In 1929, the Royal Air Force needed urgent replacements of the Supermarine Southampton IIs then operated by No.

The Air Ministry issued Specification S.18/29 to specifically cover the procurement of a military variant of the Short S.8 Calcutta, similar to the S.8/2 Calcutta then being designed in collaboration with Breguet for Aviation Navale (French Naval Aviation).

The major changes were the provision of an enclosed cockpit for the pilots, rest bunks, enlarged fuel tanks in the upper wing, three Lewis guns (one mounted forward of the cockpit, and two in the fuselage behind the wings), underwing bomb racks, and a large fresh water tank (for intended use in tropical conditions).

[2] On 24 September 1930, the first Rangoon (S1433) was flown from the River Medway at Rochester by Shorts' Chief Test Pilot, John Lankester Parker.

[6] In September 1935, they were temporarily deployed to Gibraltar during the Abyssinia Crisis, and all were retired from service at the end of 1935.