1991–2000 On 26 March 1994, ''Argyll's''
Lynx helicopter crashed into the sea off
Andros Island in the West Indies while practising for an air display. The crew escaped and were rescued but the aircraft was unrecoverable after sinking in 5,000ft of water. In 2000,
Argyll was part of the
Royal Navy task force – Task Group 342.01 – comprising , , , , and four
RFA ships – that deployed to
Sierra Leone as part of the
British military intervention in the Sierra Leone civil war. During those operations,
Argyll acted as the West African Guardship and remained off West Africa until September 2000. Throughout this period
Argyll operated with her Lynx HMA Mk 8 helicopter. The Lynx undertook daily patrols and searches. The Lynx was instrumental to the successful completion of Operation Barras. During her deployment, the helicopter was scrambled to search for a missing passenger ferry. The aircraft's crew quickly located the vessel and provided escort for
Argyll.
Argyll saved fifty-eight lives from drowning. She was relieved by her sister-ship in September. During this incident
Argyll, assisted by HMS
Ocean, laid the foundation for the Iron Duke Community School. This is a school for orphans in Freetown. President Kabbah of
Sierra Leone decreed the school be named after the crew of for completing the construction of the six classrooms.
2001–2010 In 2001, while in the
Bay of Biscay,
Argyll suffered an electrical fire that was quickly put out by the ship's damage control team, with the ship suffering only minimal damage.
Argyll completed a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf protecting two oil platforms, working with the American, Australian and Iraqi Navies from February to August 2005. The ship made a short visit to
Boulogne, then to its home port of
Inveraray and finally to
Liverpool, before undergoing Operational Sea Trials.
Argyll successfully completed Operational Sea Training and acted as a contingency platform whilst
the Queen spent a week sailing on the in July 2006. In September 2006
Argyll was deployed along with other ships such as and where she completed two drugs raids on merchant ships totaling . They completed their operation in November of the same year. In October 2007
Argyll returned to the Persian Gulf to take over from her sister-ship, . On 3 April 2008 more than 500 friends and relatives welcomed HMS
Argyll as she returned to her home at Devonport after a deployment lasting six months in the Northern Persian Gulf. This was
Argylls second Gulf deployment to Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 in three years. This deployment included one patrol which lasted 52 days from January to March 2008. HMS
Argyll was also at the 'Meet Your Navy' exhibition at HMNB Portsmouth 2008. 6 May 2008 saw the crew return to
Argyll, with the crew bidding farewell to their commanding officer of seven months, Commander Gavin Pritchard. He was succeeded by Commander Peter Olive.
Argyll was then to engage in a period of trials and training before entering a period of maintenance in June. 11 May 2008 saw the Trans-Atlantic solo yacht race in Plymouth Sound started by the ceremonial cannon aboard
Argyll. Dame
Ellen MacArthur also attended the start of the race and Rear Admiral Richard Ibbotson, head of the Flag Officer Sea Training organisation, was also on board
Argyll. On 21 July 2008
Argyll led the parade of
tall ships out of Liverpool ahead of the
Tall Ships Race starting 23 July. On 18 February 2009,
Argyll sailed from
Devonport as part of the
Taurus 09 deployment under Commander UK Amphibious Task Group, Commodore Peter Hudson, She was joined on this deployment by Landing Platform Dock , as Hudson's
flagship, Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) ,
Type 23 frigate and four ships of the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Argyll returned to Devonport on 17 April from this deployment. In early October 2010,
Argyll and her crew arrived in Plymouth after an 11-month refit which included 290,000-man-hours spent on modifications, upgrades and improvements." She has received a new command system, upgrades to Sea Wolf, the Mod1 4.5-inch (114mm) gun, and mounts for new small calibre guns. In a period after this she engaged in Exercise 'Goalkeeper' whilst still in the Middle East. On 30 June 2012,
Armed Forces Day,
Argyll fired the salute in
Plymouth as part of a steampast alongside , the
Earl of Wessex was in attendance alongside the
