Short Brothers: S.23 Empire
Note: This is a sub-section of Short Brothers.
The Empire was officially known as the C-class by Imperial Airways and each aircraft operated by them was given a name beginning with C. The first aircraft, G-ADHL Canopus, was completed in June 1936 and launched on 3 July. A total of 42 Empires were built, all at Short's Rochester factory.
Imperial Airways (and its successor BOAC), Qantas and TEAL operated the Short Empire in commercial service, while the Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force and briefly the Royal Canadian Air Force used them on military operations during the Second World War, particularly for anti-submarine patrol and transport duties.
The first series of the Short Empires, the S.23, could carry 5 crew, 17 passengers, and 4,480 lb (2,035 kg) of cargo at a maximum speed of 174 knots (320 km/h) and were powered by four 920 horsepower (690 kW) Bristol Pegasus radials.
Variants
| Registration | Name | Operator |
| G-ADHL | Canopus | Imperial Airways/BOAC |
| G-ADHM | Caledonia | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-ADUT | Centaurus | Imperial Airways, to Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1939 (as serial A18-10) |
| G-ADUU | Cavalier | Imperial Airways |
| G-ADUV | Cambria | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-ADUW | Castor | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-ADUX | Cassiopea | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-ADUY | Capella | Imperial Airways |
| G-ADUZ | Cygnus | Imperial Airways |
| G-ADVA | Capricornus | Imperial Airways |
| G-ADVB | Corsair | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-ADVC | Courtier | Imperial Airways |
| G-ADVD | Challenger | Imperial Airways |
| G-ADVE | Centurion | Imperial Airways |
| G-AETV | Coriolanus | Imperial Airways, later BOAC, to QANTAS in 1942 (as registration VH-ABG) |
| G-AETW | Calpurnia | Imperial Airways. |
| G-AETX | Ceres | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-AETY | Clio | Imperial Airways, later BOAC, to Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1940 (as AX659) |
| G-AETZ | Circe | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-AEUA | Calypso | Imperial Airways, to QANTAS in 1939 not used directly, to RAAF (as serial A18-11) |
| G-AEUB | Camilla | Imperial Airways, later BOAC, to QANTAS (as VH-ADU) |
| G-AEUC | Corinna | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-AEUD | Cordelia | Imperial Airways, later BOAC, to RAF in 1940 (as AX660), returned to BOAC in 1941 (as G-AEUD) |
| G-AEUE | Cameronian | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-AEUF | Corinthian | Imperial Airways, later BOAC |
| G-AEUG | Coogee | Imperial Airways, to QANTAS in 1938 (as VH-ABC), to RAAF in 1939 (as A18-12) |
| G-AEUH | Corio | Imperial Airways, to QANTAS in 1938 (as VH-ABD), to Imperial Airways in 1939 (as G-AEUH) |
| G-AEUI | Coorong | Imperial Airways, to QANTAS in 1938 (as VH-ABE), to Imperial Airways in 1939 (as G-AEUI) |
| G-AFBJ | Carpentaria | Imperial Airways not used, to QANTAS in 1937 (as VH-ABA), to BOAC in 1942 (as G-AFBJ) |
| G-AFBK | Coolangatta | Imperial Airways not used, to QANTAS in 1937 (as VH-ABB), to RAAF in 1939 (as A18-13) |
| G-AFBL | Cooee | Imperial Airways not used, to QANTAS in 1937 (as VH-ABF) to BOAC in 1942 |