History

1908 Rolls-Royce opening ceremony
Henry Royce built his first motor car in 1904 and in May of that year met Charles Rolls, whose company sold quality cars in London. In December 1906, Rolls-Royce made its first public share offer to finance a new factory and additional machine tools.

Derby made an unsolicited proposal during the final stages of negotiations and was selected on merit. Work began in the autumn of 1907, with the official opening following in 1908.

1919 First non-stop transatlantic crossing
Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown made the first non-stop aerial crossing of the Atlantic in a Rolls-Royce Eagle powered Vickers Vimy. The crossing from Newfoundland to Ireland took 16 hours and 27 minutes.

1932 Miss England breaks world speed record
Miss England was one of a succession of Rolls-Royce R engine-powered world record holding boats.

It held the record in 1932 at a speed of 119mph and was subsequently overtaken by Campbell's Bluebirds, which raised the speed to 141mph just prior to World War II.

1943 The Spitfire
Launched as a private venture, The Merlin became one of the most famous and influential engines ever built.

Described as "the pilot's friend" the success of the Merlin engine during the war years was only possible through continuous and remarkable development during that time, as the competing nations strove to give their own pilots any possible advantage.

1958 HMS Dreadnought submarine
In 1958, a bilateral agreement was signed between the US and UK governments. Admiral Rickover of the US recommended that the propulsion system work on submarine applications should be carried out by Rolls-Royce in view of the company's engineering capability. The first resultant submarine was the HMS Dreadnought.

1969 Maiden flight of Concorde
Concorde had its maiden flight from Toulouse on 2nd March 1969.

An icon of modern engineering, Concorde was the world's only supersonic passenger jet. Powered by four Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus engines, it was capable of travelling at twice the speed of sound.

1973 Rolls-Royce motor cars
Rolls Royce Motor Cars was formed in 1973 as a continuation of the original Rolls-Royce automobile division.

1984 Swept fan technology
Since 1984 all Rolls-Royce engines have used wide-chord fan technology. The latest of these is the Trent 900 which has the latest highly 'swept' blades.

1999 501 power generation
In 1999, the 501 gas turbines which power both our Mallow and Mitchelstown projects went into service. The aero-derivative nature of the 501 gives better performance flexibility and fewer servicing issues.

2004 Centenary celebrations
Since its inception, the Rolls-Royce name has become synonymous with integrity, reliability and innovation associated across its four main business sectors - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.

Today it is the world's second largest civil aero engine company, the world's second largest defence aero engine company, a global leader in marine propulsion and a leading supplier of energy solutions. All of these businesses have gas turbine technology at their heart.

Rolls-Royce celebrated its centenary throughout 2004 with a series of special events for customers, partners from education and industry, as well as employees, families and friends in the UK, Germany, Scandinavia, North America and the Far East.