This was the twenty-ninth Empire boat to be completed and flown by Short Bros at Rochester, Kent

The order was placed by Imperial Airways, London - September 02, 1935

Built by Short Brothers (Rochester & Bedford) Ltd at the Seaplane Works, Rochester, Kent

Completed as a S-23 MK.1 'C' Class Empire flying boat having 920 h.p. Bristol Pegasus Xc engines

The standard fuel capacity was 652 gallons in two fuel tanks of 326 gallons each mounted inside the wings

It had an all-up weight of 40,500 lbs (18,380 kg)

The cruising speed was 164 m.p.h. with a standard range of 684 nautical miles (1,270 km)

The range of the aircraft was reduced to 517 nm (960 km) against a 35 knot headwind

The aircraft was later fitted with an additional 3 x 220 gallon fuel tanks that effectively doubled its range

Entered onto British Aircraft Register as G-AEUH (CofR 7682) - March 01, 1937

Registered to Imperial Airways Limited, London

The British registration was not painted on the aircraft at this time

It was allocated the Fleet Number '29' which was used in all operational records to identify the aircraft

During construction the aircraft was allocated for delivery to Qantas Empire Airways

Launched as 'VH-ABD' at the Short Bros Seaplane Works, The Medway, Rochester - February 02, 1938

First flown as 'VH-ABD' - February 09, 1938

Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA 6186) issued - February 10, 1938

Delivered to Imperial Airways at their Hythe Base - February 10, 1938

The aircraft was originally to have been named 'Coolin'

However Q.E.A. wanted their aircraft names to be representative of individual States of Australia

The aircraft was therefore named 'Corio' (the journey upward)

It was not delivered to Q.E.A. as intended but was retained by Imperial Airways to cover its Empire boat losses

Operated its maiden service Southampton - Singapore as IE629 - February 20, 1938

Operated its maiden westbound service Singapore - Alexandria as IW631 - March 02, 1938

This aircraft was utilised by Imperial Airways until it was delivered to Qantas Empire Airways - June 1938

Ownership transferred to Qantas Empire Airways - June 13, 1938

Cancelled from the British Aircraft Register - June 13, 1938

The aircraft was not registered in either the U.K. or Australia for the period June 13 to October 18, 1938

No photographic evidence has been found to confirm that it carried the British registration during this period

The aircraft was badly damaged at Dubai Creek, Sheikdom of Sharjah - July 1938

It was operating Flight IE670 from the U.K. on July 16, 1938

A gust of wind blew 'Corio' into its sister aircraft 'Cooee'

'Cooee' was operating the westward flight from Karachi to the United Kingdom

It remained grounded at Dubai whilst repairs were carried out until August 19, 1938

The archive files for each aircraft contain no documents relating to this accident

It would seem that the Australian Authorities were never notified of the accident

British Authorities handled all repairs and recertification of 'Corio'

It arrived Sydney (Rose Bay) as Flight SE32 on its official delivery to Qantas Empire Airways Ltd - October 18, 1938

'Corio' had previously visited Sydney as an Imperial Airways flight between September 10 - 15, 1938

It was the sixth 'Empire Class' flying boat delivered to Qantas Empire Airways

Officially entered onto the Australian Aircraft Register as VH-ABD (CofR 718) - October 19, 1938

Registered to Qantas Empire Airways Ltd, Sydney

This aircraft was part of the aircraft pool operated by Imperial Airways and Qantas Empire Airways

on services between Southampton, England and Sydney, Australia

Qantas Empire Airways crews flew the aircraft on the Sydney - Singapore - Sydney sector of this route

between July 1938 and October 1941

Qantas Empire Airways crews then took over the Singapore - Karachi - Singapore sector of the route

from October 1941 to February 1942 when operations ceased due to Japanese war activities in South-East Asia

This aircraft along with VH-ABE 'Coorong' were exchanged for the two Imperial Airways aircraft

G-ADUT 'Centaurus' and G-AEUE 'Calypso' that were currently positioned in Australia at the time

Ownership was transferred to Imperial Airways in exchange for G-ADUT - September 19, 1939

Entered onto the British Aircraft Register as G-AEUH (CofR 8329/2) - October 19, 1939

Registered to Imperial Airways Limited, London

Cancelled from Australian Aircraft Register - November 10, 1939

Imperial Airways merged with the original British Airways to form British Overseas Airways Corporation

This merger took effect - April 01, 1940

Ownership was officially transferred to British Overseas Airways - August 22, 1940

This aircraft was destroyed when it was shot down off Koepang, Timor by a Japanese fighter - January 30, 1942

The aircraft was being crewed by Qantas personnel under the command of Captain A. A. Koch

It was operating for B.O.A.C. at the time on the wartime 'Horseshoe' route

Three lives were lost

It was confirmed that 'Corio' had flown 5,873 hours at the time of its loss