804 Naval Air Squadron 804 Naval Air Squadron ( 804 NAS ) was a Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy , formed in November 1939 from part of 769 NAS Sea Gladiators which had been detached to RNAS Hatston . The squadron was merged into 800 NAS in June 1944 and subsequently reformed in September . World War II . During World War II , she was equipped with various aircraft types in differing roles . When formed at Hatston , 804 used Gloster Sea Gladiator s in defence of the naval base at Scapa Flow , but was transferred in April 1940 to HMS " Glorious " to provide air cover for the ferrying of 269 Squadron RAF ' s Gladiators to Norway after the German invasion . This was a brief assignment and in early May the squadron was transferred to HMS " Furious " at Campbeltown , thus missing " Glorious " ' sinking . Between May and September 1940 804 squadron returned to Hatston , and was subsequently recognised as one of the two FAA squadrons that operated with RAF Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain . In October 1940 804 Squadron was re - equipped with Martlet I fighters , and first operated the new fighters out of RNAS Skaebrae in the Orkney Islands in October 1940 . On 25 December 1940 , two of the squadrons Martlets shot down a Junkers Ju 88 off Scapa Flow , thus scoring the first aerial victory in Europe by an American - made aircraft in history and the first by any variant of the Grumman F4F Wildcat . Further re - equipping occurred in February 1941 at RNAS Yeovilton with Fulmar II s and Sea Hurricane s . In April 1941 the squadron was assigned to operate from catapult - armed ships ( CAM ship s and fighter catapult ship s ) until this role was taken over by the RAF ' s Merchant Ship Fighter Unit in May 1942 . During this assignment , the squadron had aircraft on HMS " Ariguani " , " Springbank " ( until sunk on 27 September 1940 ) , " Maplin " , and SS " Michael " ( until sunk on 2 June 1941 ) . In August 1941 , an 804 Squadron Sea Hurricane from HMS " Maplin " , piloted by Robert Everett , shot down an Fw 200 Condor , the first such victory for a catapult launched aircraft . In July 1942 , the squadron escorted Gibraltar convoys on board HMS " Argus " and later , in October , now equipped with the Sea Hurricane IIc , joined HMS " Dasher " for the North African landings . The squadron was re - equipped yet again in August 1943 Hellcat I s and in October joined No 7 Naval Fighter Wing . Two months later they embarked on HMS " Emperor " and accompanied a US - bound convoy . The squadron participated in the successful attack on 3 April 1944 on the German battleship Tirpitz ( Operation " Tungsten " ) in Altafjord , northern Norway . Fleet Air Arm Barracuda dive - bombers from HMS " Furious " and HMS " Victorious " were covered by the 7th Naval Fighter Wing , including 804 NAS . In June 1944 , 804 was absorbed into 800 squadron . The squadron reformed in September 1944 at Wingfield airfield , South Africa with 24 Hellcat IIs and in January 1945 , they embarked on HMS " Ameer " to provide cover during the landings on Ramree Island , and subsequently missions over Sumatra and Malaya . In April 1945 the squadron embarked on HMS " Empress " and also HMS " Shah " for attacks on the Andaman Islands and the coast of Burma , returning to HMS " Ameer " in June for attacks on Sumatran airfields and Phuket Island , only returning to the United Kingdom after VJ Day in November 1945 . Post - war . She participated in the Korean War , flying off HMS Glory . She was recommissioned at RNAS Lossiemouth on 1 March 1960 . The squadron was equipped with 6 Supermarine Scimitar F MK1 aircraft under the command of Lieutenant Commander T . Binney RN . The 800 Series of Naval Air Squadrons were allocated to carrier and land based operational squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm . After a four month work up period the Squadron embarked in HMS " Hermes " . Other than for two periods ashore at Lossiemouth , the squadron operated from " Hermes " until the unit disbanded in September 1961 . The squadron took part in both the Farnborough Airshow and the Paris Air Show in 1961 , operating from the deck of " Hermes " rather than a shore base and flying directly to and from the shows .