diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/TypedArray.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/TypedArray.as
index 8cd6ee45a..4f65c54c5 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/io/TypedArray.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/TypedArray.as
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ public dynamic class TypedArray extends Array
         return "[L" + cname + ";";
     }
 
+    /** Because we have no actionscript type to check, we'll just handle this one manually. */
+    public static function getJavaShortType () :String
+    {
+        return "[S";
+    }
+
     /**
      * A factory method to create a TypedArray for holding objects of the specified type.
      */
@@ -64,6 +70,18 @@ public dynamic class TypedArray extends Array
         return ta;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * A factory method to create a TypedArray for holding data meant as java shorts.
+     */
+    public static function createShort (initialValues :Array = null) :TypedArray
+    {
+        var ta :TypedArray = new TypedArray(getJavaShortType());
+        if (initialValues != null) {
+            ta.addAll(initialValues);
+        }
+        return ta;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Create a TypedArray
      *
diff --git a/src/as/com/threerings/io/streamers/ArrayStreamer.as b/src/as/com/threerings/io/streamers/ArrayStreamer.as
index cbe003df9..5f4f5d1fe 100644
--- a/src/as/com/threerings/io/streamers/ArrayStreamer.as
+++ b/src/as/com/threerings/io/streamers/ArrayStreamer.as
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ public class ArrayStreamer extends Streamer
         } else if (secondChar === "Z") {
             _elementType = Boolean;
 
+        } else if (secondChar === "S") {
+            _elementType = PrimitiveShort;
+
         } else {
             Log.getLog(this).warning("Other array types are not yet handled", "jname", jname);
             throw new Error("Don't know how to stream '" + jname + "' instances.");
@@ -87,7 +90,11 @@ public class ArrayStreamer extends Streamer
             for (ii = 0; ii < arr.length; ii++) {
                 out.writeInt(int(arr[ii]));
             }
-
+        } else if (_elementType == PrimitiveShort) {
+            for (ii = 0; ii < arr.length; ii++) {
+                out.writeShort(int(arr[ii]));
+            }
+            
         } else if (_elementType == Boolean) {
             for (ii = 0; ii < arr.length; ii++) {
                 out.writeBoolean(Boolean(arr[ii]));
@@ -125,6 +132,11 @@ public class ArrayStreamer extends Streamer
                 arr[ii] = ins.readInt();
             }
 
+        } else if (_elementType == PrimitiveShort) {
+            for (ii = 0; ii < arr.length; ii++) {
+                arr[ii] = ins.readShort();
+            }            
+
         } else if (_elementType == Boolean) {
             for (ii = 0; ii < arr.length; ii++) {
                 arr[ii] = ins.readBoolean();
@@ -182,3 +194,8 @@ public class ArrayStreamer extends Streamer
     protected var _isFinal :Boolean;
 }
 }
+
+/** A class to represent that the data in question should be handled as a java primitive short. */
+class PrimitiveShort
+{
+}