William Allen (Royal Navy officer)

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Rear-Admiral William Allen (November, 1792 – 23 January 1864) was an English naval officer and explorer.

Allen was involved in fighting the African slave trade, and took part in three expeditions to West Africa. In 1832 he went up the River Niger with Richard Lemon Lander and Macgregor Laird. He also tried to find an alternative route to India by proposing to connect the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea and then the Red Sea. This plan worked, however, on the assumption that the Dead Sea had once been at sea level, and part of the Gulf of Aqaba. The more practical route to India was the Suez Canal.

Allen collected the type specimen of Allen's Gallinule (a small waterbird) near the River Niger.