I thought the Rover engines were axial flow machines??
Early Gas Turbine History
1791 First patent for a gas turbine (John Barber, United Kingdom)
1904 Unsuccessful gas turbine project by Franz Stolze in Berlin (first axial compressor)
1906 GT by Armengaud Lemale in France (centrifugal compressor, no useful power)
1910 First GT featuring intermittent combustion (Holzwarth, 150 kW, constant volume combustion)
1923 First exhaust-gas turbocharger to increase the power of diesel engines
1939 World’s first gas turbine for power generation (Brown Boveri Company), Neuchâtel, Switzerland
(velox burner, aerodynamics by Stodola)