A SURVIVOR of the world’s largest and deepest underwater rescue was among those to be recognised in the New Year Honours list.

Roger Mallinson, from Troutbeck, has been awarded an MBE for his services to Steam Boating Heritage and to the community in Cumbria.

Roger, who is chair and boat manager at The Shamrock Trust, was among eight Cumbrian residents included in honours list.

The Honours system gives national recognition to people who have given exceptional service in public and community life and are committed to making a difference to those around them.

Roger started off as an apprentice at Vickers in Barrow and has always had a passion for machinery.

Roger went on to become a commercial submariner, working for Vickers Oceanics. He piloted, maintained and upgraded the Pisces series of deep submersibles.

READ MORE: South Cumbrians recognised in The King's New Year Honours

On August 29, 1973, a Canadian deep-sea submersible named Pisces III, piloted by Roger and former Naval Officer Roger Chapman, became trapped on the seabed at a depth of nearly 1,600 feet, around 150 miles off the coast of Ireland in the Irish Sea.

Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman were on a routine dive to lay transatlantic telecommunication cable when the mission went badly wrong.

What happened over the course of the next three days captured the world's attention as British, American and Canadian dive teams attempted to save the men from their trapped submersible, which measured just six feet in diameter.

After 72 hours, with supplies dwindling, the international rescue mission, watched by millions around the globe, finally rescued the pair with only 12 minutes of oxygen left on board. 

The dramatic rescue of the two Cumbrian submariners has recently been captured by author Stephen McGinty in his new book The Dive, which reconstructs the minute-by-minute race to execute the deepest rescue in maritime history.

In his spare time, Roger pursued many other engineering projects. He became interested in organs and started to build them, and latterly then learned to play them.

Roger is most famous for his work on steam engines, and particularly on boats. He rescued 'Shamrock', a gentleman's steam launch that had fallen into disrepair, and built a new double-acting engine for it. This boat is now looked after by a trust set up by Roger and is still a regular sight on Windermere.

Roger has also been a Freemason for 50 years and been an active member of Ambleside Freemasons.

Neil Dixon, spokesman for Cumbria Freemasons, said: “We are all delighted and very proud to see Roger awarded with this MBE, for services to steam boating and the community. He shows the true values of a freemason- Respect, integrity, friendship and charity.

“Roger is a well know member of the community and his engineering skills are phenomenal, this is a well-deserved recognition for the amazing work that he does”