RFA Tidespring
History
United Kingdom
Name	RFA Tidespring
Namesake	RFA Tidespring
Ordered	February 2012
Builder	DSME
Laid down	December 2014
Launched	April 2015
In service	27 November 2017
Homeport	Marchwood Military Port, Southampton[1]
Identification	IMO number: 9655535 MMSI number: 235109357 Callsign: GXRG Pennant number: A136
Status	In service
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Tide-class fast fleet tanker
Displacement	37,000 t (36,000 long tons)
Length	200.9 m (659 ft 1 in)
Beam	28.6 m (93 ft 10 in)[3]
Draft	10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	CODELOD
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	18,200 nautical miles (33,700 km; 20,900 mi)
Capacity	Tanks for diesel oil, aviation fuel (19,000 m³) and fresh water (1,400 m³) Lubrication oil stored in drums Stowage for up to eight 20 ft containers
Complement	63 plus 46 non-crew embarked persons (Royal Marines, flight crew, trainees)
Sensors and processing systems	Kelvin Hughes Integrated Bridge System Servowatch IPMS System 3 × SharpEye radar[4]
Armament	2 × Phalanx CIWS (fitted for, depending on deployment)[5] 2 × 30 mm cannons (fitted for, depending on deployment)[6]
Aircraft carried	1 medium helicopter with full hangar facilities (Merlin / Wildcat), flight deck capable of landing Chinook-size helicopter

RFA Tidespring is a Tide-class replenishment tanker of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). Built by DSME in 2016, the ship entered service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in November 2017.

Construction

The construction of Tidespring was carried out by DSME in South Korea with her steel first being cut by RFA Commodore Rob Dorey on 24 June 2014.^[7] The ship was laid down on 22 December 2014 and launched four months later on 25 April 2015.^[8] A series of builders sea trials commenced from 29 March 2015 and were completed by 1 July 2016.^[8] The finalisation of electrical elements and the installation of Multi-Cable Transit insulation, as per new legislative regulations, caused a delay in the ship's delivery to the UK. On 5 February 2017, the ship departed South Korea for delivery to the UK, making stopovers at Yokosuka, Japan and Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. The ship transited the Panama Canal into the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Falmouth, England on 31 March 2017.^[8][9] The ship was drydocked in Falmouth Docks for fitting out to be carried out by A&P Group on 27 April 2017. On 10 May 2017, a crane collapsed beside the ship whilst she was drydocked, however the vessel was not damaged in the incident.^[10]

Tidespring sailed from Falmouth for final evaluation trials on 1 September 2017 which included her first visit to Gibraltar, first of class flying trials and her first replenishment at sea (RAS) with RFA Wave Knight.^{[11][12][13][14]} She was officially accepted into the RFA on 27 November 2017.^[15]

Operational history

The ship's first scheduled replenishment at sea was planned to be with HMS Queen Elizabeth on 26 February 2018, however the full procedure — which was the first ever RAS for both ships — had to be abandoned due to bad weather. Tidespring and Queen Elizabeth instead carried out a full simulation of the scenario.^[16] In April, the ship participated in the bi-annual Exercise Joint Warrior, a large-scale NATO military exercise held off the coast of Scotland.

The ship underwent a maintenance refit at Cammell Laird's shipyard in Birkenhead in March 2019. A year later, the ship was involved in the largest Royal Navy response to a fleet of Russian warships in the North Sea.^[17][18] In September 2020, the ship accompanied HMS Sutherland during sea drills in the Barents Sea alongside ships of the Danish, Norwegian and American navies.^[19]