Ron Allum

Last updated

Ron Allum
Born (1949-03-22) 22 March 1949 (age 74)
New South Wales, Australia
OccupationSubmarine designer
SpouseYvette Allum
Children2

Ron Allum (born 22 March 1949) is an Australian submarine designer, cave diver and inventor.

Allum is regarded as one of the world's most experienced and accomplished cave divers. In 1983 he led an expedition to Cocklebiddy Cave of the Nullarbor Plain. The expedition achieved a world record push of 6.24 km (3.88 mi) into the cave system. [1]

Allum collaborated with James Cameron on a project to make a live broadcast from the wreck of the Titanic in 2005. This involved designing and building a 6,000 m (20,000 ft) fiber-optic spool system link to the surface. [2]

Allum designed the Deepsea Challenger submarine that took James Cameron to the Challenger Deep, the lowest point on Earth and the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) below sea level. This record-breaking exploration took place on 26 March 2012. [2]

Allum was a national finalist for Senior Australian of the Year in 2013. [3]

In 2019, Allum appeared in episode 17 of series 3 of the children's cartoon Go Jetters, playing himself. The episode featured exploration of the Mariana Trench using the Deepsea Challenger.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Challenger Deep</span> Deepest-known point of Earths seabed

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mariana Trench</span> Deepest oceanic trench on Earth

The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about 2,550 km (1,580 mi) in length and 69 km (43 mi) in width. The maximum known depth is 10,984 ± 25 metres at the southern end of a small slot-shaped valley in its floor known as the Challenger Deep. The deepest point of the trench is more than 2 km (1.2 mi) farther from sea level than the peak of Mount Everest.

Challenger, Challengers, or The Challengers may refer to:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep-submergence vehicle</span> Self-propelled deep-diving crewed submersible

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Deepsea Challenger is a 7.3-metre (24 ft) deep-diving submersible designed to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest-known point on Earth. On 26 March 2012, Canadian film director James Cameron piloted the craft to accomplish this goal in the second crewed dive reaching the Challenger Deep. Built in Sydney, Australia, by the research and design company Acheron Project Pty Ltd, Deepsea Challenger includes scientific sampling equipment and high-definition 3-D cameras; it reached the ocean's deepest point after two hours and 36 minutes of descent from the surface.

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References

  1. "James Cameron's Deep Sea challenge: Ron Allum". National Geographic. 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Legend of the deep: Ron Allum". Australian Geographic. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  3. "Ron Allum". National Australia Day Council. 2013. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2022.