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Milwaukee Deep, also known as the Milwaukee Depth, is part of the
In 1964, the French submersible ''Archimede'' explored the Puerto Rico Trench to a depth of approximately but did not reach its deepest point.
On 21 December 2018 Victor Vescovo made the first crewed descent to the deepest point of the trench in the Deep-Submergence Vehicle '' DSV Limiting Factor'' (a Triton 36000/2 model submersible) and measured a depth of by direct CTD pressure measurements. This made the ''Limiting Factor'' the deepest diving operational submersible at the time.
Milwaukee Deep, also known as the Milwaukee Depth, is part of the Puerto Rico Trench
The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the boundary between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The oceanic trench, the deepest in the Atlantic, is associated with a complex transition between the Lesser Antilles subduction zone to the sou ...
. Together with the surrounding area, known as Brownson Deep, the Milwaukee Deep forms an elongated depression that constitutes the floor of the trench. As there is no geomorphological distinction between the two, it has been proposed that the use of both names to refer to distinct areas should be reviewed.
The floor of the Puerto Rico Trench constitutes the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
. During the Five Deeps Expedition, explorer Victor Vescovo achieved the first crewed descent to this location. Media outlets overwhelmingly referred to the area as the Brownson Deep, while the name Milwaukee Deep was used by others. However, likely due to the factors mentioned above, the expedition has not used any particular name to refer to the site of their Atlantic dive. It is named for the USS Milwaukee (CL-5)
USS ''Milwaukee'' (CL-5) was an light cruiser built for the United States Navy during the 1920s. The ship spent most of her early career assigned to the Asiatic and Battle Fleets. In 1941 she was assigned to the Neutrality Patrol until she wa ...
which was itself named for the city of Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
.
The Puerto Rico Trench has a maximum depth of no more than directly measurement by Vescovo during his 2018 descent to the Atlantic Ocean deepest point. Previously, however, the depth of the Milwaukee Deep (when being used to refer to the Atlantic's deepest point) had been reported by various sources as , , or . It is just north of the coast of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
at ''Punto Palmas Altas'' in Manatí.
History
The ocean floor feature is named for the USS ''Milwaukee'' (CL-5), aU.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
Omaha class cruiser, which discovered the Milwaukee Deep on February 14, 1939 with a reading of . On August 19, 1952, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife vessel ''Theodore N. Gill'' obtained a reading of at (), virtually identical with the ''Milwaukee''s reading. By then, the existence of deep water to the Atlantic Ocean side of the Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean ...
had been known for more than a century.
One of the area's earliest soundings was obtained June 12, 1852 by Lt. S. P. Lee, U.S. Navy brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...
''Dolphin'', with a reading of at ().
Crewed descents
In 1964, the French submersible ''Archimede'' explored the Puerto Rico Trench to a depth of approximately but did not reach its deepest point.
On 21 December 2018 Victor Vescovo made the first crewed descent to the deepest point of the trench in the Deep-Submergence Vehicle '' DSV Limiting Factor'' (a Triton 36000/2 model submersible) and measured a depth of by direct CTD pressure measurements. This made the ''Limiting Factor'' the deepest diving operational submersible at the time.
See also
* List of submarine topographical features *Oceanic trench
Oceanic trenches are prominent long, narrow topographic depressions of the ocean floor. They are typically wide and below the level of the surrounding oceanic floor, but can be thousands of kilometers in length. There are about of oceanic tren ...
*Challenger Deep
The Challenger Deep is the deepest-known point of the seabed of Earth, with a depth of by direct measurement from deep-diving submersibles, remotely operated underwater vehicles and benthic landers, and (sometimes) slightly more by sonar bathym ...
References
{{Reflist Lowest points of the World Ocean Oceanic trenches of the Atlantic Ocean Physical oceanography