BIRTH OF THE TANK

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3264, 6 February 1926, Page 6

BIRTH OF THE TANK

It is not generally .known that a British engineering genius, Mr. Harry R.' Ricardo, was practically responsible for the design of the engines olBritish tanks which were so successful in .the Great War! The Shell Com pany, for 1 whom Mr. Ricardo has con ducted such extensive research work hiave furnished the following interest ihigi; particulars of Mr. Ricardo: In th e course of an interview, :Mr. Ricardo, who is a most modest.person; said that'“he really had no stirring deeds to report, for his had been a placid and uneventful existence." How placid his life was during the wa 1 years may be judged from the follow ing short resume of his activities during that period. In 1915 he was appointed Consulting Engineer to the Naval Air Service on aero engines. In the following year he designed engines for tan’ s and was later appointed Consulting Engineer to the Tan 1 Corps. In 1917, Mr. Ricardo was ' " pointed Consulting Engineer to Air Ministry, In which capacity ho tK signed several of the experimental engines and most of the testing apparatus. Mr. Ricardo’s life has been crowded with notable achievements in the, engineering world, “Among the most blatant of bis crimes,” as he put it. h e cited the Vauxhall car. Triumph motor-cycles and cars, Zebre cars, and Tilling anil StevensBirmingham and Midland, Peter Brotherhood, and Mark Webber engines. i Mr. Ricardo ’was Xso partly responsible for the Bristol Jupiter and Beardmore uero engines, while the Yellow Coach (America), Chenard Walcker (France), and Minerva (Belgium cars all bear the hall- mark of his .genius. Mr. Ricardo may "Be regarded as the world’s leading authority..on motor engine construction and operation, and his exhaustive laboratory tests of motor fuels and his reputation as a motor lubricating engineer is recalled by his close association with the manufacture of . Shell motor lubricating oils and spirit.