RR marinised the Merlin in 1938 for prototype MTB's
http://www.rolls-royce.com/marine/about/marine_history/
According to D K Brown this went to sea at the PV70 in October 1938.
What if instead of marinising it, the effort had gone into turning it into a tank engine?
It was slightly smaller than a Liberty and a Crusader was used as the first test bed doing over 50mph before crashing after trying to turn too tightly so could it have gone in the Churchill and Valentine (the smaller Meteorite was developed from the Meteor) - there does appear to have been a few problems fitting the cooling system in the engine space available but with a new design??
The power of the Meteor was too much for the Crusader transmission and suspension as it was but again...with a new design??
http://www.rolls-royce.com/marine/about/marine_history/
According to D K Brown this went to sea at the PV70 in October 1938.
What if instead of marinising it, the effort had gone into turning it into a tank engine?
It was slightly smaller than a Liberty and a Crusader was used as the first test bed doing over 50mph before crashing after trying to turn too tightly so could it have gone in the Churchill and Valentine (the smaller Meteorite was developed from the Meteor) - there does appear to have been a few problems fitting the cooling system in the engine space available but with a new design??
The power of the Meteor was too much for the Crusader transmission and suspension as it was but again...with a new design??