Victor Vescovo facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Victor Vescovo
Vescovo at sea, 2020
Born	(1966-02-10) February 10, 1966 (age 59) Dallas, Texas, US
Education	Stanford University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard Business School
Occupation	Private equity investor, former naval officer, mountain climber, undersea explorer
Title	Co-Founder, Insight Equity Holdings; Commander, US Navy (Ret.)
Awards	The Explorer Medal (2020), Captain Don Walsh Award for Ocean Exploration (2021), The Historical Diving Society USA – Hans Hass Award (2023), Ocean Elders

Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1993–2013
Rank	Commander

Space career
Blue Origin Space Tourist
Missions	Blue Origin NS-21

Victor Lance Vescovo is an American explorer, born on February 10, 1966. He has achieved amazing feats, exploring both the deepest parts of the ocean and even traveling into space!

Victor Vescovo is known for completing the Explorers Grand Slam. This means he reached both the North and South Poles and climbed the highest mountains on all seven continents. He also made history by visiting the deepest points of all five of Earth's oceans during his Five Deeps Expedition from 2018 to 2019.

Early Life and Education
Military Service
Five Deeps Expedition
Exploring Maritime History
World Records
Space Flight
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

Victor Vescovo grew up in Dallas, Texas. He went to St. Mark's School of Texas. After high school, he studied at several top universities. He earned a degree in Economics and Political Science from Stanford University. He also got a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Later, he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Military Service

Victor Vescovo served for 20 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He was an intelligence officer and retired in 2013 as a Commander.

In a special honor, the United States Navy announced on January 10, 2025, that a new ship would be named after him. This ship, the USNS Victor Vescovo (T-AGOS 26), is an ocean surveillance ship. His sister, Victoria Vescovo Webster, was named the ship's sponsor.

Five Deeps Expedition

In 2018, Victor Vescovo started the Five Deeps Expedition. His goal was to dive to the deepest spot in each of the world's five oceans. He wanted to complete this by September 2019. This incredible journey was even filmed for a TV show called Expedition Deep Ocean.

He finished his mission one month early! His team also collected samples of sea life and confirmed the exact depths of each location. Besides the five deepest points, the expedition also explored other deep areas like the Horizon Deep and the Sirena Deep. They also mapped the Diamantina fracture zone.

DSV Limiting Factor of Triton Submarines during sea trials

Atlantic Ocean Dive

In December 2018, Victor Vescovo became the first person to reach the deepest point of the Atlantic Ocean. He piloted his special submarine, the DSV Limiting Factor. This submarine system, which cost about $50 million, also included a support ship called the DSSV Pressure Drop and three robotic landers. He dove 8,376 m (27,480 ft) down to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench. This area is now sometimes called the Brownson Deep.

Southern Ocean Dive

On February 4, 2019, he made another first. He became the first person to reach the bottom of the Southern Ocean. This dive took place in the southern part of the South Sandwich Trench. For this dive, the team used advanced sonar technology to create accurate maps of the trench.

Indian Ocean Dive

On April 16, 2019, Vescovo dove to the bottom of the Sunda Trench, south of Bali. This is the deepest point in the Indian Ocean. Again, he used the Limiting Factor submarine. The team reported seeing what they believed were new species of marine life. These included a special fish called a hadal snailfish and a jelly-like creature.

Later, Patrick Lahey, who is the President of Triton Submarines, and Dr. Alan Jamieson, the expedition's chief scientist, also made this dive. This dive helped confirm that the Sunda Trench was indeed the deepest point in the Indian Ocean.

Vescovo in 2019

Pacific Ocean Dives

On April 28, 2019, Victor Vescovo made an incredible descent. He went nearly 11 km (6.8 mi) down to the deepest place in the entire ocean. This spot is called the Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. On his first dive, he piloted the DSV Limiting Factor to a depth of 10,928 m (35,853 ft). This set a new world record, going 16 m (52 ft) deeper than anyone before!

He dove a second time on May 1, becoming the first person to visit the Challenger Deep twice. During his dives, he found at least three new species of marine animals. Sadly, he also found some plastic waste. Among the creatures he saw were a snailfish at 26,250 ft (8,000 m) and a spoon worm at almost 23,000 ft (7,000 m). These were the deepest sightings ever for these types of creatures.

