Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Ayyukan farko na rundunar a lokacin da aka kafa shi ne don aiwatar da ayyukan bincike-bincike don mai ɗaukar jirgin sama. Daga baya an sake sanye su da Fairey Seals da Blackburn Sharks, a ƙarshe sun sami Fairey Swordfish a cikin kaka 1937. An sake tura rundunar a watan Nuwamba na shekara mai zuwa zuwa sabon jirgin sama. Rundunar ta yi aiki daga "Ark Royal" na shekaru uku masu zuwa, da farko a kan ayyukan anti-submarine, amma daga baya a matsayin bincike na sama da jirgin sama na torpedo. Squadron ya tafi tare da "Ark Royal" zuwa Atlantic, kuma a watan Afrilu na 1940 suna tallafawa ayyukan Allied a lokacin yakin Norway, inda suka kai bam a filin jirgin sama na Vaernes. Bayan da
Janyewa daga Norway, "Ark Royal" da kuma rundunar sun koma Bahar Rum a watan Yuni. Jirgin sama daga rundunar 820 ya shiga cikin kai hari ga rundunar sojojin Faransa a Mers-el-Kébir, kuma daga baya yakin Dakar, da kuma hare-hare a Cagliari. Sun kuma kasance masu aiki a lokacin yakin Cape Spartivento, da kuma rufe jiragen ruwa zuwa Malta.