![]() ![]() 2012: Canadian filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence James Cameron, in the DSV Deepsea Challenger, reached the bottom at 10,908 meters (35,787 ft) the “Eastern Pool.”.1960: Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Swiss engineer Jacques Piccard, in the bathyscaphe Trieste, made the first manned descent into the Challenger Deep and reached the bottom at 10,916 meters (35,814 ft) in the “Western Pool.”.The following topographical map, created in 2019 by the Five Deeps Expedition, shows that the Challenger Deep is comprised of three deeper “pools.” The dive locations of the manned expeditions into the Challenger Deep are shown on this map. In this post, we’ll take a look at the deep-submergence vehicles (DSVs) and the people who made these visits. Since the first visit to the bottom of the Challenger Deep 60 years ago, on 23 January 1960, there have been only five other visits to that very remote and inhospitable location. Its location, as shown in the following map, is 322 km (200 miles) southwest of Guam and 200 km (124 miles) off the coast of the Mariana Islands. If you wish to see the Trieste, it is displayed at the National Museum of the US Navy in Washington, D.C.The Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench in the middle of western Pacific Ocean, is the deepest known area in the world’s oceans. In 2010, he was awarded the National Geographic Society’s highest honour, the Hubbard Medal and the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award. ![]() National Research Council’s Marine Board from 1990 to 1993. National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere and served on the U.S. Walsh was a part of the Navy for 24 years and, in his tenure, worked in many important positions. Since then, explorer Victor Vescovo broke the diving record at 38,853 ft. Trieste spent 20 minutes at the deepest point on earth, and during that time, Walsh and Piccard observed the rare deep sea creatures and recorded the ocean floor as made of a “diatomaceous ooze.” They came back to the surface in 3 hours and 15 minutes.Īfter this historic dive, they were given medals by President Eisenhower. After crossing 30,000 ft, one of its outer window panes cracked, and it shook but reached the Challenger Deep without any major issues. Trieste touched the ocean floor after 4 hours and 47 minutes, going at a descent rate of 2 miles per hour. Inside it was Walsh and Jacques Piccard, the son of Treste’s designer. It was a rather dangerous mission however, Walsh was ready to achieve the seemingly impossible.Īccompanied by Destroyer escort USS Lewis, Trieste took the dive beneath the Pacific at 08:23 hours on 23rd Jan 1960. Hence a second pressure sphere was added to the submersible to reach 36 000 feet.Ĭapt Don Walsh was involved in assemblage, tests and training dives in San Diego before Trieste was taken to Guam on 5th Oct 1959.Īs a part of Project Nekton, Walsh was to take Trieste to the bottom of the Mariana Trench and become the first officer to reach the Challenger Deep. When it was bought by the Navy, its 20,000-foot diving capability enabled it to reach a significant part of the ocean floor, but they required it to go deeper. It could accommodate two people in 38 square inches of space. It measures 59 ft and is 6 inches long, with most of its area taken by gasoline and water tanks that provide buoyancy. It was built to dive underwater, conduct research operations and return to the surface. Trieste is a deep-sea submersible made to function from a mothership and cannot operate freely like a submarine. It was bought by the Office of Naval Research in 1958 for $250,000, or over $2.6 million in 2023. Designed by Swiss Physicist Auguste Piccard and constructed in Italy, the French Navy first operated the Trieste for conducting research in the Mediterranean Sea. He was appointed as the officer-in-charge of the Trieste Bathyscope in San Diego, California in 1959. Naval Academy, he was commissioned as a naval officer in 1954. This almost impossible task was fulfilled by Capt Don Walsh, born on 2nd November 1931.Īfter attending the US. Video Credits: Naval History And Heritage
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