Monday, March 11, 2019

Rolls-Royce - London, Derby, Crewe

Merlin - Engine that won the war > .
Rolls-Royce Merlin - one of the most important engines of WW2 > .
Poor Boy Who Invented World's Most Luxurious Car - BusStor > .

Rolls-Royce - London, Derby, Crewe

The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine of 27-litres (1,650 cu in) capacity. Rolls-Royce designed the engine and first ran it in 1933 as a private venture. Initially known as the PV-12, it was later called Merlin following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after birds of prey.

After several modifications, the first production variants of the PV-12 were completed in 1936. The first operational aircraft to enter service using the Merlin were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. More Merlins were made for the four-engined Avro Lancaster heavy bomber than for any other aircraft; however, the engine is most closely associated with the Spitfire, starting with the Spitfire's maiden flight in 1936. A series of rapidly applied developments, brought about by wartime needs, markedly improved the engine's performance and durability.

One of the most successful aircraft engines of the World War II era, some fifty marks of Merlin were built by Rolls-Royce in Derby, Crewe and Glasgow, as well as by Ford of Britain at their Trafford Park factory, near Manchester.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Merlin

The Rolls-Royce Griffon is a British 37-litre (2,240 cu in) capacity, 60-degree V-12, liquid-cooled aero engine designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited. In keeping with company convention, the Griffon was named after a bird of prey, in this case the griffon vulture.

Design work on the Griffon started in 1938 at the request of the Fleet Air Arm, for use in new aircraft designs such as the Fairey Firefly. In 1939 it was also decided that the engine could be adapted for use in the Spitfire. However, development was temporarily put on hold to concentrate efforts on the smaller Merlin and the 24-cylinder Vulture, and the engine did not go into production until the early 1940s.

The Griffon was the last in the line of V-12 aero engines to be produced by Rolls-Royce with production ceasing in 1955. Griffon engines remain in Royal Air Force service today with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and power the last remaining airworthy Avro Shackleton.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Griffon

Crewe

The British government built a shadow factory in Crewe in 1938 for Rolls-Royce where they could build their Merlin and Griffon aero engines. In 1946 car production was moved there for space to construct bodies and to leave space for aero engines at Derby. The site was bought from the government in 1973. It is now Bentley Crewe

Second World War

Production focussed on aero engines but a variant of the Merlin engine, known as the Meteor, was developed for the Cromwell tank. The Meteor's development completed in 1943 the same team at the Belper foundry restarted work on an eight-cylinder car engine widening its uses and it became the pattern for the British Army's B range of petrol engines for post war combat vehicles in particular in Alvis's FV600 range, Daimler's Ferret, Humber's Hornet and Pig and Austin's Champ.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Limited

Rolls-Royce Crewe

In preparation for war, Rolls Royce and the British Government searched for a location for a shadow factory to ensure production of aero-engines. Crewe, with its excellent road and rail links, as well as being located in the northwest away from the aerial bombing starting in mainland Europe, was a logical choice. Crewe also had extensive open farming land. Construction of the factory started on a 60-acre area on the potato fields of Merrill's Farm in July 1938, with the first Rolls Royce Merlin aero-engine rolling off the production line five months later. 25,000 Merlin engines were produced and at its peak, in 1943 during World War II, the factory employed 10,000 people.

Car production

With the war in Europe over and the general move towards the then new jet engines, Rolls Royce concentrated its aero engine operations at Derby and moved motor car operations to Crewe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bentley_Crewe#Rolls-Royce_Crewe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Motors

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