Rolls-Royce Welland
The Rolls-Royce RB.23 Welland was Britain's first production jet engine. It was designed by Frank Whittle's team at Power Jets and was originally intended to be produced by Rover as the W.2B/23. Rover's continued delays in starting production and Whittle's increasing anger over Rover going behind his back to design their own engine, the W.2B/26, led to the project being moved to Rolls-Royce where Stanley Hooker joined the team from Rolls' supercharger division. Hooker's experience in turbocompressor design, along with improved metals and combustion systems, put the engine back on track, although it was largely passed over in favour of Rover's W.2B/26, that became the Rolls-Royce Derwent.
The engine was renamed the Welland after the English river, and entered production in 1943 for use on the Gloster Meteor.
Read more about Rolls-Royce Welland: Design and Development
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