RFA Argus (A135)

History

The RFA Argus, manufactured by the Italian company Cantiere Navale as a Contender Bezant, was launched on 28 November 1980. She was completed on 31 July 1981 as a 1108 TEU bulk roll-on roll-off (RORO) ferry. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has been urged to transport merchant ships - or STUFTs ("ships carried by trade") - leased and converted into warships during the 1982 Falklands War with Argentina to cope with Royal Navy logistics and support needs. The Ministry of Defence recognises the logistical nightmare of trying to start a war in 13,000 km (13,000 km) from the UK, so it is clear that the Royal Navy lacks the number and type of in-service support ships needed for such a war. Hire from STUFT One of her ships is the Contender Bezant, which is used to transport Harrier VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) jumpers and various types of helicopters on her large container deck.

She also transports war supplies such as ammunition, food, medical supplies as well as decks On June 6, 1982, the Contender Besant receives supplies in Charleston, South Carolina, before sailing to the Falkland Islands.

After the war, the Ministry of Defence intended to add ships to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and purchased the Contender Bezant in 1984 for ?18 million. In March 1984, she was transferred to the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, England, where she underwent a four-year overhaul to become a flight training vessel. The rear container deck has been reinforced to provide a flight deck for heavy helicopters such as the RAF Boeing CH-47 Chinook tandem rotor transport helicopter.

Two aircraft lifts have been added to transport equipment, helicopters and vehicles to the lower deck. Enhanced radar and ship-to-ship/intra-ship communications are also incorporated into her design. The superstructure is huge and tall, concentrated in the relatively compact space of the bow.

The superstructure weighs 800 tons and is built very heavy to offset the huge open space in the stern when empty.

A smaller superstructure is wrapped around the exhaust funnel on the starboard side of the main superstructure towards the stern. One drawback proved that the funnel area reduces the helicopter's flight deck space, allowing for a take-off area as large as a modern frigate. Another problem is the sailing of large punts - especially when empty. The ship's design allows her to sway in rough seas, making the crew quarters neither relaxing nor dangerous for deck crews. Removal of some overhead cranes and superstructures for containers reduced gross tonnage.

To add weight, the hatch was rebuilt and inverted, then filled with 1,800 tonnes of concrete ballast and part of the flight deck. The former roll armor was converted into a hangar with four waterproof sliding doors that can be quickly opened and closed.

The Argus can resupply and refuel other ships while underway, and she can also use her helicopter to lift supplies vertically to the decks of other ships. Two elevators were also added, one to the lower deck amidships, and an aircraft elevator to the aft of the funnel superstructure.

The vessel was completed in March 1987 and entered into RFA service following a ?45m refit programme. She officially began sea trials in October of that year. She was subsequently named RFA Argus A135 (Aviation Training Ship) - her name was derived from HMS Argus, a Royal Navy aircraft carrier that served from 1918 to 1944. Her overall length is 574 ft 6 in (175.1 m).

Her beam (or width) is 99 ft 9 in (30.4 m) and absorbs 26 ft 7 in (8.1 m) of seawater. Her size justifies her speed, capable of sustained range of 20,000 nautical miles (at a constant speed of 15 knots) at 18 knots (33 km/h). It is equipped with a large internal fuel depot of 3,000 tons to supply its diesel engines and 1,100 tons of aviation fuel for its aircraft inventory.

The ship has a standard displacement of 28,081 tons. Pushing her through the waves are 2 x Lindholmen Pielstick 18 PC2. A 5V diesel engine driving twin propellers and a bow thruster facilitate precise docking operations.

However, due to their large surface area due to wind shear, tugboats are often required.

As an auxiliary support ship, the armament of the Argus' 2 x 20mm Oerlikon/85 KAA guns under manual crew operation is intentionally minimal and rather outdated. Close range suppression comes in the form of a 4 x 7.62mm general purpose machine gun. In addition, 4 x Seagnat chaff launchers are mounted on the port and starboard fronts of the superstructure to aid in basic confrontation. When sent into hostile waters, the Argus required guided missile destroyer protection due to its limited defensive capabilities.

Her below deck cargo bay is designed for 12 x BAe Sea Harrier FA2 series VTOL aircraft and up to 6 x Westland Sea King HAS or (similar type) helicopters. Your aircraft inventory can also be replaced with vehicles if desired.

Along her flight deck there are five docking bays for a medium RAF CH47 Chinook 2/2A helicopter or five Westland Merlins, Westland Sea Kings, Westland Lynx or Hughes WAH-64 Apache helicopters.

The helideck can accommodate up to six Harriers if the mission requires it. To access the four suspended decks, two aircraft lifts were integrated into the flight deck and constructed during a four-year reconstruction process.

The ship requires a basic crew of 50, while the optimal crew is 22 officers and 58 seamen. In addition to 300 medical personnel, there is additional space for 137 squadron aircrews. Medics are a mix of Royal Navy personnel and reservists stationed across the UK.

This need for the Royal Navy was illustrated by the Falklands War, when 258 British soldiers were killed and 775 wounded in the conflict - forcing the Ministry of Defence to charter a STUFT ship - SS Uganda - equipped with a heliport and medical Room. In addition, 3 Royal Navy HMS Hecla-class survey ships were converted into casualty ferries and hospital ships. However, handling hundreds of casualties with less-than-state-of-the-art facilities proved insufficient. In late 1988, Argus added a 100-bed emergency room with X-rays, CAT scanners and an intensive care unit in order to be dispatched in time to the Persian Gulf in 1990 to provide assistance during the Persian Gulf crisis.

