 In 1917, the British Admiralty released Specification N.2B for a long-range patrol seaplane to replace the Short Type 184 in Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) service.The Short Brothers' response to this specification, designated Short N.2B was a single-engined, unequal span biplane with two-bay folding wings.While Short's wanted to fit a Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, this was rejected by the Admiralty owing to an expected shortage of these engines, with the Sunbeam Maori substituted.