On May 7, 2019, Vescovo and Jamieson made the first human dive to the bottom of the Sirena Deep. This is the third deepest point in the ocean, not far from Challenger Deep. They spent 176 minutes there and collected a piece of rock from the Mariana Trench.

Tonga Trench Dive

On June 10, 2019, Vescovo reached the bottom of the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench. He confirmed it is the second deepest point on Earth and the deepest in the Southern Hemisphere at 10,823 m (35,509 ft). This meant Vescovo had now visited the first, second, and third deepest points in the ocean. Unlike some other deep areas, no signs of human pollution were found here. The expedition described it as "completely pristine."

Arctic Ocean Dive

Victor Vescovo completed his Five Deeps Expedition on August 24, 2019. He reached a depth of 5,550 m (18,210 ft) at the bottom of the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean. He was the first person to ever reach this location.

Exploring Maritime History

Victor Vescovo has also used his deep-diving skills to explore famous shipwrecks.

In 2019, he took Titanic-historian Parks Stephenson to the wreck of the RMS Titanic. This was the first time the wreck had been visited in 15 years. They observed that the ship was still corroding and had a lot of bacterial growth.

Vescovo piloting his submersible during the first of two dives to the wreck of the French submarine Minerve

In February 2020, Vescovo piloted his submersible twice to the wreck of the French submarine Minerve in the Mediterranean Sea. A retired French Admiral, Jean-Louis Barbier, joined him on the first dive. On the second dive, Vescovo was joined by Hervé Fauve, whose father was the captain of the sunken submarine. They placed a special plaque at the wreck to remember those lost.

In 2021, Vescovo found and surveyed the wreck of the USS Johnston (DD-557). This ship was found at a depth of 6,456 metres (21,181 ft) in the Philippine Sea. At the time, it was the deepest shipwreck ever explored. The Johnston sank during the Battle off Samar in 1944, which was a very uneven naval battle.

In 2022, Vescovo's team located another shipwreck, the USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413). This destroyer escort also sank in the Battle off Samar in 1944. It was found in the Philippine Sea at a depth of 6,895 metres (22,621 ft), making it the deepest identified wreck at that time.

In June 2023, Victor Vescovo's friend, Hamish Harding, passed away while trying to visit the Titanic wreck in a submersible. Vescovo shared his sadness, saying that deep ocean diving is very safe when proper procedures are followed. He mentioned missing his good friends, including Hamish Harding.

Victor Vescovo received the 2025 Freedom of the Seas Award from the National Museum of the Surface Navy.

World Records

In 2019, Guinness World Records recognized Victor Vescovo for covering the greatest vertical distance without leaving Earth's surface.

As part of his Explorers Grand Slam, Vescovo climbed Mount Everest (8,848 metres (29,029 ft)), the highest point on Earth, on May 24, 2010. Almost nine years later, on April 29, 2019, he dove to the bottom of the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (−10,924 metres (−35,840 ft)), Earth's lowest point. This incredible journey covered a total vertical distance of 19,772 metres (64,869 ft)!

Victor Vescovo completed the Explorers Grand Slam (Last Degree) by climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents. He also skied the last degree of latitude to both the North and South Poles.

What makes him truly unique is that after finishing his Five Deeps Expedition, he also dove to the deepest point in each of the five world's oceans. He is the first person 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. He is also the first to have dove the Challenger Deep more than once, doing so fifteen times! He is also the first to have visited all four of the ocean's deepest points that are over 10,000 meters deep.

In June 2020, Vescovo returned to the Challenger Deep. He took six passengers with him in his submersible, Limiting Factor. These passengers included former astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, who became the first woman to reach the ultimate ocean depth. Also, Kelly Walsh, the son of Don Walsh (who made the first dive into the Challenger Deep with Jacques Piccard), joined him. This made them the only father/son team to make this journey, though 60 years apart. Vanessa O'Brien also joined, becoming the first woman to both climb Mount Everest and descend to the bottom of the seafloor. By the end of his 2022 dives, Vescovo held the record for fifteen total dives to Challenger Deep, including the deepest dive in history on April 28, 2019.

Space Flight

Victor Vescovo also flew into space! He was part of the Blue Origin NS-21 mission in 2022, flying on the New Shepard rocket. Forbes magazine has recognized Vescovo as the "First To Climb Everest, Visit Ocean's Deepest Depth And Fly to the Final Frontier."