RFA Argus (A135)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Argus.

RFA Argus off the coast of Devonport in 2007.
History
United Kingdom
NameMV Contender Bezant
OwnerContender 2 Ltd (Sea Containers, Managers)
Port of registryHamilton, Bermuda
BuilderSocietà Italiana Ernesto Breda at Marghera
Yard number293
Launched28 November 1980
Completed31 July 1981
FateSold to Harland and Wolff, 1 March 1984
NotesRequisitioned by Ministry of Defence, May 1982. Returned to owner, November 1982.
United Kingdom
NameRFA Argus
Acquired18 March 1988
Commissioned1 June 1988
Renamed25 March 1987
HomeportHMNB Devonport[1]
Identification
MottoOcculi Omnium (Eyes of All)
Honours and
awards		Falkland Islands 1982 (as the MV Contender Bezant), Gulf War 1991, Bosnia War 1992, Kosovo War 1998, Ebola Crisis 2015
StatusIn active service
Badge
General characteristics
TypeLittoral strike ship; secondary functions: Role 3 casualty treatment/aviation training and support vessel
Displacement28,081 tonnes
Length175.1 m (574 ft 6 in)
Beam30.4 m (99 ft 9 in)
Draught8.1 m (26 ft 7 in)
Propulsion2 × Lindholmen Pielstick 18 PC2.5V diesels, twin propellers; bow-thruster
Speed18 knots (33 km/h)
Range20,000 nautical miles at 10 knots
Complement
  • 80 RFA
  • 50 RN
  • (Part of the Maritime Aviation Support Force)
  • 137 RN air squadron personnel (When embarked)
  • 200 Nursing and Medical Staff (When the Hospital is activated)
Sensors and
processing systems
  • RT994 Surveillance Radar
  • Kelvin Hughes Ltd SharpEye navigation radar[2]
Armament
Aircraft carriedThree landing spots; capacity of up to nine Westland Merlin helicopters or equivalent mix of CH47 Chinooks, WAH-64 Apaches and/or AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcats[6]
Aviation facilities1 Aircraft lift from Flight Deck to 4-Deck number 2 hangar, 4x hangars
Argus enters Portsmouth Naval Base on 9 July 2010 with the crew lining the decks.

RFA Argus is a ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary operated by the Ministry of Defence under the Blue Ensign. Italian-built, Argus was formerly the container ship MV Contender Bezant. The ship was requisitioned in 1982 for service in the Falklands War and purchased outright in 1984 for a four-year conversion to an Aviation Training Ship, replacing RFA Engadine. In 1991, during the Gulf War, she was fitted with an extensive and fully functional hospital to assume the additional role of Primary Casualty Receiving Ship. In 2009, the PCRS role became the ship's primary function.[7] Argus is due to remain in service beyond 2030.[8] In July 2022 it was reported that the future Littoral Strike Role would be assumed by Argus after a refit to convert her to this role.[9] As of October 2023, Argus had started her deployment to serve as part of Littoral Response Group (South).[10]

In her secondary role as a primary casualty receiving ship, given she is an armed vessel and not painted in the required white with red crosses, the Geneva Convention does not permit her to be being officially classified as a hospital ship.[11][12] The ship's capabilities make her ideally suited to the humanitarian aid role and she has undertaken several of these missions. The Royal Navy has occasionally described her as a "support ship/helicopter carrier".[13]

  1. ^ "FOI(A) regarding the Royal Navy" (PDF). What do they know?. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  2. ^ "New navigation radar system for Royal Navy". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
  3. ^ @NavyLookout (21 March 2023). "@RFAArgus now fitted with single Phalanx CIWS mount in preparation for her new role as Littoral Strike Ship" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 March 2023 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "The all-rounder – the 30mm Automated Small Calibre Gun in focus". Navy Lookout. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  5. ^ "In focus: the Fleet Solid Support ship design". Navy Lookout. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  6. ^ "The oldest ship in the Royal Naval Service to become the new Littoral Strike Ship". Navy Lookout. 20 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Casualty Ship (RFA Argus)". royalnavy.mod.uk. 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
  8. ^ "RFA Argus extended in service beyond 2030 | Navy Lookout". 29 June 2022.
  9. ^ "The oldest ship in the Royal Naval Service to become the new Littoral Strike Ship". Navy Lookout. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Royal Navy aircraft carrier will not be deployed to the Mediterranean but other options are open". Navy Lookout. 12 October 2023.
  11. ^ "World Wide Hospital Ships". Global Security. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  12. ^ "ADF Health" (PDF). Australian Department of Defence. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 November 2012.
  13. ^ "RFA Argus and HMS Medwey Combine on Caribbean Disaster Relief Exercises". Royal Navy. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.