From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Business opportunity of supplying engines for Coastal Motor Boats (C.M.B.'s) to the Admiralty and foreign governments.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 53\1\ Scan023 | |
| Date | 23th September 1930 | |
| To Wor. {Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} from Sg. {Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Sg {Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} 7/B23.9.30 - 2 - likelihood of the Admiralty requiring further C.M.B's at an early date and that, if this year's programme is missed, it will be a long time before we could get in. Additionally he points out that, if they build for the British Admiralty, they are certain to have many enquiries from the foreign governments for similar boats and they already have enquiries for about 40 boats from different countries. His letter indicates that there are at least two or three engines per boat. I think we might usefully discuss this matter when I am at Derby. It is obvious that we should very much like this additional business if we could secure it on a remunerative basis, but at the same time I think it is useless going forward with the scheme unless we are prepared to turn out the engine with reversed gear and other items which appear to be essential for the installation of one of our engines in a C.M.B., and the main question is whether, even if the business is there, we have not so much the capacity to turn out the goods once the design is approved and experimented with but the capacity to bring the matter quickly up to that position for manufacturing purposes. We should also of course have to obtain R's approval but it seems unnecessary to trouble him about the matter until we have thrashed it out a little further ourselves. Sg. {Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} Encs. | ||