Editing RAF Coastal Command (section)

===Mid and later war===

[[File:Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Coastal Command C5212.jpg|thumb|A [[De Havilland Mosquito]] of the [[RAF Banff]] Strike Wing attacking a convoy evacuating German troops from [[Kattegat]] on 5 April 1945. A [[Vorpostenboot|flak ship]] and a trawler were sunk]]
Eventually the Command was given the investment it needed. Radar and long-range aircraft enabled the Command to hunt and destroy U-boats with growing efficiency.<ref>Hendrie 2006, pp. 68–69.</ref> German submarines had been sinking a large number of Allied ships in the [[Atlantic Gap]], which was a stretch of water in the central Atlantic beyond the range of most Allied aircraft. The covering of the gap by very-long-range aircraft equipped with radar helped reduce the effectiveness of U-boats.<ref>Hendrie 2006, p. 116.</ref> 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 (1943)|Black May]]. Thereafter the suppression of German submarines was effective in the Atlantic and in their transit routes through the [[Bay of Biscay]] in 1942, 1943 and 1944.<ref>Hendrie 2006, pp. 68, 77–78, 113–114.</ref> In June 1944 the [[Normandy landings]] and subsequent [[Operation Overlord]] liberated France and cost the Germans their air and submarine bases won in 1940. The U-boats were forced to relocate to Norway and Germany in August, restoring many of the difficulties faced by the ''Kriegsmarine'' in 1939 and early 1940.<ref>Hendrie 2006, pp. 121–122.</ref><ref>Hessler 1989, p. 83.</ref> The entire strategic position, which had been the foundation of the U-boat war since June 1940 had been undermined.<ref>Terraine 1989, p. 632.</ref>

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. A brief threat, in the shape of the [[German Type XXI submarine]] emerged but was too late to alter the course of the war.<ref>Buckley 1998, p. 136.</ref> Technological answers to the Type XXI were available in the form of 3-centimetre radar and magnetic anomaly detectors in aircraft. At midnight 4 June 1945, official wartime operations ceased. The last mission was flown by [[Wing Commander (rank)|Wing Commander]] J. Barret [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|DFC]], commanding officer of [[No. 201 Squadron RAF]]. By that time over 2,000 decorations had been awarded. These included four Victoria Crosses, of whom only one survived the war, 17 [[George Medal]]s, and 82 [[Distinguished Service Order]]s.<ref>Ashworth 1992, p. 147.</ref>