John Bennett (March 7, 1959–2004) was a British
scuba diver who set a world record by becoming the first person to
deep dive below a depth of on
self-contained breathing apparatus
A self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), sometimes referred to as a compressed air breathing apparatus (CABA) or simply breathing apparatus (BA), is a device worn to provide breathable air in an atmosphere that is immediately dangerous to ...
on 6 November 2001.
Bennett first broke the record in 1999 when he reached accompanied by Chuck Driver. In 2000 Bennett set a new record of , before his final record-breaking dive to in 2001. Having founded Atlantis Dive in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
in the late 1990s, Bennett and his world record breaking team, including Ron Loos, Mark Cox and Targa Mann went on to establish Tech Dive Academy in Port Douglas, Australia. In the early 2000s, Bennett and Loos made the first dives to the wreck site in
Manila Bay
Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phi ...
.
In 2001, he located the wreck of the
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...
dreadnought
The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
''Yamashiro'' through sound scans, but could not confirm it before his death. Confirmation was not made until 2017.
Death
John Bennett went missing on 15 March 2004 in a
commercial diving
Commercial diving may be considered an application of professional diving where the diver engages in underwater work for industrial, construction, engineering, maintenance or other commercial purposes which are similar to work done out of the wate ...
incident in
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
.
He was declared legally dead in 2006, but his body has never been recovered.
Bennett was survived by his wife Gabby and their two children, Joshua and Katie.
See also
*
*
World's deepest SCUBA dives
References
External links
Video of record 308m dive
1959 births
2004 deaths
British underwater divers
Commercial diving accidents
People declared dead in absentia
Professional divers
Underwater diving deaths
{{Underwater-diving-bio-stub