Des Williams' Topic:
Topic 1:
Who the Heck is Ted Eldred & What is the Porpoise?
A question you may well ask, as it is now 70 years since a quiet, modest, Melbourne engineer named Ted Eldred, changed the design of modern world-wide scuba diving equipment forever. Join Des Williams at the OZTek and OZDive Show 2022 to know more.
Des Williams
Life Member of the Victorian Sub-Aqua Group & the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology, active member of the Maritime Archaeology Association of Victoria
Always fascinated by the sea and maritime history, Des Williams merged his two interests in 1968, when he took up diving. He is a Life Member of both the Victorian Sub-Aqua Group and the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology and an active member of the Maritime Archaeology Association of Victoria.
Des holds both ADAS commercial and recreational diving qualifications and since joining the Historical Diving Society Australia-Pacific in 1997, as one of the charter members, has served as an active Committee member at the HDS Aus-Pac for 20 years.
Des has a particular interest in researching the history and development of diving, with an emphasis on Australia’s diving history. He writes regular articles for DIVE LOG magazine and has produced four books on shipwrecks and vintage diving history. He co-authored a book on the history and development of the ground-breaking “Porpoise” range of scuba equipment which was produced in Melbourne during the early 1950s. The “Porpoise” apparatus changed the design of modern scuba equipment all over the world.
The story and development of the “Porpoise” breathing apparatus and its little-known Melbourne inventor, Ted Eldred, will be the focus of Des’s presentation at OZTek. Rare B/W contemporary images and movie film will illuminate the presentation.
Who the Heck is Ted Eldred & What is the Porpoise?
A question you may well ask, as it is now 70 years since a quiet, modest, Melbourne engineer named Ted Eldred, changed the design of modern world-wide scuba diving equipment forever.
Capt. Cousteau’s AQUA-LUNG twin-hose scuba demand valve, developed in the 1940s, was the recreational divers’ most popular equipment of choice until the early 1960s.
However, during the early 1950s, Melbourne engineer Ted Eldred designed and began commercially manufacturing the world’s first single-hose demand valve scuba, breaking the AQUA-LUNG Patent. In 1953, the Australian Navy was the first Navy in the world to adopt the single-hose PORPOISE, much to the chagrin of competing world-wide twin-hose manufacturers, seeking Navy contracts.
Ted’s amazing story, his critics and his astonishing foresight are the subject of Des Williams’ presentation at OZTek. Today, scuba divers all over the world still use the single-hose demand valve, designed by Ted Eldred here in Melbourne, all those years ago. The twin-hose AQUA-LUNG simply faded out during the 1960s.
Restored examples of the Melbourne-made 1950s PORPOISE diving equipment will be on display at the HDS Aus-Pac stand No: 19, where society members will be able to explain the features and quality of the Ted Eldred design. We hope you will call by and have a chat at OZTek.
