescovo-makes-deepest-submarine-dive-in-history |access-date=15 June 2019 |work=ECO Magazine |language=en-gb}}

On June 10, 2019, Vescovo reached the bottom of the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench, confirming that it is the second deepest point on the planet and the deepest in the Southern Hemisphere at {{Convert|10823|m|ft|abbr=on}}. In doing so, Vescovo had descended to the first, second, and third deepest points in the ocean. Unlike the Sunda and Mariana Trenches, no signs of human contamination were found in the deep, which was described by the expedition as "completely pristine".{{Cite web|url=https://fivedeeps.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-06-11-FDE-Press-Release-Tonga.pdf|title=CONFIRMED: Horizon Deep Second Deepest Point on the Planet}}

Vescovo completed the Five Deeps Expedition on 24 August 2019 when he reached a depth of {{Convert|5550|m|ft|abbr=on}} at the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean. He was the first human to reach this location.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49636756|title=US adventurer reaches deepest points in all oceans|last=Amos|first=Jonathan|publisher=BBC News|date=2019-09-09|access-date=2019-09-10|language=en-GB}}

In 2019, Vescovo escorted Titanic-historian Parks Stephenson to the wreck of the RMS Titanic for the first revisit of the wreck in 15 years. Findings included continued extensive corrosion and bacterial growth on iron and steel surfaces.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49420935 | title=Titanic sub dive reveals parts are being lost to sea | publisher=BBC News | date=August 21, 2019 }}

File:S647 Minerve Dive 020120 V Vescovo and Admiral Jean-Louis Barbier.jpg

In February 2020, Vescovo piloted his deep diving submersible twice to the wreck of the French submarine Minerve in the Mediterranean Sea. The retired French Rear Admiral Jean-Louis Barbier investigated the wreck of the Minerve on the first dive. On the second dive, Vescovo was accompanied by Hervé Fauve, the son of the captain of the sunken submarine. They placed a commemorative plaque at the wreck.{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Josh |title=Expedition Deep Ocean |location=New York, NY | publisher=Pegasus Books |date=2020 |pages=290 |isbn=978-16-431-3676-9}}

In 2021, Vescovo identified and surveyed the wreck of the {{USS|Johnston|DD-557}} at a depth of {{convert|6456|m|ft}} in the Philippine Sea; at the time of identification this was the deepest shipwreck ever surveyed. The Johnston was sunk during the Battle off Samar (1944) in one of the most lopsided naval battles in history.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56608713 | title=USS Johnston: Sub dives to deepest-known shipwreck | publisher=BBC News | date=April 2, 2021 }}

In 2022 a submersible expedition piloted by Vescovo located the wreck of destroyer escort {{USS|Samuel B. Roberts|DE-413}} (also sunk in the Battle off Samar in 1944), in the Philippine Sea at a depth of {{convert|6895|m|ft}}, making it the deepest wreck identified at this date.{{cite news|title=USS Samuel B Roberts: World's deepest shipwreck discovered|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61925862|date=2022-06-24|access-date=2022-06-25|publisher=BBC News|first=Jonathan|last=Amos|language=en-GB}}{{cite web | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/worlds-deepest-shipwreck-discovered-four-miles-underwater-in-the-philippines-180980322 | title=World's Deepest Shipwreck Discovered Four Miles Underwater in the Philippines }}

In June 2023, Vescovo lost his friend Hamish Harding, whom he had been to space and sea with, when Harding died while trying to view the wreck of the Titanic inside OceanGate's Titan submersible. On Twitter Vescovo stated: "This has been a difficult week for the submersible community. Deep ocean diving is very safe when industry standard certifications and procedures are followed. I will miss my good friends PH Nargeolet, who I worked with closely, and Hamish Harding, my friend in sea and space."{{cite news |last1=Mann |first1=Jyoti |title=A friend of Titan passenger Hamish Harding says the billionaire 'decided to roll the dice' because he was 'set' on seeing the Titanic |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/hamish-harding-friend-warned-not-go-on-titan-sub-2023-6 |agency=Insider Inc. |publisher=Business Insider |date=June 25, 2023}} Vescovo appeared in the 2024 ABC special Truth and Lies: Fatal Dive to the Titanic, which examined the Titan submersible implosion.{{citation | last=Anderson | first=John | title='Fatal Dive to the Titanic: Truth and Lies' Review: Hubris on the High Seas | url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/television/fatal-dive-to-the-titanic-truth-and-lies-review-hubris-on-the-high-seas-abc-submersible-stockton-rush-22aacd93 | language=en-US | access-date=February 10, 2024 }}

