RFA Argus

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RFA Argus was 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. 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. As of October 2023, Argus had started her deployment to serve as part of Littoral Response Group (South). In her secondary role as a primary casualty receiving ship, given she was 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. The ship's capabilities made her ideally suited to the humanitarian aid role and she undertook several of these missions. The Royal Navy occasionally described her as a "support ship/helicopter carrier". Argus had been due to remain in service beyond 2030. However, as of 2025 she had been deemed "unsafe to sail" and was effectively laid-up. In early 2026, it was confirmed that she would be sold for scrap.