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.

[16] 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.

[17] The ship made a short visit to Boulogne, then to its home port of Inveraray and finally to Liverpool,[18] 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 Hebridean Princess in July 2006.

[19] 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.

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 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 Bulwark, as Hudson's flagship, Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) Ocean, Type 23 frigate Somerset and four ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

[26] In early October 2010, Argyll and her crew arrived in Plymouth last week after an 11-month refit which included 290,000-man-hours spent on modifications, upgrades and improvements.

[27] On Sunday 22 January 2012 it was announced that Argyll was part of a six-ship convoy which sailed through the Strait of Hormuz alongside French and United States Navy vessels, during a diplomatic dispute with Iran.

[32] 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.

[38] 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.

[39] 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.

[42][43] 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.

[49] On 11 September 2019 it 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.

[51][52] 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.

[56] 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.