In 2019, Victor Vescovo was recognized by Guinness World Records as the person who has covered the greatest vertical distance without leaving Earth's surface. As part of achieving the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree), Vescovo climbed Mount Everest ({{convert|8848|m|ft}}) on 24 May 2010, Earth's highest point. Almost nine years later he dove to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench ({{convert|-10924|m|ft}}), Earth's lowest point, in the deep submersible Limiting Factor on 29 April 2019,{{Cite web|url=https://www.dallasnews.com/business/2019/04/25/from-highest-peaks-to-ocean-deeps-dallas-businessman-victor-vescovo-is-making-history/|title=From highest peaks to ocean deeps, Dallas businessman Victor Vescovo is making history|date=2019-04-25|website=Dallas News|language=en|access-date=2020-03-28}} for a total vertical distance of {{convert|19772|m|ft}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/598099-first-person-to-reach-earths-highest-and-lowest-points|title=First person to reach Earth's highest and lowest points|website=Guinness World Records|date=April 28, 2019 |language=en-GB|access-date=2020-03-28}}

Vescovo completed the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree) by climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents, and skied the Last Degree of Latitude at both the North and South Poles.{{Cite web|url=https://explorersgrandslam.com/|title=Explorers Grand Slam|website=explorersgrandslam.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-28}} Uniquely, with the successful completion of his Five Deeps Expedition, Vescovo has also dived the deepest point in each of the five world's oceans.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/victor-vescovo-historic-dive/index.html|title=Explorer Victor Vescovo completes mission to dive to deepest points in the world's oceans|first=Francesca |last=Street|publisher=CNN|date=September 10, 2019 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-28}} He is the first human to have reached the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench, the Sunda Trench, the Molloy Deep, the Sirena Deep, the Horizon Deep, and the deepest point of the Southern Ocean, which lies in the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench. He is also the first to have dived the Challenger Deep more than once, doing so fifteen times,{{cite web |title=Diving for historical and scientific purposes |url=https://www.sut.org/2021/10/ |website=Society for Underwater Technology |publisher=Society for Underwater Technology / Marine Technology News |access-date=1 January 2022 |language=en |date=5 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212065108/https://www.sut.org/2021/10/ |archive-date=December 12, 2021 }}{{Cite web |title=UCSB Geography Alum Dawn Wright Successfully Dives Challenger Deep {{!}} Department of Geography {{!}} UC Santa Barbara |url=https://www.geog.ucsb.edu/news/all/2022/ucsb-geography-alum-dawn-wright-successfully-dives-challenger-deep |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=geog.ucsb.edu}} as well as the first to have visited all four of the ocean's 10,000+ meter deepest points: the Challenger Deep/Mariana Trench, Horizon Deep/Tonga Trench, Scholl Deep/Kermadec Trench, and Galathea Deep/Philippine Trench.{{Cite journal |last1=Peng |first1=Xiaotong |last2=Zhang |first2=Weijia |last3=Schnabel |first3=Kareen |last4=Leduc |first4=Daniel |last5=Xu |first5=Hengchao |last6=Zhang |first6=Hanyu |last7=Zhang |first7=Haibin |last8=Rowden |first8=Ashley |date=2023-01-30 |title=Unveiling the mysteries of the Kermadec Trench |journal=The Innovation |language=English |volume=4 |issue=1 |page=100367 |doi=10.1016/j.xinn.2022.100367 |bibcode=2023Innov...400367P |s2cid=255209346 |issn=2666-6758|doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |last=Dowling |first=Stephen |title=How the world's deepest shipwreck was found |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220121-the-dive-to-find-the-worlds-deepest-shipwreck |access-date=2023-03-19 |publisher=BBC |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=jversteegh |date=2019-10-22 |title=One Man's Wild Quest to Reach the Bottom of Every Ocean |url=https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/victor-vescovo-five-deeps/ |access-date=2023-03-19 |website=Outside Online |language=en-US}}

