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Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted* Pattern

Armored Car

Early vehicle with Maxim Machine Gun

Specifications

Country of Origin/Used by:	Great Britain
First Produced/Service Dates:	1914 (November-December)
Manufactured by:	Rolls-Royce, Ltd.
Crew:	2-3
Armament:	Turret: (1) Maxim .303 Machine Gun (Early Vehicles) or Vickers .303 MG (Later Vehicles); Commander: (1) .303 Lewis Gun (on some later vehicles) *
Engine:	6 Cylinder Gasoline
Miscellaneous Info:	At the beginning of World War One, the first Rolls-Royce Armored Car was built by personnel in the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), and commonly referred to the Rolls-Royce First RNAS Pattern Armored Car. Although demonstrating promise, there were certainly improvements that could be made.  As a result, the next version of the Rolls was designed by the British Admiralty Air Department, with input from the RNAS personnel who built the first car. These first standardized vehicles were referred to as the Rolls-Royce First Admiralty Pattern Armored Cars.  Although a step-above from the initial vehicle, there were even more improvements that could be made to create a better armored car. Thusly, another new design of vehicle was put forth, with one ultimately becoming the iconic Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern* Armored Car. Among other things, the new vehicles were fitted with a semi-standardized armored hull, which now fully enclosed the crew compartments. Also fitted were beveled rotating turrets which mounted a machine gun. This Rolls Royce 1914 Pattern Armored car was one of those new "Admiralty Turreted" Pattern vehicles, along with similar vehicles includng the Lanchester 4x2 and Talbot Armored Cars. Delaunay-Belleville armored cars were also built around the same time.  They had similar hulls as the Rolls, but mounted round turrets instead. The 1914 Pattern vehicles were based on the 40/50 Rolls Royce "Alpine Eagle" (aka "Continental") model chassis.  The Alpine Eagle was an upgraded version of the normal 40/50 cars, which were commonly known as "Silver Ghosts". Interestingly, the 40/50 cars were not officially known as the Silver Ghost until approximately 1926. Not surprisingly then, the 1914 Admiralty pattern cars are very similar to the later turreted Rolls-Royce 1920 and 1924 Pattern Armored Cars as they all used the same base chassis.  Thusly, the identification of the (3) three similar Rolls-Royce turreted vehicle types can be difficult at times. The vehicles were upgraded and improved a number of times as they were in service for many years. For instance, older pattern hulls were sometimes fitted to new vehicle suspension & drive trains.  "Typical" 1914 Admiralty Turreted pattern vehicle characteristics include spoked-wheels, a lower/smaller turret,  solid front engine plates and the driver's cab front armor plate having vision slits that are on the same level. Finally, another use of the 1914 Pattern cars in World War One occured in the Middle East.  Some of the cars had their armor removed and were fitted with wooden bodies.  These Rolls-Royce Support Cars ("Tenders") were used to assist the armored cars and their units by conducting reconnaissance and hauling men, equipment and supplies.  * The nomenclature "Admiralty Turreted Pattern" was normally omitted when referencing the vehicle.  It was simply the "Rolls-Royce Armored Car". * Experiments were carried out to mount the heavier Vickers 1 Pounder (37mm) Quick Fire "Pom Pom" gun, but it was not successful and was not put into service.
Data Sheet Available:	None Available

Photos

Reference	Source/Provider
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Line Drawings (As used by T.E. Lawrence)	Bill Emerson
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photo	British War Office
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photo (Australian Vehicle with cut down Turret)	British War Office
Early Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photo (Above)	The Dave Haugh Collection
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photos	The Dave Haugh Collection
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photos	The Imperial War Museum
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photo (Hejaz Armoured Car Battery- August 1918)	Valerie Gilman & the Gilman Family Collection
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photo (Royal Air Force)	The Dave Haugh Collection
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car towing a 3-Pounder Artillery Gun Photo	The Imperial War Museum
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photo (with Heightened Turret Cupola)	The Dave Haugh Collection
Rolls-Royces of No. 3 RAF Armored Car Company: Palestine 1929 (1914 pattern turret, 1920 pattern updated chassis/suspension?)	Gordon Angus Mackinlay - Australia
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photos (with new wheels/tires)	US Library of Congress via Mark Holloway - Beatty, Nevada USA
Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photo (1914 pattern body, 1920 pattern turret & new wheels/tires)	US Library of Congress
"The Rolls-Royce 40/50 Armored Car: Ghosts of the Desert" (November/December Issue of Flying Lady Journal)	James Stejskal
Israeli Haganah Rolls-Royce 1914 Admiralty Turreted Pattern Armored Car Photo (with new wheels/tires)	Robert Goldman - Kfar Saba, Israel

References Available

Online

Printed

Reference	Author
AFV Plans: 1914-1938 Armored Fighting Vehicles (Stackpole Books)	George Bradford
A Photo History of Armoured Cars In Two World Wars	George Forty
"Armoured Ghost, The" (Building the 1/35 Roden Rolls Royce Pattern 1914 Armored Car model kit) (August 2014 Issue of Airfix Model World Magazine)	Mikael Terfors
"Battlefield Royalty" (August 2012 Issue of Military Machines International Magazine)	Tim Gosling
British Armoured Cars: 1914-1945	B.T. White
Early Armoured Cars (AFV Profile #9)	Major General N.W. Duncan
Early Armoured Cars (Shire Album #209)	E. Bartholomew
Encyclopedia of Armoured Cars	Duncan Crow & Robert J. Icks
Masters of Mayhem: Lawrence of Arabia and the British Military Mission to the Hejaz (Casemate Publishers) Book Review by Patrick Keenan - Editor	James Stejskal
"RN Armoured Cars" (May 1983 Issue of Military History Magazine)	Charles Messenger
Rolls Royce Armoured Car, The (Osprey New Vanguard #189)	David Fletcher
Rolls-Royce Armoured Car Owners' Workshop Manual: 1915-44 (All Models) (Haynes Publishing)	David Fletcher
Talbot in the First World War (Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq Register, Ltd)	Stephen Lally & John Tomsett
The Royal Armoured Corps Tank Museum: Armoured Cars (1900-1963)
War Cars: British Armoured Cars in the First World War	David Fletcher

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