RFA Argus is the ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary operated by MoD under Blue Ensign. Made in Italy, Argus was formerly a container ship MV Bezant Contender . The ship was taken in 1982 for service in the Falklands War and purchased directly in 1984 for use as Aviation Training Boats, replacing RFA Engadine . In 1991, during the Gulf War, he had a large and fully functioning hospital to take on the additional role of the Primary Victim Ship. In 2009, the role of PCRS became the main function of the ship. Argus will continue to operate until 2024.
Since the ship was armed and not painted white with the requirement of a red cross, the Geneva Conventions prevented it from being officially classified as a hospital ship.
Video RFA Argus (A135)
Design and facilities
After a four-year conversion at Harland and Wolff in Belfast, the ship entered RFA service in 1988. Originally designed as a container vessel, it would become unstable when dismantled, making its movement at sea uncomfortable or even dangerous. Therefore, the superstructure is deliberately heavy (weighing about 800 tons), and it has 1,800 tons of concrete ballasts brought in the former hatch cover, which has been reversed to form a tray-like structure.
Being a used container ship, Argus has no traditional aircraft carrier layout - the ship building is in front, with a long flight deck. The vessel has a small secondary superstructure about two-thirds of the way on the flight deck, which contains a ship's disposal funnel. These are used by small helicopters to simulate a landing on the flight deck of a destroyer or frigate.
For the 1991 Gulf War, Argus was fitted with a fully functional hospital, which had been extensively modified and expanded with special equipment, providing 70 beds. The ship is equipped with an intensive care unit, and can provide X-rays and medical CT scans. The victim can be quickly transferred from the deck directly to the assessment area. In recent years the ship's role as a Primary Accident Ship, rather than its flight training duty, has been regarded as its primary role.
In 2007 the vessel was reinstalled with improved hospital facilities (replacing the shuttle aircraft forward with an emergency exit ramp for hospital and patient trollies as well as two 50 passenger passengers leading to new structures established on the flight deck), generators and flight system (the ship will receive an upgrade to night vision ability that allows the use of Apache WAH-64 helicopters) to provide operational life by 2020.
Maps RFA Argus (A135)
Service history
1990s
Argus entered service with RFA in 1988, replacing RFAÃ, Engadine in the flight training role. The ship was deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 for service in the Gulf War (Operation Granby), and also saw the Adriatic service in 1993 and 1999 supporting British operations in Bosnia and over Kosovo. During this period, Argus was partially operated as LPH. Its incompatibility for this role is a major factor in the implementation of HMSÃ, Ocean .
2000s
During the war, RFA Argus acted as a floating hospital with two complete treatment rooms and a morgue. Hospitals were used in this way off the coast of Freetown in 2000-01, to support British operations against West Side Boys rebels.
The program to replace the Argus called Joint Casualty Treatment Ship (JCTS) was postponed in December 2001 after passing the initial approval. The Integrated Project Team (IPT) that managed the project was later dissolved in 2005. Argus was last placed at the harbor of his home in Falmouth in Cornwall, England, although being a RFA ship meant that he also used a former naval shipyard in Portland in Dorset, England.
In 2003 Argus was re-deployed to the Bay as the Primary Victim's Vessel during Operation Telic. A fleet of ships 33 supports British amphibious attacks from Al-Faw Peninsula.
In 2008 he was placed in the Middle East to act as a platform for the Sea King ASaC7 helicopter.
2010s
As of June 2011, Argus operates in the Middle East around Yemen. In August he has returned to Falmouth and filmed for the film World War Z. Initially he described the fiction of "USS Madison (LHD-19)" but in the final cut of the film, it appears as "U.N.Command Ship USS Argus ."
In mid-May 2012, the ship, with troops departing from Royal Marines and Air Fleets, including the Super Lynx helicopters and the newly formed Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Team, sailed to North America to support potential humanitarian operations during the hurricane season.. Their main mission is to support the British Overseas Territories if they need help in the hurricane season and maintain a constant presence of the Royal Navy in the wider area. Prior to embarking on a disaster relief mission, the vessels conducted multinational exercises and celebrations to commemorate the 1812 War with units from the US Navy as part of OpSail 2012.
In 2013 the ship was used for training with AgustaWestland Wildcat, Lynx's successor.
In 2014, the vessels participate in the annual Joint Soldiers Exercise, practicing Medical Evacuation and Treatment. On October 8, 2014, UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond announced that RFA Argus would travel to Sierra Leone to assist the Ebola 2014 outbreak. On October 30 of the same year, the ship docked in Sierra Leone, with three Merlin helicopters were launched.
By mid-2017, Argus hosted four Wildcat helicopters from 825 Naval Air Squadron for an initial training off the coast of Portugal which lasted for three weeks.
Major repairs at Falmouth are planned for early 2018.
References
External links
- The Royal Navy's official website: RFA Argus
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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