892 Naval Air Squadron 892 Naval Air Squadron ( 892 NAS ) was a carrier - based fighter squadron of the British Royal Navy ' s Fleet Air Arm . It was formed in 1943 , flying Grumman Martlet s , and was the only operational Fleet Air Arm squadron to fly the McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG . 1 . History . 892 Naval Air Squadron was first formed in July 1942 at Norfolk , Virginia , equipped with six Grumman Martlet IV fighters . It operated Martlets from escort aircraft carrier s , flying from HMS " Battler " and HMS " Archer " , disbanding in August 1943 when it merged into 819 Naval Air Squadron . It reformed in April 1945 as a night fighter squadron , flying Grumman Hellcat II NF s off HMS " Ocean " . Post war , it operated de Havilland Sea Venom and de Havilland Sea Vixen fighters , being the first operational fighter squadron to use the Sea Vixen . In 1968 the squadron operated the widely acclaimed Simon ' s Sircus ( " sic " ) aerobatic team , led by Lt Cdr Simon Idiens . 892 Naval Air Squadron was reformed on 31 March 1969 , and was the Royal Navy ’ s only operational Phantom FG . 1 unit ( both 700P and 767 NAS were training squadrons ) . In 1964 the Royal Navy had envisaged operating 143 Phantoms with a combined carrier fleet of HMS " Ark Royal " , HMS " Eagle " , and the new super - carrier CVA - 01 . However , these plans were significantly curtailed when the government ' s 1966 Defence White Paper cancelled the CVA - 01 project in 1966 , and , amid further defence cuts , only proceeded to refurbish " Ark Royal " and " Eagle " . As a result the number of Phantoms planned to be operated was cut to 134 and then to 110 . Eventually only 48 examples were ordered , which was enough for two squadrons of 12 aircraft each for " Ark Royal " and " Eagle " , and with additional aircraft for a training squadron ( 767 NAS ) and reserves . However as aircraft were beginning to be delivered during 1968 " Eagle " ’ s refit was cancelled and 20 aircraft were allocated to the RAF . Against a backdrop of defence cuts 892 Squadron suspected that it would become the last fixed - wing squadron and poignantly adopted a large Ω symbol on a white diamond placed on a red fin flash as its squadron symbol . Despite its ( later to be proved unjustified ) claim to being the last Royal Naval squadron to operate fixed wing fighters ( Sea Harriers began equipping the Fleet Air Arm in April 1980 ) , 892 gained world wide exposure when one of their Phantoms won the " Daily Mail Trans - Atlantic Air Race " in May 1969 . Lt Cdr Brian Davies , and Lt Cdr Peter Goddard set a record for flight time from New York to London of 4 hours 46 minutes and 57 seconds . With HMS " Ark Royal " ready , Phantoms from 892 NAS were embarked and operations could begin , with additional aircraft from 767 using the carrier for practice . Shortly afterwards 767 NAS was disbanded with the personnel and equipment moving to the Phantom Training Flight ( a Royal Navy unit ) , and based at RAF Leuchars , Fife , Scotland in 1972 . 892 was also to move base from RNAS Yeovilton to RAF Leuchars in the same year . Whilst disembarked from " Ark Royal " the squadron shared Fighter Ready Alert duties with both 23 Squadron ( English Electric Lightning ) and 43 Squadron of the RAF , who themselves had been equipped with the F4K Phantoms that became surplus when it was decided not to employ another Navy Phantom squadron in " Eagle " . Throughout the 1970s the unit was involved in a variety of NATO and Royal Navy exercises . However , the complex maintenance of the Phantom was to consistently plague the aircraft , despite great efforts by crew and maintainers . These efforts were depicted in the BBC documentary Sailor . With HMS " Ark Royal " due to pay off in December 1978 it was confirmed that there was to be no future for 892 Squadron . On 27 November 1978 XT870 / 012 became the last aircraft to be catapulted from a British aircraft carrier . 892 NAS was disbanded on 15 December 1978 and its Phantom FG . 1s were transferred to No . 111 Squadron RAF at RAF Leuchars . Aircraft flown . Aircraft flown by 892 Naval Air Squadron include :