Operational assignment and institutional ownership were different. Larger aircraft tended to sit within Coastal Command, while some fighter squadrons were attached to it for maritime work but still belonged to Fighter Command. Fighter Command guarded scarce fighters and could recall them if home air defense required reinforcement. Later Beaufighter and Mosquito solutions therefore cannot simply be projected backward into the coastal-convoy crisis of 1940.
Notable Point · 1:42:54-1:51:32
How Fighter Command retained a claim on Coastal Command aircraft
Aircraft could serve operationally with Coastal Command while Fighter Command retained organizational control and the ability to recall scarce fighter assets.