Following its success as an automobile manufacturer, Rolls-Royce began design and development of aircraft engines at the request of the British Admiralty at the beginning of World War I. In June 1927, Rolls-Royce began designing a scaled-up version of its supercharged Kestrel to power large flying boats. Later known as the Buzzard, the prototype was completed in 1928 and installed experimentally in large aircraft, both flying boats and land planes. Rolls-Royce sold less than 50 production engines, 32 of them to the Japanese. Even though Rolls-Royce abandoned the Buzzard within a few years, the development work on it proved important; serving as the basis for the R engine, which won the Schneider Trophy in 1929 and 1931.

Designated V-2240-56, this engine was performance tested by the U.S. Navy Aeronautical Engine Laboratory in the early 1930s. The H.XIV model powered the Blackburn B.3, Handley Page H.P.46, Hawker Horsley, Short S.14 Sarafand R.6/28, and Vickers 207 M.1/30.