Coastal Command was an organization within the Royal Air Force tasked with protecting the United Kingdom from naval threats. More specifically it was founded with the idea of directly countering German U-boats by air. It was formed just prior to WWII in 1936, and was merged into the new RAF Strike Command in 1968. This image is Crown copyright protected. ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead:17 million Civilian dead:33 million Total dead:50 million Military dead:8 million Civilian dead:4 million Total dead:12 million World War II... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Strike Command is the successor organisation in the Royal Air Force to RAF Bomber Command, RAF Fighter Command and RAF Coastal Command of WWII fame. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

In the early days of the Command, other arms of the RAF had priority and Coastal Command had to make due with outdated planes and weapons. Supplies of aircraft were so short that many units were in fact "on loan" from the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Their primary weapon was a small bomb that had to directly hit the submarine. This bomb had a tendency to "skip" off the water, and in one case actually hit and destroyed the plane that dropped it. Early operations were almost comical, often ending with the U-boat the victor in the rare chances they could actually be found by the aircraft. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... The Fleet Air Arm is the operational group of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of the aircraft on board their ships. ... The Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, produced in the United States. ... HMS Vanguard, a Vanguard-class nuclear ballistic missile (SSBN) submarine HMCS Windsor, a Victoria-class diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine HMAS Collins, a Collins-class diesel-electric guided missile (SSG) submarine USS Virginia, a Virginia-class nuclear attack (SSN) submarine A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate...

In 1941 experiments started to see if a depth charge could be modified to be dropped from the air. After a very successful series of tests, the bomb was quickly replaced in service with these new depth charges. (Somewhat later, an operations research group led by Professor Patrick M. S. Blackett discovered setting the charges shallow improved successes.) In the same year a number of newer planes being introduced into the RAF Bomber Command allowed their older bomber designs to be sent to Coastal Command, including numbers of Vickers Wellingtons. These planes could operate at much longer ranges from shore, making them much more effective. The introduction of the Leigh Light in 1942 allowed accurate night attacks, denying U-boats the freedom to recharge their batteries under cover of darkness as they transitted Western Approaches. For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Depth Charge used by U.S. Navy later in World War II The depth charge is the oldest anti-submarine weapon. ... Operations research, operational research, or simply OR, is the use of mathematical models, statistics and algorithms to aid in decision-making. ... The Right Honourable Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett, OM, CH, FRS (18 November 1897–13 July 1974) was a British experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism. ... RAF Bomber Command was the organisation that controlled the RAFs bomber forces. ... The Vickers Wellington was a twin-engine, medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs Chief Designer, R.K. Pierson. ... The Leigh Light (abbreviated L/L) was a British World War II era anti submarine device used in the Second Battle of the Atlantic. ... This article is about the year. ... The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of the United Kingdom. ...

About the same time the introduction of the de Havilland Mosquito freed up the Bristol Beaufighter for Coastal Command use. The Beaufighter became one of their most effective short-range aircraft, operating with rockets and depth charges against German U-boats in the Bay of Biscay. These planes were also used in attacks on other German shipping, even attacking the German flak boats originally tasked with shooting other Coastal Command aircraft down near the European shores. Neither the Beau nor her counterpart, Junkers' Ju-88, were used for intruder missions against enemy airbases; the havoc on Coastal Command stations, and the disaster to ASW patrol, can only be imagined. The correct title of this article is de Havilland Mosquito. ... A Hercules-powered Bristol Beaufighter Mk. ... Map of the Bay of Biscay. ...

Far more important to Coastal Command were the long range Shorts Sunderland and VLR Liberator. Continued wrangling with Bomber Command meant it was into 1942 before even a few dozen VLRs were released, and much later still before a lonely squadron was posted to Shorts Gander, Newfoundland, covering the crucial Atlantic chokepoint and ultimately allowing Coastal Command to cover the whole North Atlantic. Losses to U-boats plummeted. It was not so much the number sunk as the constant harassment that made the planes effective (in conjunction with direction finding), as submarines were unable to approach to contact in daylight or run in on the surface at night to attack, meaning many convoys were unmolested. The Sunderland, S.25, was a flying boat patrol bomber, developed for the Royal Air Force by Short Brothers, based on their successful S.23 Empire flying boats, the flagship of Imperial Airways. ... Royal Canadian Air Force B-24 Liberator A B-24 Liberator photographed from above while in flight The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was produced in greater numbers than any other American combat aircraft, and was used by most of the Allied air forces in World War II. Designed as a... Bomber Command is an organizational military unit, generally subordinate to the air force of a country. ... This article is about the year. ... The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest ocean, covering approximately one-fifth of the earths surface. ... Direction finding (DF) refers to the establishment of the direction from which a received signal was transmitted. ...

Coastal Command controlled many formations during WWII. At the start of the war it had four Groups under its control, one of which, No. 17 Group, was a formation dedicated to training aircrews. The other three had responsibility for different geographical sectors of the British coastline. No. 16 Group was responsible for the eastern half of the English Channel and the southern half of the North Sea. No. 18 Group covered the remainder of the North Sea and areas to the north and west of Scotland, north of a line running north west from the Mull of Kintyre. No. 15 Group covered the remainder of the coast of the United Kingdom, principally the south west approaches. Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche, IPA: , the sleeve), also for some time known in England as the British Sea, is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... A mull is an almost exclusively Scottish term for the geographic feature known as a promontory and, often more specifically, for the tip of that promontory or peninsula. ...

