Sophie Petersen sure got around. Kupang (then Koepang in Dutch) in West Timor was a stop between Darwin and Singapore, a route operated by Qantas crews. The flying boat is flying a Dutch courtesy flag. Photo by: Sophie Petersen / National Museum of Denmark

Built in 1937. Impressed by the RAF in 1940 as AX660 but to BOAC in 1941. Withdrawn and scrapped at Hythe in 1947 after 11,665 flight hours. Photo from: Short

Mt Hermon looms in the background on a clear day. From 1931 Imperial Airways flying boats alighted on the Sea of Galilee at Tiberias, initially connecting with a landplane at the nearby Samak airfield. With the introduction of the S.23 the flying boats flew all the way between Southampton and Singapore. This aircraft, Challenger, also carried out the first through service to Sydney in July 1937. It crashed off Lumbo in Mozambique on 1 May 1939. Photo from: Library of Congress

In 1937, Imperial Airways rented some of the Supermarine buildings at Hythe for the maintenance of the new Empire flying boats. G-ADUY Capella was damaged beyond repair at Batavia (Jakarta) in 1939, see other photo. Photo from: Nationaal Archief (Netherlands)

The first Short Empire or C class flying boat.

Badly damaged during a night training landing at Rose Bay on January 18, 1944. Seen here after being brought ashore. Assessed as not worth repairing and scrapped. Qantas photo. Photo from: Civil Aviation Historical Society, Melbourne, Australia

Swapped with Qantas at the outbreak of World War II then impressed by the RAAF as A18-10. Destroyed at Broome during a Japanese air raid on March 3, 1942.

VH-ABF over Brisbane where Qantas was headquartered at the time. When air services between Australia on the one side and the UK and Africa on the other were cut during World War II, Cooee was unable to get home. Likewise, BOAC's G-AFPZ was trapped on the Australian side, so a swap was arranged. -ABF became G-AFBL in July 1942 and continued with BOAC until scrapped in 1947. Photo from: State Library of Queensland

Blown on to the shore during a storm on December 11, 1938. Dismantled and shipped back the UK for repairs. Swapped with an aircraft from the Imperial Airways fleet and became G-AEUI after being repaired. Remained in service with Imperial until 1947 when it was scrapped. Coorong is a lagoon in South Australia. Qantas retained Imperial's "C" Class naming conventions for its S.23 fleet. Photo from: Hudson Fysh Collection/State Library of New South Wales

G-ADUY sank after hitting a submerged object while landing at Batavia (Jakarta). It was shipped back to the UK but was found uneconomical to repair. Scrapped. Photo from: Hudson Fysh Collection/State Library of New South Wales

Ex G-ADUT "Centaurus" and involved in an aircraft swap at the start of World War II when Imperial Airways and Qantas exchanged equal numbers of S.23s. G-ADUT was immediately transferred to the RAAF. Used to supply bases in the Dutch East Indies when Japan entered the war in December 1941. A18-10 was destroyed in a Japanese air raid on Broome, Western Australia, on March 3, 1942. Photo from: Hudson Fysh Collection/State Library of New South Wales

Delivered in January 1938 but retained by Imperial Airways to cover aircraft losses. Finally delivered to QEA in September that year. Operated alongside Imperial's S.30s on the Sydney-Southampton route, with Qantas crews as far as Singapore. Impressed by the RAAF in June 1940 as A18-12. While in RAAF service it crashed on landing at Townsville during a test flight. RMS Queen Mary is the ship in the background. Photo from: Hudson Fysh Collection/State Library of New South Wales