Naval Ship Named for Graduate

Victor Vescovo ’84 has achieved many significant milestones throughout his life and career. One of the most meaningful is the recent naming of a United States Navy Ship (USNS) in his honor. On January 10, the Secretary of the Navy announced that one of the two future T-AGOS ocean surveillance ships from the Explorer class will be named the USNS Victor Vescovo, currently among the select few ships named in honor of a living individual.

“May the future ship and crew both inherit the explorer’s spirit of courage and conviction of their namesakes,” said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro on Instagram.

Vescovo served in the US Naval Reserve as an intelligence officer, rising to the rank of Commander before his retirement after 20 years of service. A passionate adventurer, he holds the world record for the deepest dive of a crewed vessel to Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench and was the first person to reach Earth’s highest and lowest points. He also became the 53rd person in history to complete the Explorers Grand Slam, which included climbing the Seven Summits and skiing to the North and South Poles. He later led the 5 Deeps Expedition, the first manned mission to reach the deepest point in each of the five oceans.

“The message I constantly try to convey to people, especially Marksmen, is that people are so much more capable than what they think they can do,” Vescovo said. “St. Mark’s provided the bedrock of learning how to learn and taught me many different things about history, math, science, and the arts that allowed me to pursue some very unusual objectives all over the world. It’s because I did many of those things that the Navy was kind enough to recognize me with this extraordinary honor.”

Throughout his adventures, Vescovo has maintained a close association with St. Mark’s, serving as a Trustee and delivering the 2019 commencement address. He can often be found on campus speaking with Marksmen about his adventures and discoveries and sharing insights. He has even elicited the assistance of current St. Mark’s students to create an underwater sediment sampler and navigation app to support his explorations. After summiting Mount Everest, Vescovo told The Pride magazine in 2010 that St. Mark’s helped foster the character necessary to attempt and accomplish the Seven Summits. “The most important trait that distinguishes those who summit from those who attempt seems to be persistence. And to make it through St. Mark’s, you have to be persistent.”

The Navy has started construction of the USNS Victor Vescovo which will be commissioned several years from now.