HMAS ALBATROSS, (seaplane carrier), was dispatched from Sydney to search for Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s aircraft, the Southern Cross, in the vicinity of Wyndham WA.
The Southern Cross had been forced down onto a mud flat in Northern Australia, and the subsequent search became known as the ‘Coffee Royal Affair’, as some claimed that Kingsford Smith orchestrated the whole event as a publicity stunt. One of the many civilian aircraft searching for Kingsford Smith and his crew crashed landed in the northern Australia, and her crew perished.
The Southern Cross was located before ALBATROSS reached the search area.