Rover's Maurice Wilks was also aware of the potential of a more efficient design that removed the Power Jets' "folded" layout with a straight-through airflow.

The design was done in secret and was sanctioned by the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) but Whittle believed all effort should have been directed towards flight testing of the reverse-flow engine.

By 1941 it was obvious to all that the arrangement was not working; Whittle was constantly frustrated by what he was seeing as Rover's inability to deliver production-quality parts for a test engine and became increasingly vocal about his complaints.

Rolls-Royce had a fully developed supercharger division, directed by Hooker, which was naturally suited to jet engine work.

Adding improved fuel and oil systems, the newly named Derwent Mk.I entered production with 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) of thrust.

The Derwent was the primary engine of all the early Meteors except a small number of Welland-equipped models which were quickly removed from service.

The basic Derwent concept was also used to produce a redesigned and larger 5,000 lbf (22.2 kN) thrust engine known as the Rolls-Royce Nene.

On 7 November 1945, a Meteor powered by the Derwent V set a world air speed record of 606 mph (975 km/h) TAS.

Jets were preferable to marine propellers or paddles as these would have created a disturbance in the water, and the force exerted by them was harder to measure.