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).
Secret memorandum suggesting improvements to tank turrets, specifically regarding their armament for the war effort.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 144\4\ scan0160 | |
| Date | 17th November 1940 | |
| To: Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. Ve. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} file Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/RH.{R. Hollingworth}4/17.11.40. SECRET TANK TURRETS Since R.R. are engaged in 40 mm. gun development and also assisting in improving tank design, we suggest that a very useful contribution to the war effort would be to analyse the existing tank turret and see whether we can improve its hitting power and also its versatility. At the present moment a 35-ton tank carries two machine guns which fire at the usual rate and one semi-automatic two pounder which owing to the cramped conditions inside the turret will perhaps fire at the rate of twenty rounds per minute. This seems to us to give a poor broadside for the man-hours spent in constructing the vehicle. The tank turret cannot operate against aircraft. We suggest that a fully automatic two-pounder with a ten round magazine would be a big improvement. Recently, through official Admiralty policy on the 40 mm. gun still favours the single shot, we have heard repeated expressions of opinion from people who have to do the fighting that the power mounting automatic 40 mm. a very urgent requirement. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||