HMS Argyll (F231)

	HMS Argyll, 2009
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Argyll
Ordered	September 1986
Builder	Yarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down	20 March 1987
Launched	8 April 1989
Commissioned	31 May 1991
Refit	Major 2009-2010, LIFEX 2015-2017
Homeport	HMNB Portsmouth
Identification	IMO number: 8949599; MMSI number: 165327752; Pennant number: F231; International callsign: GACG;
Motto	Ne Obliviscaris; ("Lest We Forget");
Status	In active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Type 23 frigate
Displacement	4,900 t (4,800 long tons; 5,400 short tons)
Length	133 m (436 ft 4 in)
Beam	16.1 m (52 ft 10 in)
Draught	7.3 m (23 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	CODLAG:; Four 1,510 kW (2,025 hp) Paxman Valenta 12CM diesel generators; Two GEC electric motors delivering 2,980 kW (4,000 hp); Two Rolls-Royce Spey SM1C delivering 23,190 kW (31,100 hp);
Speed	In excess of 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	7,500 nautical miles (14,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement	185 (accommodation for up to 205)
Electronic warfare ; & decoys	UAF-1 ESM, or, UAT Mod 1; Seagnat; Type 182 towed torpedo decoy; Surface Ship Torpedo Defence;
Armament	Anti-air missiles:; 1 × 32-cell GWS 35 Vertical Launching System (VLS) for:; 32 × Sea Ceptor missiles (1–25+ km); Anti-ship missiles:; Up to 2 × quad Harpoon launchers (8 × missiles); Anti-submarine torpedoes:; 2 × twin 12.75 in (324 mm) Sting Ray torpedo tubes; Guns:; 1 × BAE 4.5 inch Mk 8 naval gun; 2 × 30 mm DS30M, or DS30B guns; 2 × Miniguns (may be replaced by Browning .50 caliber heavy machine guns as of 2023); 4 × General-purpose machine gun;
Aircraft carried	1 × Wildcat HMA2, armed with:; 4 × Sea Venom anti-ship missiles (full operating capability projected from 2026), or, ; 2 × Sting Ray anti-submarine torpedoes, or; 20 × Martlet multirole air-surface missiles (from 2021); Mk 11 depth charges; or; 1 × Westland Merlin HM2, armed with;; 4 × anti submarine torpedoes;
Aviation facilities	Flight deck; Enclosed hangar;

The third and current HMS Argyll is a Type 23 Duke-class frigate. She is currently the oldest serving Type 23 frigate in the Royal Navy. Like all of her class she is named after a British dukedom, in this case that of Argyll. HMS Argyll was laid down in March 1987 by Yarrow Shipbuilders at Glasgow, and launched in 1989 by Lady Wendy Levene, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Paviors. She was commissioned in May 1991. Argyll is currently based at HMNB Devonport.

Argyll is the first Type 23 to be fitted with the new Sea Ceptor missile system. The ship, like her sisters HMS Monmouth, HMS Montrose, HMS Lancaster and HMS Iron Duke, did not receive the new Sonar 2087 upgrade that other frigates of the class subsequently received. Therefore she is regarded as a "general purpose" frigate without the more specialized anti-submarine capability of the other eight ships in the Type 23 fleet.

She 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. If confirmed, this would mean that the older Type 23 frigates, such as Argyll, would have their anticipated service lives extended significantly. In May 2022 she entered dry dock for an 18-month refit with the intent of extending her service life until about 2027-28.

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