page_title: Rolls-Royce Meteor
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Rolls-Royce Meteor / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: The British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 A Cromwell Mk IV of No. 2 Squadron, 2nd (Armoured Reconnaissance) Battalion, Welsh Guards, at Pickering in Yorkshire, 31 March 1944, displays its speed during an inspection by Winston Churchill. The tank is named 'Blenheim'. This tank was the mount of Major John Ogilvie Spencer, commanding No. 2 Squadron, and later killed in Belgium on 9 September 1944.
context_page_description: The Rolls-Royce Meteor and later the Rover Meteor was a British tank engine developed during the Second World War. It was used in British tanks up to 1964. It was a result of co-operation between Leyland Motors and Rolls-Royce who between them in 1941 had suggested that a specialised de-rated version of the latter company's Merlin aero-engine would be highly suitable for use in armoured fighting vehicles.
  The Meteor was developed from the Merlin by W. A. Robotham and his chassis design and development division at Clan Foundry, Belper, as they were not involved in aero-engine work and his engineers were under-used. With the aid of engineers from Leyland, who were engaged in tank work, he considered RR's two V12s; the Kestrel, while having more power than the existing "Liberty" or Meadows engines, did not provide the desirable 20 bhp per ton required, so the 1,030 bhp Merlin III was chosen. Robotham was at pains to point out that Rolls-Royce could not manufacture the engines, so would not benefit commercially.
context_section_description: Early prototypes were produced by Rolls Royce. In 1941, Leyland, which had an order for 1,200 Meteor engines, was still advocating its own diesel tank engine for the Cromwell tank.  It would deliver only 350 hp (260 kW), but it was concerned with the problem of sufficient cooling for the Meteor within the confines of the tank engine bay. When Leyland withdrew its support, Robotham took the problem to Ernest Hives. Hives took the problem to the Ministry of Supply, telling Lord Beaverbrook that he already had his hands full making Merlin aero engines, and Rolls-Royce would want £1 million to its credit and 'no interference' to make tank engines, Beaverbrook telegrammed back,
  OHMS Ministry of Supply to W. Hives Nightingale Road Rolls-Royce Derby 
  
  The British Government has given you an open credit of one million pounds. This is a certificate of character and reputation without precedent or equal. Beaverbrook
  An order for 1,000 engines followed, and a new tank design specification was created: A27M, splitting design of the Meteor powered Cromwell away from Leyland to Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (BRC&W). They resolved the cooling problems, ultimately delivering before Leyland's version, although production leadership later switched back to Leyland when BRC&W could not keep up with demand.
  The Meteor was initially produced by Rolls-Royce but manufacturing capacity was severely limited due to the demand for Merlin engines. Early units were still manufactured using recovered Merlin parts and many early Meteors still showed crash damage.  When engine manufacturing needed to increase output, brand new engines had to be made. Because weight saving was not so important for a tank engine, some of the Merlin's more expensive light-alloy components were replaced with cheaper, steel versions. It was also envisaged that the Meteor would use some components rejected on quality grounds for the Merlin, i.e. Merlin scrap. Many of these rejected parts while not meeting strict standards for airworthiness, were perfectly adequate for use in ground vehicles where the crew or operators were not subject to the inherent hazards involved in flight.
  To increase production, Meadows produced some Meteors but the small factory of 2,000 men was producing 40 types of engine.  To make enough Meteors for the Cromwell build programme, Rolls-Royce agreed to move Meteor production to the Rover Company at Tyseley and Morris at Coventry.
  Rolls-Royce was also aiding the development of production jet engines at Rover, but progress there was slow and Rover became disillusioned. Hives struck a deal in December 1942 with Spencer Wilks of Rover to trade W.2B/23 production at Barnoldswick for the Rolls-Royce tank engine factory in Nottingham and production of the Meteor, to become officially effective on 1 April 1943. In 1943, an acute shortage of blocks was met by dismantling surplus older marks of Merlin.
  Rover took over the Meteor in January 1944 and in 1946 the British Government made Rover responsible for research and development of large military engines. In this role, Rover continued the development and production of the Meteor Mk IVb and various derivatives, including the Meteorite V8 and the M120 V12. Rover ceased this activity in 1964, having produced approximately 9,000 engines and Rolls-Royce again became responsible for the manufacture of spare parts. Future engines for British tanks were manufactured by the engine division Rolls-Royce Diesels of Shrewsbury, which was acquired by Perkins in the 1980s. Perkins was taken over by Caterpillar Inc in 1997.
caption: Cromwell tank showing its speed during official inspection
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