S885, was diverted to war duties in the North Atlantic and later destroyed. The modern flying boat interior had been designed by New-Zealand-born British architect Brian O'Rorke, following the success of his interior design for the Orient Steam Navigation Company's RMS Orion in 1935. Imperial Airways had engaged O'Rorke in the interior design, planning and detail of their new airliners and flying boats. Short S.25 Sandringham Mk IV Tasman Class flying-boat In 1946, TEAL acquired four Short S.25 Sandringham IV 'Tasman Class' flying boats. They were a fully streamlined conversion passenger transport variation of the Short Sunderland. Consideration was given to landplane operations but the government delayed the decision to move to land as the UK government offered generous terms on purchasing new types in development such as the Avro Tudor and Handley Page Hermes. The Sandringhams were given generic names, ZK-AMB Serial ML761 Tasman, -AMD Serial NJ255 Australia, -AME Serial NJ179 New Zealand, and -AMH JM715 Auckland. However they were unsuited for the harsher trans Tasman crossings. They were grounded for six months in 1948 due to engine cooling issues and disposed of at the end of 1949 when a more suitable custom built version of the Short Solent became available. Consolidated Boeing PB2B-1 Catalina TEAL flew two Boeing-built Consolidated PB2B-1 Catalinas, on loan from the RNZAF, for training and survey work from 1947 to 1949. They were registered as ZK-AMI and ZK-AMP Maroro (Flying Fish – TEAL's emblem) on the civil aviation list. ZK-AMI was never named. Short S.45 Solent Mk IV flying-boat The Short S.25 Sandringham IV was replaced by the Short S.45 Solent IV, of which TEAL acquired four—ZK-AML Aotearoa II, -AMM Ararangi, -AMN Awatere and -AMO Aranui. TEAL management were hoping to move to land based operations after the unsuccessful operation of the Sandringham. An original plan was to operate Douglas DC-4 aircraft from Auckland's Whenuapai joint service airport alongside other overseas international operators. However, a Buy British policy and support for rebuilding the British aircraft industry forced the airline to continue operating flying boats. Proposals to fly the mammoth Saunders-Roe Princess on a subsidised trial basis, and produce a six jet engine powered flying boat, the Saunders-Roe Duchess, to add jet speed to an already antiquated mode of air transport, were also considered. A New Zealand Government promise, that the Solent would be the last water based aircraft the airline would operate, ended any