Operational Aircraft of RAF Coastal Command 1943-45
This is a very simplified list of common RAF Coastal Command Aircraft from 1943-45.
1943 saw the Allies beginning to win the Battle of the Atlantic, in part due to more and better patrol bomber types, as well as improved ASR and other submarine detection aids. This period also saw the first airborne Magnetic Anomaly Detector (MAD) equipment, which was fitted to certain specially modified aircraft. If properly used MAD allowed aircraft to detect even deeply submerged submarines. Additionally, improved Air-to-Surface radar made detecting surfaced submarines even easier.
By 1944 the U-boat menace was almost defeated, and Coastal Command turned its attention more to providing convoy protection and air superiority over the English Channel, both before and after D-Day.
By late 1944, with the capture of the majority of the Kriegsmarine's U-boat pens in France, and with strategic bombing seriously damaging German industry, Coastal Command saw reduced action, although it still staged anti-shipping strikes against targets along the Norwegian and Dutch coasts.
Coastal Command Aircraft 15 February 1943
Carrier Torpedo Bomber: Swordfish
Fighter/Light Recon: Gladiator, Spitfire
Heavy Patrol Bomber Seaplane: Catalina, Sunderland
Heavy Patrol Bomber: Fortress, Halifax, Liberator, Whitley
Heavy Strike Fighter/Torpedo Bomber: Beaufighter
Heavy Strike Fighter: Mosquito
Liaison/Light Patrol Bomber: Anson
Light Bomber/Torpedo Bomber: Beaufort
Light Patrol Bomber Seaplane: Northrop N-3PB (Norwegian)
Medium Patrol Bomber: Blenheim, Hampden, Hudson, Ventura, Wellington
Coastal Command Aircraft 6 June 1944
Carrier Torpedo Bomber: Avenger, Swordfish
Fighter/Light Recon: Spitfire
Heavy ASW Patrol Bomber: Whitley (ASW)
Heavy Patrol Bomber Seaplane: Canso, Catalina, PBY Catalina, Sunderland
Heavy Patrol Bomber: B-17 Flying Fortress, Halifax, B-24 Liberator, Liberator, PB4Y-1 Privateer
Heavy Strike Fighter/Torpedo Bomber: Beaufighter
Heavy Strike Fighter: Mosquito
Liaison/Light Patrol Bomber: Anson
Light Flying Boat ASR: Walrus
Light Recon/Liaison/Fighter: Gladiator
Medium ASW Patrol Bomber: Hudson (ASW)
Medium Patrol Bomber: Hampden, Hudson, Ventura Wellington
Last edited by Pursuivant; 10-24-2016 at 01:07 PM.
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