In June 2020, Vescovo returned to the Challenger Deep, specially equipped to survey its three, well-defined basins, or "pools". Carrying three CTDs on his submersible Limiting Factor as well as one CTD and one depthometer on each of his three independent robotic "landers". Vescovo piloted six passengers to the bottom of the Challenger Deep. These included former astronaut and NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, the first woman to ultimate depth; Kelly Walsh, the son of Don Walsh (who with Jacques Piccard made the first dive into the Challenger Deep) to become the only father/son team to make this journey albeit 60 years apart; and Vanessa O'Brien, the first woman to both climb Mount Everest and also descend to the bottom of the seafloor (Vescovo was the first person). At the end of his 2022 dives, Vescovo had the unique record of fifteen total dives to Challenger Deep, including the record for the deepest dive in history on April 28, 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2020/11/american-explorer-plunges-to-new-lows-on-quest-to-visit-the-oceans-hidden-depths-638671 |title=American explorer plunges to new lows on quest to visit the oceans' hidden depths | author=Adam Millward |work=guinnessworldrecords.com |year=2020 |access-date=2 July 2022 |url-status= }}

File:Garmin at 90 Deg South - South Pole b.jpg|Garmin at 90 Deg South

File:VVescovo on Everest Summit with Tx flag 052810.jpg|At Mount Everest summit with Texas Flag, 2010

File:VVescovo on Everest Summit with Kami Rita Sherpa Sunrise.jpg|Vescovo with Kami Rita Sherpa (on right)

File:VV Mariana Trench Profile(2).jpg|At Challenger Deep, 2019

File:Victor Vescovo photographed by Robert Ormerod in Newhaven Harbour, Edinburgh.jpg|Vescovo in November 2023, Scotland

Vescovo flew to space onboard New Shepard, as part of the Blue Origin NS-21 mission in 2022. Forbes has recognized Vescovo as the "First To Climb Everest, Visit Ocean's Deepest Depth And Fly to the Final Frontier.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2022/06/06/victor-vescovo-becomes-first-to-climb-everest-visit-oceans-deepest-depth-and-fly-to-the-final-frontier/?sh=71f4cbfd41bf |title=Victor Vescovo Becomes First To Climb Everest, Visit Ocean's Deepest Depth And Fly to the Final Frontier | author=Jim Clash |work=forbes.com |year=2022 |access-date=2 July 2022 |url-status= }}{{cite web |url=https://www.blueorigin.com/news/ns-21-mission-updates/ |title=Blue Origin Successfully Completes 21st Mission |work=blueorigin.com |year=2022 |access-date=2 July 2022 |url-status= }}{{cite web | title=The final frontier: How Victor Vescovo became the first person to visit the deepest part of every ocean | website=Oceanographic | date=October 16, 2019 | url=https://oceanographicmagazine.com/features/victor-vescovo-five-deeps/ | access-date=February 6, 2024}}

• Explorers Grand Slam
• Ocean Explorers Grand Slam
• List of people who descended to Challenger Deep

{{reflist}}

• {{cite web | last=Vescovo | first=Victor | title=I'm an explorer. I flew to space and experienced the overview effect | website=Newsweek | date=April 8, 2024 | url=https://www.newsweek.com/ive-been-every-oceans-deepest-floor-everests-summit-space-1884497 | access-date=April 9, 2024}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://fivedeeps.com/ The Five Deeps Expedition official website]
• {{Cite magazine |last=Taub |first=Ben |date=2020-05-07 |title=Thirty-six Thousand Feet Under the Sea |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/thirty-six-thousand-feet-under-the-sea |access-date=2022-07-31 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}

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