The ''Argos''-class patrol boat is a model of

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

in service in the

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy (), also known as the Portuguese War Navy (''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'') or as the Portuguese Armada (''Armada Portuguesa''), is the navy of the Portuguese Armed Forces. Chartered in 1317 by King Dinis of Portugal, it is ...

since 1991. This type of ship was designed by the Arsenal do Alfeite,

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, but was built in private shipyards located in

Vila Real de Santo António Vila Real de Santo António () is a city, civil parish, and municipality in the Algarve, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,156, in an area of 61.25 km2. It is one of the few municipalities in Portugal without territorial continuity: its ...

. The ships of the class are mainly employed in the surveillance and control of the Portuguese

territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...

, in

Mainland Portugal Continental Portugal (, ) or mainland Portugal comprises the bulk of the Portuguese Republic, namely that part on the Iberian Peninsula and so in continental Europe, having approximately 95% of the total population and 96.6% of the country's l ...

and in the Madeira Archipelago. The ships are also employed in other missions as the

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

, maritime pollution control and force protection of combatant ships in confined waters. Five ships were built, these being named after

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The first constellati ...

s. In 2000, an upgraded version of the ''Argos'' class entered service in the Portuguese Navy. This new version was initially referred as the ''Argos'' (2nd series) class, but it is now usually referred to as the . It is to note, that from 1963 to 1975, the Portuguese Navy employed a class of large patrol boats that was also designated ''Argos'' class.

Ships of the class

References

External links

*{{in lang, pt}
''Argos''-class
Portuguese Navy website Patrol vessels of the Portuguese Navy Patrol boat classes Ships built in Portugal Military equipment of Portugal