The Sarafand was first proposed by Oswald Short in 1928 as an enlarged development of the Singapore II, to provide transatlantic range capability.

Short managed to persuade first his chief designer Arthur Gouge and then the Chief of the Air Staff, Sir Hugh Trenchard (later Viscount Trenchard) of the feasibility of such a large aircraft and Air Ministry specification R.6/28 was drawn up to define the project.

It was conducted as a public/private joint venture, the Air Ministry funding it with £60,000 and Short Brothers providing the rest.

[2] The Sarafand was a six-engined biplane flying boat with equal span wings.

[4] The semi-completed flying boat was launched into the river on 15 Jun 1932 and moved to a new slipway, originally called the Barge Yard, for final assembly.