In 1940 the Netherlands East Indies airline KNILM opened a Java - Netherlands New Guinea route, via Celebes (Sulawesi) and the Moluccas. Two Grumman G-21A Goose amphibians soon turned out to be too small and two S-43s were ordered of a twin-tailfin variant. A third example was acquired from Hawaiian Airlines. Note the NEI reg with X prefix, which was required by US authorities for pre-delivery test flights. One year later on 26 December 1941, PK-AFT was lost to strafing Zero fighters at Lake Tondano, Sulawesi while apparently operating in support of a Dornier Do 24 unit of the Dutch navy. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

Wearing the company flag on the nose. Based on the backgrond and details of the ramp, we think this is the Marignane seaplane station on the Étang de Berre. Note that there was also a military seaplane base at Berre-l'Étang. Photo from: Aéromaritime

Howard Hughes bought this S-43 for his flight around the world but he changed his mind and used a Lockheed 14, NX18973, instead. As well as for pleasure flights, he later used the S-43 to train for flying the Spruce Goose, crashing it at Lake Mead in Nevada on 16 May 1943. Two people were killed, Hughes survived. At that time it wore US Army Corps of Engineers markings and spurious serial 74327. It was not s/n 42-1, which was ex NC16925. Hughes had his flying boat expensively salvaged and rebuilt and N440 still survives, owned by Kermit Weeks. Photo by: Rudy Arnold / Smithsonian Institution

The S-43 was flown by the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. This example served with VJ-1 at San Diego, but crashed about a year after this photo was taken, on 31 Dec 1938.

The new flagship of Norwegian aviation. Transatlantic services with this aircraft did not materialize and after two years it was sold to Aéromaritime as F-AREX. Photo from: Norsk Teknisk Museum

What a beautiful plane. The flag worn seems to be a variation on the flag of mother company Chargeurs Réunis, which was white with five red stars. Photo from: Aéromaritime

A subsidiary of the Chargeurs Réunis shipping company, Aéromaritime plied a route along the west coast of Africa between Dakar and Pointe-Noire in Congo-Brazzaville. Photo from: Aéromaritime

Delivered to Inter-Island Airways in January 1937 as NC16934. To Alaska Airlines in July 1949 as N16934. Damaged and sank in Chignik Bay, Alaska (not Tetlin Lake as widely reported) on 1 June 1951. Cancelled as destroyed that same month. Often reported as becoming N326, but this is not correct (N326 was c/n 4342). Wreck salvaged from Chignik Bay by Gary Larkins in 1981 and donated to the US Marine Corps Air-Ground Museum that same year, then to Pima in 1985. By August 1991 the markings '2-MJ-4' were applied. The markings visible in this photo are fake (the real 1061 was c/n 4344) and were applied in the late 1990s or in early 2000.

Sikorsky S-43 amphibian N16394 preserved wearing the markings of '1061', a US Marine Corps JRS-1 of VMJ-2 transport squadron, code '2-MJ-4'. The latter aircraft was c/n 4344. Many sources claim that N16934 was reregistered to N326 at some point, but this is not correct. N326 was c/n 4342.

Panair do Brasil picture. Photo from: Civil Aviation Historical Society, Melbourne, Australia

Fake markings, is ex N16934 and never served for the military. The real 1061 was c/n 4344.

This is the sole surviving true JRS-1 amphibian and is the only aircraft in the Smithsonian collection that was stationed at Pearl Harbor on 7th Dec. 1941, being one of ten JRS-1s at the base when the Japanese attacked. All survived and were immediately pressed into service and flew many missions patrolling for Japanese submarines and searching for the enemy fleet. It was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1960 and still bears the blue paint scheme hastily applied after the Pearl Harbor attack.

This is the sole surviving true JRS-1 amphibian and is the only aircraft in the Smithsonian collection that was stationed at Pearl Harbor on 7th Dec. 1941, being one of ten JRS-1s at the base when the Japanese attacked. All survived and were immediately pressed into service and flew many missions patrolling for Japanese submarines and searching for the enemy fleet. It was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1960 and is now in the Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

This is ex N16934 which was immaculately restored and on display at the wonderful Pima Air & Space museum.

This 12-passenger amphibian was owned by William K. Vanderbilt of New York City. George Vanderbilt had a Douglas Dolphin 12, and Harold Vanderbilt had a Lockheed 14-N. It is in dark blue and silver. I would say it was no coincidence that this was the special color scheme for Navy aircraft of that period used by an Admiral.

Has a fake identity pretending to be a JRS-1. It is actually ex N16934 (delivered in 1937 as NC16934), which never saw military service. This aircraft was recently restored by the staff of Pima Air and Space Museum.