page_title: No. 58 Squadron RAF
section_title: Second World War
hierarchical_section_title: No. 58 Squadron RAF / History / Second World War
caption_attribution_description: English: IWM caption&#160;: Armourers prepare 500-lb GP bombs on tractor-drawn trolleys, for loading into an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mark V of No. 58 Squadron RAF at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire.
context_page_description: Number 58 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force.
context_section_description: At the start of the Second World War 58 Squadron was based at RAF Linton-on-Ouse flying Whitley bombers as part of No. 4 Group RAF in RAF Bomber Command, flying its first mission of the war, a leaflet raid on the Ruhr, on the night of 3/4 September 1939. From October 1939 until February 1940 it was based at RAF Boscombe Down attached to Coastal Command carrying out convoy escort patrols. The squadron then returned in February 1940 to Linton-on-Ouse as part of Bomber Command and remained there for the next two years, undertaking its first bombing raid on the night of 18/19 April 1940, when three Whitleys set out to attack Fornebu airfield, Oslo, with one aborting and two attacking the target. In April 1942, the squadron transferred to Coastal Command. The squadron flew a total of 1,757 sorties in 227 operations (219 bombing raids and 8 leaflet raids) during its time in Bomber Command, losing 49 aircraft on operations.
  The squadron was based at RAF St Eval and flew anti-submarine patrols over the Western Approaches as part of No. 19 Group RAF. On 23 June 1942, a Whitley of 58 Squadron attacked the German submarine U-753 in the Bay of Biscay, badly damaging the submarine. At the end of August 1942 the squadron moved to RAF Stornoway in the Western Isles. On 15 September 1942 a 58 Squadron Whitley sank the German submarine U-261 near the Rosemary Bankwest of Scotland. In December 1942, the squadron moved to RAF Holmsley South in Hampshire, converting to the Handley Page Halifax in January 1943. 
  On 11 May 1943, a Halifax of 58 Squadron spotted the German submarine U-528 in the Bay of Biscay and attacked with depth-charges. The submarine was subsequently attacked by the sloop Fleetwood and sunk, with the Halifax and Fleetwood being jointly credited with sinking the U-Boat. On 15 May another 58 Squadron Halifax caught a U-Boat on the surface in the Bay of Biscay, sinking U-266.
  In October 1944 the squadron switched from anti-submarine duties to anti-shipping duties, carrying out attacks on German shipping off the coast of Norway. It was disbanded on 25 May 1945.
caption: Armourers prepare 500-lb GP bombs for Armstrong Whitworth Whitley of 58 Squadron at RAF Linton-on-Ouse
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