In February 1941, this geographical arrangement was altered with the activation of No. 19 Group. The boundary between No. 18 Group and No. 15 Group was shifted northwards so that it ran along a line heading north west from Cape Wrath and No. 19 Group was made responsible for the southern part of the area formerly under No. 15 Group. In the Irish Sea No. 19 Groups's remit ran south of a line approximately in the middle of Cardigan Bay. In the eastern Atlantic, the boundary ran slightly north of that line. Cape Wrath lighthouse Cape Wrath is a cape in northern Scotland. ... Relief map of the Irish Sea. ... The term Cardigan Bay, when used by itself, can refer to: A horse called Cardigan Bay A bay in Wales called Cardigan Bay A bay in Prince Edward Island called Cardigan Bay This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same...

Further important additions were made to Coastal Command's remit when squadrons based outside the UK were also placed under its control. In November 1940, No. 200 Group at Gibraltar was transferred to the control of Coastal Command, from that of RAF Mediterranean. Apart from a brief period under the operational command of Allied Forces Headquarters during Operation Torch and its aftermath, RAF units in Gibraltar remained under Coastal Command control for the rest of the war. No. 200 Group was raised from Group level to Command level within Coastal Command in December 1941 as RAF Gibraltar, and remained a Command until again reduced to Group level in 1953 as AHQ Gibraltar. With the British occupation of Iceland, RAF units were also based there, and as their work was almost exclusively ASW, Coastal Command again assumed control. At first, No. 30 Wing was the formation controlling units in Iceland. However, in July 1941, No. 30 Wing was raised to Command status as RAF Iceland. The final addition to the clutch of overseas units controlled by Coastal Command was No. 247 Group. In mid-1943, Portugal granted Britain basing rights in the Azores, and ASW aircraft were duly sent there. As with Gibraltar and Iceland, Coastal Command was the controlling authority for the aircraft based there. Allied Forces Headquarters was the headquarters that controlled all Allied forces in the Mediterranean theatre from late 1943 to the end of the war. ... Combatants Western Allies (United States, United Kingdom, French resistance forces in Algiers) Germany, Vichy France Commanders Dwight Eisenhower François Darlan Strength 73,500 Casualties 479 dead + 720 wounded 1346 dead + 1997 wounded Operation Torch was the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the... RAF Gibraltar is a Royal Air Force station on Gibraltar. ... Location Motto of the autonomous region: Antes morrer livres que em paz sujeitos (Portuguese: To die free rather than to be subjugated in peace) Official language Portuguese Capitals Ponta Delgada (Presidency of the autonomous government), Angra do Heroísmo (Supreme Court), Horta (Legislative Assembly) Other towns Praia da Vitória...

After WWII Coastal Command continued in its anti-submarine role. At first it continued to receive converted bomber designs, notably the Avro Shackleton, originally based on the Lancaster but soon heavily modified. With the introduction of nuclear powered designs the day of the converted bomber were over, and newer planes needed to have considerably more electronics onboard. In 1969 the special-purpose Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod was introduced into RAF service for this role, and Coastal Command duties were passed onto general squadrons. The command itself ceased to exist on 28 November 1968, when it was subsumed into the new Strike Command. Today there are three active Nimrod squadrons based at RAF Kinloss, part of RAF Strike Command. The Shackleton was a Royal Air Force long-range patrol bomber developed from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage. ... The Avro Lancaster was a four-engine World War II bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force (RAF). ... The BAE Systems (formerly Hawker-Siddeley) Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft is derived from the De Havilland Comet, the worlds first jet airliner. ... November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Strike Command is the successor organisation in the Royal Air Force to RAF Bomber Command, RAF Fighter Command and RAF Coastal Command of WWII fame. ... RAF Kinloss is an Royal Air Force station on the Moray Firth in the north of Scotland. ...

Commanders in Chief

• Air Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore 14 July 1936 - 1 September 1936
• Air Marshal Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferte 1 September 1936 - 18 August 1937
• Air Marshal Sir Frederick Bowhill 18 August 1937 - 14 June 1941
• Air Chief Marshal Sir Philip Joubert de la Ferte 14 June 1941 - 5 February 1943
• Air Marshal Sir John Slessor 5 February 1943 - 20 January 1944
• Air Chief Marshal Sir William Sholto Douglas 20 January 1944 - 30 June 1945
• Air Marshal Sir Leonard Slatter 30 June 1945 - 1 November 1948
• Air Marshal Sir John Baker 1 November 1948 - 1 January 1950
• Air Marshal Sir Charles Steele 1 January 1950 - 8 June 1951
• Air Marshal Sir Alick Stevens 8 June 1951 - 8 November 1953
• Air Marshal Sir John Boothman 15 November 1953 - 5 April 1956
• Air Marshal Sir Brian Reynolds 5 April 1956 - 1 June 1959
• Air Marshal Sir Edward Clifton 1 June 1959 - 10 August 1962
• Air Marshal Sir Anthony Selway 10 August 1962 - 22 January 1965
• Air Marshal Sir Paul Holder 22 January 1965 - 2 September 1968
• Air Marshal Sir John Lapsley 2 September 1968 - 28 November 1968