Rolls-Royce Derwent

Derwent
Preserved Rolls-Royce Derwent.
Type Turbojet
Manufacturer Rolls-Royce
First run 1943
Major applications Gloster Meteor
Developed from Rover W.2B/23
Developed into Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent
Klimov RD-500
Rolls-Royce Nene

The Rolls-Royce RB.37 Derwent is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine, the second Rolls-Royce jet engine to enter production. Essentially an improved version of the Rolls-Royce Welland, itself a renamed version of Frank Whittle's Power Jets W.2B, Rolls inherited the Derwent design from Rover when they took over their jet engine development in 1943. Performance over the Welland was somewhat improved, reliability dramatically, making the Derwent the chosen engine for the Gloster Meteor and many other post-World War II British jet designs.

Design and development

Rover

A Rover W.2B/26 on display at the Midland Air Museum This design was later to become the Derwent

When Rover was selected for production of Whittle's designs in 1941 they set up their main jet factory at Barnoldswick, staffed primarily by various Power Jets personnel. Maurice Wilks was also aware of the potential of a more efficient straight-through design. This layout had already been used by Whittle in his drawings of the W2Y and W3X and was also being pursued by the de Havilland Company with the Halford H.1. He set up a design office at Waterloo Mill, Clitheroe with Adrian Lombard leading the design of an engine with this configuration. The design was done in secret and was sanctioned by the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) but Whittle believed all effort should have been directed towards flight testing of the reverse-flow engine.[1]

While work at Barnoldswick continued on what was now known as the W.2B/23, Lombard's new design became the W.2B/26. Lombard went on to become the Chief Engineer of the Aero Engine Division of Rolls-Royce.

Rolls-Royce

By 1941 it was obvious to all that the arrangement was not working; Whittle was constantly frustrated by what he was seeing as Rover's inability to deliver production-quality parts for a test engine, and became increasingly vocal about his complaints. Likewise Rover was losing interest in the project after the delays and constant harassment from Power Jets in the critical testing process stage, where testing new designs and materials to breaking point is vital. Earlier, in 1940, Stanley Hooker of Rolls-Royce had met with Whittle, and later introduced him to Ernest Hives. Rolls-Royce had a fully developed supercharger division, directed by Hooker, which was naturally suited to jet engine work. Hives agreed to supply key parts to help the project along. Eventually, by mutual agreement between the Minister of Aircraft Production and the Boards of Rover and Rolls-Royce,[2][3] the Rover jet factory at Barnoldswick was exchanged for the Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine factory in Nottingham. Subsequent Rolls-Royce jet engines would be designated in an "RB" series, the /26 Derwent becoming the RB.26.

Problems were soon ironed out, and the original /23 design was ready for flight by late 1943. This gave the team some breathing room, so they redesigned the /26's inlets for increased air flow, and thus thrust. Adding improved fuel and oil systems, the newly named Derwent Mk.I entered production with 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) of thrust. Mk.II, III and IV's followed, peaking at 2,400 lbf (10.7 kN) of thrust. The Derwent was the primary engine of all the early Meteors with the exception of the small number of Welland-equipped models which were quickly removed from service. The Mk.II was also modified with a cropped impeller (turbine unchanged)[4] and a reduction gearbox driving a five-bladed propeller. It was called the Rolls-Royce RB.50 Trent and was the first turboprop to fly. Two were installed in a Meteor I.

Mk.V

The basic Derwent design was also used to produce a larger 5,000 lbf (22.2 kN) thrust engine known as the Rolls-Royce Nene. Development of the Nene continued in a scaled-down version specifically for use on the Meteor; this was named the Derwent Mk.V. Several Derwents and Nenes were sold to the Soviet Union by the then Labour government, causing a major political row, as the Nene was the most powerful production turbojet in the world at the time. The Soviets promptly reverse engineered the Derwent V and produced their own unlicensed version, the Klimov RD-500. The Nene was reverse-engineered to form the propulsion unit for the famous MiG-15 jet fighter. The Derwent Mk.V was also used on the Canadian Avro Jetliner, but this was not put into production.

On 7 November 1945, a Meteor powered by the Derwent V set a world air speed record of 606 mph (975 km/h) TAS.

An unusual application of the Derwent V was to propel the former paddle steamer Lucy Ashton. The 1888 ship had her steam machinery removed and replaced by four Derwents in 1950–1951. The purpose of this was to conduct research on the friction and drag produced by a ship hull in real-life conditions. Jets were preferable to marine propellers or paddles as these would have created a disturbance in the water, and the force exerted by them was harder to measure. The four engines could propel the Lucy Ashton at a speed in excess of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[5]

Variants

Applications

Specifications (Derwent I)

Data from [6]

General characteristics

Components

Performance

See also

Related development


Related lists

References

Citations
  1. ↑ "Vikings At Waterloo"' David S. Brooks,Rolls -Royce Heritage Trust, Derby 1997, ISBN 1 872922 08 2, p.57
  2. ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1946/1946%20-%200236.html
  3. ↑ "Vikings At Waterloo' David S Brooks, Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, Derby, 1997, ISBN 1 872922 08 2, p.71
  4. ↑ "Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989, ISBN 1-85260-037-3, p.119
  5. ↑ "The Jet-Propelled Paddle Steamer Lucy Ashton.". 30 June 2003. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  6. ↑ Wilkinson, Paul H. (1946). Aircraft Engines of the world 1946. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons. pp. 294–297.
Bibliography
  • Bridgman, L, (ed.) Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II. London: Crescent, 1998. ISBN 0-517-67964-7
  • Kay, Anthony L. (2007). Turbojet History and Development 1930-1960 1 (1st ed.). Ramsbury: The Crowood Press. ISBN 978-1-86126-912-6. 
  • Flight 1945
  • Wilkinson, Paul H. (1946). Aircraft Engines of the world 1946. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons. pp. 294–297. 

External links

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