UK retires primary casualty receiving ship RFA Argus

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) primary casualty receiving ship RFA Argus (A 135) during a passing exercise with the US Navy's San Antonio (LPD 17 Flight I/II)-class amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) in February 2024. (US Marine Corps)

The UK Royal Navy (RN) has announced the retirement of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Primary casualty receiving ship RFA Argus (A 135).

In a post on the service's social media platforms on 20 February 2026, the RN said that on 23 February Argus “will leave HMNB [His Majesty's Naval Base] Portsmouth for the final time following four decades of loyal service to this country and our allies.”

Originally built as Contender Bezant by Cantieri Navali Breda, Venice as a roll-on-roll-off container ship, the 175 m Argus was taken up from trade by the UK during the Falklands War in 1982, serving as an aviation transport ship. In it's social media post on 20 February, the RN said that Argus “is also the last active ship to have served in the Falklands conflict”. The ship was then converted to an aviation training role by Harland & Wolff, Belfast from 1984 to 1988, with a further conversion to a Primary casualty receiving ship from 2001. Following service in the Falklands, Argus also served during the First Gulf War in 1991, the Iraq War in 2003, provided humanitarian support to Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak in 2014, and deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean and Indo-Pacific as part of Littoral Response Group (South) from November 2023 to October 2024.

It was announced in 2022 that Argus