Argus was deployed during Operation Safe Haven in April 1991 to provide humanitarian assistance to Kurdish refugees fleeing the border between Turkey and Iraq.

In late 1992, Argus sailed to the Adriatic to support British troops assigned to the UN "Operation Combat" security forces in the former Yugoslavia. She has four Seeking helicopters on board and is part of Sir Belvidere and Resource's RFA fleet.

In 1993, Argus was again assigned to the Adriatic, operating in Bosnia. While fighting in the Ionian Sea in April 1994, Argus fired 105mm field guns that were carried from the flight deck for the Royal Artillery to show she could be used as fire support if needed platform.

In September 1994, she rescued the crew of a stranded yacht on a steamship from Brittany, England. In April 1996, she set out from Portland to participate in naval battles with the U.S. Navy under the name "Exercise Purple Star."

In June 1997, Argus deployed her helicopters off the west coast of Africa to cover "Operation Tiller" in Sierra Leone, as ongoing fighting could require the evacuation of British citizens from the continent. In February 1998, a Spanish container ship - MV Delfin Meditteraneo - drifted in deadly North Atlantic waters. RN Air Station Culdrose dispatched three RN helicopters to Argus, where they rescued 12 crew members before the ship sank 100 miles off Madeira. The Argus Medical Unit was deployed off the coast of Freetown in 2000 to support British operations against armed rebel groups in Sierra Leone during Operation Ballas. The rebels were defeated by the British in September.

Argus was sent back to the Persian Gulf for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and was nicknamed "BUPA Baghdad". She served as a hospital for allied and enemy forces in support of the British amphibious assault on the Fao Peninsula.

On a number of its missions, Argus was required to operate as a Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) vessel, which was not what it was designed for, and in that role it performed below MoD expectations. The MoD then decided to upgrade the Argus medical facility and remove it from the LPH mission.

The decision to use the Argus as a casualty ship was timely and led the Department of Defense to consider changing its primary role from an aviation support ship to a primary casualty receiver ship.

The Department of Defense invested 37 funds in this new program in 2007, and the upgrades are expected to extend its useful life through 2020. DoD spending is deemed necessary due to the current lack of vessels capable of supporting the RN and RFA Navy heavy-lift helicopter lift capabilities. The shortage is expected to continue into 2018, when the new aircraft carriers and LPH/Ds should already be in service.

RFA Argus is expected to help fill that void until their successors come online.

Extensive planning was undertaken in the new design to integrate improved hospital facilities into the existing vessel. An enclosed diversion area was constructed at the flight deck level with a wide door to allow the casualty to enter and be examined before being taken to the appropriate medical level for treatment.

To achieve this, the forward aircraft lift was removed amidships and a wide serpentine ramp was added that could be used to quickly transfer hospital carts and patients to the appropriate medical supply unit as directed by medical staff. In addition, just a few meters from the triage area, two stainless steel private elevators with a capacity of 50 people lead to the four lower decks with access to the operating theatre, intensive care unit, laboratory, general ward and mortuary.

The removal of the aircraft lift also required the addition of a new bulkhead to the forward nacelle, which required four new watertight 20-ton steel drop doors.

In 2009, RFA Argus continued its overhaul from 2007 with some modifications. The otherwise narrow bridge has been enlarged to increase space and new windows have been added. The crew quarters were destroyed to provide a larger luxury kitchen and new accommodation not only for the crew but for the Royal Marines and flight crew. The fuselage, flight deck and suspension were all painted - a massive project in itself. The electrical fire protection system throughout the ship, as well as the station-to-station communication system, was replaced, which required a new switchboard.

PCRF received new CT scanners and reception areas, and wards and intensive care units were also modernized. A new 3D X-ray machine has been added to the ICU, along with the latest scanning equipment and a new disinfection machine.

Air conditioning and refrigeration systems have been upgraded to meet Montreal Protocol standards. A new marine evacuation system has been added to the flight deck along the port side for fast movement. The entire upgrade required 600 tons of new assembly steel and 10 months to complete.

As the main pickup facility, Argus can now pick up 100 wounded at a time. The PCRF's new design is designed to save the lives of injured people by getting them from the helicopter to the operating room in the shortest possible time.

Patient-friendly design and state-of-the-art medical facilities make the Argus one of the ships soldiers need in a war zone. It has 4 operating tables, 10 intensive care beds, 20 emergency beds, and 70 general wards.

New digital X-ray machines and extensive laboratory facilities and blood banks are also available.

In November 2002, when a Sea King helicopter from 848 Naval Air Squadron took off from the ship in Lyme Bay, the helicopter blades hit the ship and crashed. The crew escaped the plane unharmed, but three sailors were injured by flying debris and taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester, England. The Argus had medical facilities to treat the wounded, but lacked the necessary medical staff at the time.

In January 2003, Argus was sent back to the Persian Gulf for a six-month tour in support of Operation Telich, with 2 Sea King helicopters and 820 soldiers on board. The Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi was off Ireland in October 2004 and reported a fire on board, and Argus responded with a helicopter and medics.