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).
Operational characteristics of a tank's steering clutch system.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 144\4\ scan0191 | |
| Date | 24th July 1940 guessed | |
| 9. that when the steering clutch is fully engaged and the appropriate driven member of this clutch is rotated at its maximum speed of 2500 r.p.m., the inner track of the tank has its speed reduced by 2 m.p.h. and the outer track increased by 2 m.p.h. When the clutch is not engaged and the tank is moving straight ahead these driven members do not rotate. If, however, one track loses its adhesion and spins so that there is a difference of, say, 20 m.p.h. between the track speeds, the free members of the clutch will spin at 12,500 r.p.m. This, of course, cannot be permitted so we have arranged a simple method of locking the free members when the clutch is not engaged. This has the incidental advantage of making the tank go straighter on straight cambered roads and so easing the work of the clutch under what are normally its most difficult conditions. Our steering system will not permit the stunt manoeuver known as the "skid turn". Instead it has the ability to turn the tank about its vertical axis. How this will suit the operators, we do not yet know, but intend to find out. Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/FJH.{Fred J. Hardy - Chief Dev. Engineer} | ||