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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0866.PDF
872 FLIGHT, 28 June 1957 COASTAL COMMAND From Air Marshal Sir Bryan V. Reynolds, K.C.B., C.B.E., Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief TN these days of high-speed, high-altitude intercepters, V-bombers, guided •*- missiles and H-bombs it is easy to overlook the less spectacular activities and tasks of the Royal Air Force, even though these tasks are equally vital to our survival in war. If war comes, it may well be that the initial nuclear exchange would be so crippling as to bring the war quickly to an end. On the other hand there is the possibility that the nuclear battle might not prove immediately decisive; and in that event it would be vital to the survival of the United Kingdom and Western Europe to defend Atlantic sea communications against submarine attack. Without seaborne imports of food and other supplies we could not hope to recover from the devastation of nuclear attack. It is also reasonably certain that the greater part of the potential aggressor's large and modern submarine fleet would be at sea when war broke out and could, moreover, remain at sea perhaps for months. During the last war Coastal Command played an equal part with the Royal Navy in winning the Battle of the Atlantic. At that time our supremacy over the U-boats depended largely on radar's ability to detect submarines on the surface, where they were forced to stay for six out of every 24 hours to recharge their batteries. Today, snort-fitted submarines set us a more difficult problem and, in the very near future, nuclear submarines will travel very much faster and will be unlikely to present any surface targets. We believe that in these cir- cumstances maritime aircraft will be the only anti-submarine weapon with a sufficient speed advantage to hunt and kill nuclear submarines. Moreover, unlike the escort ships, the maritime aircraft is invulnerable to counter-attack by its target. We therefore see Coastal Commands contribution to the war at sea becoming increasingly important as time goes on. Today, Coastal Command is committed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza- tion and, in war, would operate under Allied control in the Eastern Atlantic and the Channel Islands. By continually exercising our ships and maritime aircraft with those of France, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United States we are welding the Allied maritime forces into an integrated team, with common doc- trines and procedures. Mindful of our common dependence on sea communica- tions, we are dedicated to the task of preventing the defeat at sea which might nullify Allied victory in the air. ', who dwell in the British Isles must celebrate with joyand thankfulness our deliverance from the mortal U-boat perils, which deliverance lighteth the year that has ended... I still rate highest among the dangers we have overcome the U-boat attack on our shipping, without which we cannot live oreven receive help . . ." So wrote Mr. Winston Churchill in the fateful year 1944. The submarine danger today is recognized to be even greaterthan it was then. In this respect the one possible enemy we have is reckoned to be numerically superior to the Germans at theirwartime zenith, and the offensive capabilities and elusiveness of the submarine have increased beyond measure.At the submarine captain's command now are homing tor- pedoes, which make aiming a considerably easier task, and asustained underwater speed quite unheard of during the last war. With the advent of atomic-headed guided missiles, too, the offen-sive submarine can also be seen in an entirely new role; that of bombarding land targets from a few miles offshore. (One refersto this as a new role, though actually it is the modern version of what the Royal Navy's monitor submarine M2 did in the 1914-18war; armed with a 12-inch gun, it used to surprise the Germans by surfacing off the Belgian coast and enfilading their defences.Later the big gun was removed and a small seaplane hangar put in its place. As an anti-submarine device this submarine aircraft-carrier idea still has possibilities.) The target presented by a submarine to a searching aircraft hashad three distinct phases. Earlier types of submarine had to surface for about one-third of their time at sea in order to re-chargethe accumulators which drove their electric motors while the boat was submerged. Next came the "snort," by which breathing devicea submarine could remain continuously at periscope level; and now, by the use of high-test peroxide engines or nuclear power,continuous high speed can be maintained whilst fully submerged. Detection of submarines refuelling under the protection of thepolar ice-cap would pose an entirely new set of problems. From the foregoing it is obvious that the problems involved insearch and destruction have become more and more difficult of solution, a tendency that is likely to continue in the future. Fortunately, despite economy measures, equipment has notremained static. Homing torpedoes can be made to work against submarines as well as for them. Much-improved under-waterdetection apparatus is now available, not only for use both by ships and "dunking" helicopters, but also in sonobuoys, whichtransmit by radio any signals received by them to the searching aircraft above. Radar, too, is much improved, particularly in theexperimental field. At Coastal Command headquarters at Northwood, Middlesex,die A.O.C-in-C, Air Marshal Sir Bryan V. Reynolds, has authority not only over his R.A.F. Command: under NATO he is also AirC-in-C. Eastern Atlantic Area, Atlantic Command, and Allied Maritime Air C-in-C, Channel Command. Comparable tripartitefunctions apply also to most of the officers of his command. Sir Bryan's right-hand man, A.V-M. C. E. Chilton, Senior Air StaffOfficer, is an experienced Coastal man, having flown every type of maritime aircraft—back through the days of Coastal Area (beforeit became Coastal Command in 1937) to F-boats at Felixstowe in 1926.Four distinct components gp to make up Coastal Command: No. 18 Group, with its headquarters at Pitreavie, Fifeshire, com-manded by A.V-M. P. D. Cracroft; No. 19 Group, at Plymouth, Devonshire (A.V-M. G. I. L. Saye); Maritime Air Headquarters,Chatham (A. Cdre. H. F. G. Southey); and R.A.F. Gibraltar (A. Cdre. J. D. Miller). From these four headquarters are com-manded the many stations at which maritime-reconnaissance air- craft, helicopters and motor launches are kept. The principalpeace-time stations of Coastal Command are Aldergrove, Bally- kelly, St. Eval, St. Mawgan, Kinloss and Gibraltar; but thereare over 40 places at which search-and-rescue helicopters, boats or mountain-rescue teams are kept at readiness. A MaritimeOperational Training Unit is situated at Kinloss and Coastal has a joint interest with the Royal Navy in the Anti-submarine Schoolat Londonderry. The airfield at North Front, Gibraltar, is quite remarkable. Itsone runway is 2,000 yards long, but to get this effective length it has had to be built out to sea. Adjacent to the runway towers theblank 1,355ft face of the famous Rock, and on occasions some
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