No. 212 Squadron RAF is an inactive Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 aircraft squadron

Squadron (aviation)

A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...

.

The squadron was first formed as No. 12 Squadron RNAS as a training unit within No 1 Wing of the Royal Naval Air Service

Royal Naval Air Service

The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...

 at Hondschoote

Hondschoote

Hondschoote is a commune of the Nord département, in northern France.-Heraldry:-Geography:Hondschoote lies on the French side of the Franco-Belgian frontier, just inland from the North Sea....

 on 8 June 1917. Unlike other RNAS squadrons, it was not redesignated to an RAF 200-series squadron number on the day the RAF was established (1 April 1918) as the squadron was disbanded.

Aircraft operated

• 1918-1919 Airco DH.4
• 1918-1920 Airco DH.9 and 9A
  Airco DH.9
  The Airco DH.9 - also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 - was a British bomber used in the First World War...
  
  
• 1918-1919 Sopwith Camel
  Sopwith Camel
  The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
  
  
• 1940 Supermarine Spitfire C
  Supermarine Spitfire
  The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
  
  
• 1940 Bristol Blenheim IV
  Bristol Blenheim
  The Bristol Blenheim was a British light bomber aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company that was used extensively in the early days of the Second World War. It was adapted as an interim long-range and night fighter, pending the availability of the Beaufighter...
  
  
• 1949 Lockheed Hudson I
  Lockheed Hudson
  The Lockheed Hudson was an American-built light bomber and coastal reconnaissance aircraft built initially for the Royal Air Force shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and primarily operated by the RAF thereafter...
  
  
• 1942-1944 Consolidated Catalina IB
  PBY Catalina
  The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
  
  
• 1944-1945 Consolidated Catalina V
  PBY Catalina
  The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
  
  
• 1945 Consolidated Catalina IB
  PBY Catalina
  The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...