The strategic and very significant threat to Britain's shipping, and particularly the country's vital North Atlantic lifeline, had not gone away with the ending of World War Two. Instead, it simply had a different source - the Soviet Union rather than the newly-defeated Nazi Germany. For several years following the end of the war, suitably converted and configured Avro Lancasters were pressed into service as makeshift maritime patrol, anti-submarine, reconnaissance and search and rescue aircraft for the RAF's Coastal Command. But the need quickly began to manifest itself for a new, purpose-built long-range maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine aircraft to address the increasing Soviet menace.
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