First Sea Lord. In 2013, the warship carried out a seven-month deployment to the Atlantic, having visited South Africa. She also engaged in counter-narcotics work in the Eastern Pacific by travelling around
Cape Horn and headed back to her home port via the Panama Canal. In March 2014, a test (unarmed) torpedo was accidentally fired whilst training at
Devonport, there were no injuries and minimal damage. On 30 June 2014,
Argyll arrived in
Hamilton, Bermuda for a three-day visit as part of her deployment to the North Atlantic and Caribbean. The warship arrived in
Baltimore, Maryland, US on 11 September 2014 to participate in ceremonies commemorating the 200th anniversary of the
Star Spangled Banner. On 25 September 2014,
Argyll arrived in
Veracruz. On 6 October 2014, HMS
Argyll visited
George Town, Grand Cayman, after having been on counter-narcotics deployment in August 2014 as part of
Operation Martillo. From 9 to 13 October 2014 HMS
Argyll paid an official visit to the Dominican Republic during the course of which her flight deck hosted the baptism of Stefania Rozsa, daughter of the British Ambassador. On 18 October 2014, the warship arrived in
Bermuda to provide assistance in the aftermath of
Hurricane Gonzalo. In 2014, a
Lynx from
Argyll identified a suspicious yacht in the
Caribbean Sea, and a detachment of the
U.S. Coast Guard operating from
Argyll seized $16 million worth of cocaine found on the yacht. The group had seized an even larger shipment earlier on the same deployment. In 2015,
Argyll underwent an extended Life Extension (LIFEX) refit in Devonport; she returned to sea in February 2017 with a new principal weapon system,
Sea Ceptor, and numerous modifications and alterations to her accommodation and working spaces.
Argyll acted as the trials vessel for Sea Ceptor prior to resuming her operational duties and it was announced in September 2017 that she had undertaken the first firings of the new system earlier in the summer off the west coast of Scotland. In 2017, it was announced that
Argyll would be sent to join military exercises in the Asia Pacific with the
Five Power Defence Arrangements partners and also the
Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force. Part of her mission is "to continue the pressure campaign on North Korea". On 11 March 2019,
Argyll rescued a 27-strong crew from a burning container vessel
Grande America 150 miles off the coast of
France. On 15 March 2019 the ship returned to
HMNB Devonport after a nine-month deployment to
Southeast Asia. On 11 September 2019,
Argyll demonstrated the use of an autonomous PAC24
unmanned surface vehicle, a modified version of the boat the ship already carries, at the
Defence and Security Equipment International 2019 exhibition. Also involved in the demonstration was an additional autonomous boat: the MAST-13. In December 2020, the ship visited
Egypt to allow for strategic talks between British First Sea Lord Admiral
Tony Radakin and Egyptian Admiral
Ahmed Khaled Hassan Saeed. The ship took part in joint-exercises between Egypt and the UK.
2022–present In May 2022,
Argyll became the first Type 23 to have undergone a LIFEX refit to undergo a subsequent major upkeep period, which saw the ship dry-docked for an extended period to enable it to be retained in service until around 2027-28, when it was intended to be replaced by either or . In response to questions posed in Parliament, the Minister of State at the MoD, James Cartlidge, could not confirm that HMS
Argyll would remain in service. In May 2024, it was confirmed that the frigate would be retired and sold to
BAE Systems to support apprentice training. In 2022, it was reported that
Argyll spent 21 days at sea.
Argyll had been scheduled to be withdrawn from service in 2023. However, in 2021 in a written answer provided to the House of Commons Select Defence Committee, the First Sea Lord, Admiral Tony Radakin, suggested that older Type 23 frigates would be retained in service longer than anticipated in order to ensure that total escort numbers did not fall below 17 ships (6 destroyers and 11 frigates) and start to rise above 19 escorts starting in 2026. This would have required
Argyll to have been kept in service significantly longer than anticipated. However in May 2024, it was indicated that she would be retired and sold to BAE Systems for apprentice training instead (though this plan was subsequently abandoned and the ship was prepared for disposal). This occurred despite the fact that in May 2022
Argyll began an 18-month refit with the intent of extending her service life until about 2027-28. ==Related images==