Ted Eldred’s MK3 Porpoise Oxygen Rebreather 1946
After the first publication of the Oxygen Rebreather Database in 1999, I had never expected so many oxygen rebreathers were built world-wide. Now with over 300 models I finally have one from Australia. The photos from Ted Eldreds’ units are breathtaking. Stephan Taylor from Melbourne, Australia was so kind to send me these sensational pictures. The research that followed lead me to the excellent article written by Des Williams and first published in Historical Diving Times, newsletter of the Historical Diving Society. In the article you can read all the aspects of Ted’s inventions. The HDT article was edited by Dr. Bill Taylor a close friend of Ted, sitting beside Ted Eldred on the picture below. It is a pleasure to be able to show you the first Australian oxygen rebreather built in 1946!
A special thank you to Peter Dick for his permission to use the HDT article; a big thank you to Des Williams, author of the excellent article about Ted Eldred; Stephan Taylor for sending the pictures in the first place; and especially to Tony Eldred, son of Ted Eldred, for his permission to use some unique pictures from the Eldred family archive!
Article written by Des Williams, edited by Dr. Bill Taylor
Article written by Des Williams, edited by Dr. Bill Taylor
Article written by Des Williams, edited by Dr. Bill Taylor
Article written by Des Williams, edited by Dr. Bill Taylor
Picture: Published with the kind permission of Tony Eldred, send to me by Stephen Taylor
Picture: Published with the kind permission of Tony Eldred, send to me by Stephen Taylor
Picture: Published with the kind permission of Tony Eldred, send to me by Stephen Taylor
Unfortunately Ted Eldred passed away 26 August 2005, RIP Ted!
Janwillem,
Attached are rare photographs of the Australian Porpoise rebreather. The Ted Eldred invented the single hose SCUBA in 1949 Australia. He began by developing an oxygen rebreather called the Porpoise. It would stop oxygen flow at 10 meters as a safety precaution. However, he decided that rebreathers were not safe for the average diver and turned to air. He designed the single hose because the Cousteau model was protected by a patent. It was called the Porpoise also. Ted is pictured with Dr Jim Taylor, his diving buddy.
These pictures are from Ted Eldred’s personal collection.
Ted passed away a couple of years ago and these pictures are submitted for your site, on behalf of Ted’s son Tony Eldred.
Stephen Taylor
Melbourne, Australia
Stephan, thank you very much for making this important diving history of pioneer Ted Eldred available to my website. This will make this information accessible to many divers. Australia can be proud of such an important man and pioneer. It is an honour to publish this!
Peter Dick, Des Williams, Jan de Groot and Stephen Taylor, thank you very much for sharing this important information with the readers of my web. Be sure it is highly appreciated!
Therebreathersite was founded by Jan Willem Bech in 1999. After a diving career of many years, he decided to start technical diving in 1999. He immediately noticed that at that time there was almost no website that contained the history of closed breathing systems. The start for the website led to a huge collection that offered about 1,300 pages of information until 2019. In 2019, a fresh start was made with the website now freely available online for everyone. Therebreathersite is a source of information for divers, researchers, technicians and students. I hope you enjoy browsing the content!