The United States Navy will name a ship after Don Walsh, an Aggie veteran who left a legacy as an ocean explorer. Walsh died in 2023 at the age of 92.
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced the news on Jan. 10 during a ship-naming ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland. The future USNS Don Walsh will be a T-AGOS 25, the Navy’s newest class of ocean surveillance ships, recently named the Explorer class.
The USNS Don Walsh will be one of seven such surveillance ships the Navy plans to procure. Del Toro said each will be named in honor of those who made discoveries undersea, on land and in the skies. Del Toro said the ships will play a vital role in strategic deterrence and ocean operation awareness.
“There is no one better to name for the first ship than Capt. Don Walsh, a man whose life and career embody the very essence of exploration, innovation and dedication to our Navy and our nation,” Del Toro said.
A Life Of Service And Discovery
Walsh enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1948 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1954. He served in the first amphibious forces and later on submarine duty aboard the USS Rasher, USS Sea Fox and USS Bugara, eventually commanding the USS Bashaw.
While stationed in San Diego in 1958, he volunteered for a pioneering deep-dive program, becoming U.S. Navy Submersible Pilot No. 1 — a decision that would define his place in history.
On Jan. 23, 1960, Walsh and engineer Jacques Piccard made history as the first humans to reach Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the ocean. Piloting the Trieste bathyscaphe, they descended nearly 36,000 feet below the ocean’s surface into the Mariana Trench. Their dive is widely considered one of the greatest milestones in ocean exploration.
In recognition of this achievement, President Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded Walsh with the Legion of Merit.
There is no one better to name for the first ship than Capt. Don Walsh, a man whose life and career embody the very essence of exploration, innovation and dedication to our Navy and our nation.
Walsh’s Lasting Legacy
Even as his renown as an explorer grew, Walsh remained committed to education. While still in the Navy, he earned a doctorate in oceanography from Texas A&M in 1968.
“His historic dive to Challenger Deep as a navy lieutenant was just part of what would become a life of service to the country, the oceans, and the global community,” his son, Kelly Walsh, said in a U.S. Navy news release following the announcement.
After retiring from the Navy in 1975, Walsh continued serving as an educator, researcher and ocean explorer, earning countless awards and accolades for his contributions to the field.
Joan Walsh and Liz Walsh, Don Walsh’s widow and daughter, will serve as the ship’s sponsors, maintaining a lifelong connection to the ship and its crew.
“Don sometimes described being a kid in the San Francisco Bay area, daydreaming about where all those ships were going as they sailed to and for over the horizon; that little boy would certainly marvel that one day his legacy would be memorialized in such an enduring way,” Liz Walsh said in the Navy’s news release.
NOTE: This article originally appeared on Texas A&M Today.