It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War.

[5] The Admiralty's main concern until 1937 was the return of the Fleet Air Arm to the Royal Navy while the RAF concentrated on the development of a bombing force to provide a deterrent.

During the Second World War, Coastal Command's most important contribution was the protection of Allied convoys from attacks by the U-boats of the German Kriegsmarine.

The main operations of Coastal Command were defensive, defending supply lines in the Battle of the Atlantic, as well as the Mediterranean, Middle East, and African theatres.

By 1943 Coastal Command finally received sufficient Very Long Range [VLR] aircraft and its operations proved decisive in the victory over the U-boats.

These aircraft were Consolidated B-24 Liberators and from early 1943, these and other Coastal Command aircraft, were fitted with ASV Mark III [air-to-surface vessel] centimetric radar, the latest depth charges, including homing torpedoes, officially classed as Mark 24 mines [nicknamed 'Wandering Annie' or 'Wandering Willie'] and even rockets.

During the Cold War, Coastal Command concentrated on anti-submarine warfare preparations against the fleets of the Warsaw Pact.

Several Expansion Schemes were heading at such pace to re-arm the British military in face of the Nazi threat that "Area" formations were now to be called "Commands".

Some 16 of these were allocated to trade defence but given Trenchard's policy (which was still in place after his retirement) of developing bombers for the maritime arm which could bolster the air offensive, most were not specialised anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft.

Despite the experiences of the First World War, no attention was paid to the problem of attacking submarines from the air as part of trade protection measures.

Owing to misplaced faith in the imperfect ASDIC invention which was never intended to detect surface-running submarines, it appeared the Royal Navy no longer considered U-boats a threat to Britain's sea lanes.

It was assumed that Coastal Command was to keep sea communications open for merchant shipping and prevent seaborne raids on British coastlines and ports.

[18] When Admiral Sir Dudley Pound enquired about aerial assets in trade and commerce defence, Chief of the Air Staff Cyril Newall, replied that there was not enough "jam" [resources] to go around and stated it was more advisable to risk losses on trade routes than weaken the RAF's ability to protect Britain from air attack and bomb its enemies.

[19] In March 1937, the Director of Operations, Group Captain Robert Saundby, complained that the role for Coastal Command in war, namely supporting the bomber offensive and second, the support of naval forces along the British coastline, were too limited and was in danger of diverting the Command from its main concern: ASW.

The Naval Staff insisted that surface commerce raiders presented the greatest danger and aircraft could prove decisive only in locating enemy warships.

When Coastal Command went to war, its first task was to co-operate with the Navy to prevent enemy vessels from escaping into the North Sea and Atlantic Oceans.

These steps are significant as the language indicates a change from passive reconnaissance of enemy warships and submarines to an active directive which involved the attack of the vessels by Coastal Command aircraft.

German submarines were not able to reach the Atlantic unless they undertook a dangerous transit journey through the North Sea and around Britain's northern waters or through the English Channel, which was guarded by the Royal and French Navies.

[25] The events of April to June 1940 overturned the balance of naval and air power, as the Germans conquered Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Despite the enormous losses of the disastrous 1940–1942 period, known to the Germans as the "First" and "Second Happy Time", the Air Ministry refused to invest in trade defence.

[38] In May 1943 the campaign reached a peak, when a large number of U-boats were sunk with little loss to Allied shipping; Coastal Command had gained the initiative and it was known by the Germans as Black May.

[39] In June 1944 the Normandy landings and subsequent Operation Overlord liberated France and cost the Germans their air and submarine bases won in 1940.

[42] In the last three years of the war, Coastal Command sank more U-boats than any other service and continued to hold the technological advantage from 1943.

Commonwealth personnel were also sent home and the powerful Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito wings were reduced.

[45] The Command still maintained strong air-sea-rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR) and reconnaissance forces but its ASW was lopsided.

[46] While the Command retained a minimum peacetime force and the Air Ministry had every intention of maintaining it as such, the fleet was further reduced and suffered from procurement problems.

The purpose of Coastal Command was to help bolster the defence and guard against a potential Soviet naval threat in Atlantic and European waters.

Handley Page Hastings were hastily modified and ready for operations but were not sent, owing to the need for ASW aircraft in the Eastern Atlantic.

[54] In the early 1960s the Soviet Navy and Communist Bloc's fishing fleets began operating around the British Isles in increasing numbers.

[57] In 1969 the special-purpose Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod, based on the de Havilland Comet airliner, was introduced into RAF service and Coastal Command duties were passed on to general squadrons.