RFA Argus has completed an overhaul at the docks a year after returning from Sierra Leone where she was a floating base for the British military fighting the Ebola outbreak.

To mark the end of the refit a small ceremony was held onboard the ship when the ship’s commanding officer Captain David Eagles was presented with a print of the ship returning to Falmouth in April 2015 following her deployment to West Africa.

Capt. Eagles praised the work of A&P Falmouth stating, “During Operation Gritrock RFA Argus was deployed for 6 months. During this time she was only alongside for 12 hours. This remarkable endurance is testament to the high quality work carried out at A&P Falmouth in maintaining the Royal Navy’s primary casualty receiving facility.”

The 28,000-ton Argus is expected to leave the docks this week.

During her 172 days in support of Operation Gritrock – the codename for the British military’s response to the disease’s outbreak in Sierra Leone – Argus served as the base for Merlin helicopters to ferry medicine, food and supplies around the country, both to our forces on the ground treating the local populace, and for people in isolated or cut-off communities.

In addition, her medical facilities – the most comprehensive afloat in the Naval Service – were available to treat any British personnel taken ill.