After becoming a chief test driver in 1908, he led the Rolls-Royce team in the
Austrian Alpine Trial in 1913. During the 1914-18 First World War the company designed its first aero-engine, the
Eagle, and Hives was involved in its development. In 1916 he was Head of the Experimental Department. In 1919 the Eagle powered the twin-engined
Vickers Vimy bomber on the
first direct flight across the Atlantic. In 1920 Hives was appointed
MBE. Other engines were later developed under Hives' lead. Of these the
Buzzard was the most important, leading to the ‘
R’ series, which powered the
Supermarine S.6 seaplanes that won the
Schneider Trophy in 1929 and 1931 for Rolls-Royce, and most importantly the
Merlin engine. In 1936 he became the general works manager of the factory and a year later was elected to the board. He lived at 37, St. Chads Rd., Derby until around 1937, then at 'Hazeldene',
Duffield. about 5 miles north of Derby. In 1937 he prepared the firm for a production increase in Merlin engines by splitting facilities between engineering and production and developing shadow factories. As the Merlin powered
Hurricanes,
Spitfires and
Lancasters (as well as the best forgotten
Fairey Battle), this was a vitally strategic decision when war did come, and no less than a hundred and sixty thousand Merlins were produced by 1945. His team directive was
"Work till it hurts' and
W. A. Robotham said that when he was attached to
"this remarkable man for a few (wartime) days I became completely exhausted and made absolutely no contribution towards easing his load. After visiting the Hillington Merlin factory, the night train arrived at Trent at the unearthly hour of 5.20 a.m. so (if you couldn't sleep on the train like Hives) walking with him round the Derby factory before breakfast was a gruelling experience. Robotham was responsible to Hives for the Car Division, and Hives supported Robotham in developing and manufacturing the
Meteor tank engine. In 1941-42 Hives had decided 'to go all out for the
gas turbine', to ensure the company a leading role in developing jet engines for civil and military aviation. In December 1942 when
Rover was having problems with
Frank Whittle and his company
Power Jets in developing their first gas turbine engine, the
Rolls-Royce Welland, Hives met with
Spencer Wilks of Rover and arranged to exchange Rover's gas turbine business for Rolls-Royce's Nottingham factory producing
Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engines (which Rover were already producing). This exchange (effective 1 April 1943) gave Rolls-Royce (whose major product was piston aero engines) an entry into jet engine manufacture.
Vice-Chief of Air Staff Sir
Wilfrid Freeman, one of the masterminds behind the dramatic advances in British aircraft production before and during World War II, paid tribute to Hives's dedication in a letter to his wife: Hives became managing director in 1946 and chairman of Rolls-Royce from 1950 till 1957. He was Chairman of the
National Council for Technological Awards from 1955 to 1960. He was appointed to the
Order of the Companions of Honour in the
1943 Birthday Honours and on
7 July 1950 he was raised to the peerage as
Baron Hives, of Duffield in the County of Derby. Robotham has a chapter on Hives (Chapter 21) in his own biography. He played a critical role in the UK Nuclear Submarine programme. When the highly irascible but utterly pivotal
U.S. Admiral Rickover visited the UK in 1957 to inspect the British nuclear design team at Rolls-Royce, Rickover was "at his obnoxious worst". After one particularly difficult morning he was introduced to Lord Hives. ==Personal life==