You don't see them much nowadays - hardly any at all in fact. Lasting little more than 12 years, the golden age of the flying boat in Australian aviation history was as brief as it was dramatic. Luxurious Empire Class flying boats that were designed to open international air routes and strengthen ties within the British Empire became targets of Japanese attacks on Australian soil during the World War II. Flying boats set records, suffered tragedy and played a crucial role in keeping Australia connected with the outside world. Following the war, however, the development of longer-range land-based aircraft signaled a slow demise in the role of the flying boat in commercial aviation.
None of the truly wonderful Empire Class flying boats nor hardy Catalinas that were once native to Rose Bay remain here. A small commemorative
plaque is all that exists to remind passers by of a bygone era in aquatic aviation. It was a time when trans-oceanic flight was a novelty. A time when flying boats were symbols of modernity and luxury; when international travel was not simply a matter of getting from point A to point B, but an adventure.

1939 Document

The Rose Bay flying boat terminal in Sydney 1946
Rose Bay was named after the Right Honourable George Rose, who was joint Secretary to the British Treasury with Thomas Steele, after whom Steel(e) Point at Nielsen Park was named.
Rose Bay was also used to train over 3,000 Australian sailors, many for service in World War I.
From 1938, seaplanes landed in
Sydney Harbour on Rose Bay, making this
Sydney's first international airport. On 14 September 1945, nine Catalina flying boats landed and moored at the Rose Bay wharf, repatriating Australian POWs, survivors of Japanese camps.
Sydney siders looked on in silence, aghast at the emaciated state of the returning soldiers. There is a nearby restaurant called Catalina, referencing the aircraft of the same name.
From the 1950s Ansett Flying Boat
Services operated regular scheduled flights to Lord Howe Island from a small seaplane terminal and jetty on the Rose Bay foreshore. Latterly the flights were operated by four-engined Short Sandringhams. The service was discontinued in 1974 when the island's new airport was completed.

Aircraft Maintenance

Ansett Short Sandringham at the Rose Bay seaplane terminal in 1970

Rose Bay Terminal and Catalina Restaurant
The Wintergarden Cinema was a landmark building which housed the
Sydney Film Festival from 1968 to 1973, but which was demolished to make way for exclusive apartments in the late 1980s.
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