RFA ''Tidespring'' is a replenishment tanker of the British

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by ...

(RFA). Built by

DSME Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ( ko, 대우조선해양; abbreviated DSME) is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung. History On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (M ...

in 2016, the ship entered service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in November 2017.

Construction

The construction of ''Tidespring'' was carried out by

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

with her steel first being cut by RFA Commodore Rob Dorey on 24 June 2014. The ship was laid down on 22 December 2014 and launched four months later on 25 April 2015. A series of builders sea trials commenced from 29 March 2015 and were completed by 1 July 2016. 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 is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

and Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. The ship transited the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

into the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in

Falmouth, England Falmouth ( ; kw, Aberfala) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,797 (2011 census). Etymology The name Falmouth is of English or ...

on 31 March 2017. The ship was drydocked in

Falmouth Docks Falmouth Docks are a deep-water docks of the town of Falmouth in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The docks are the southern shore of the Fal Estuary which is the third largest natural harbour in the world and the deepest in Europe. They ex ...

for fitting out to be carried out by

A&P Group A&P Group Ltd is the largest ship repair and conversion company in the UK, with three shipyards located in Hebburn, Middlesbrough and Falmouth. The company undertakes a wide variety of maintenance and repair work on commercial and military shi ...

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. ''Tidespring'' sailed from Falmouth for final evaluation trials on 1 September 2017 which included her first visit to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, first of class flying trials and her first

replenishment at sea Replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) or underway replenishment (UNREP) ( U.S. Navy) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First develo ...

(RAS) with . She was officially accepted into the RFA on 27 November 2017.

Operational history

RFA Tidespring & MV Loch Striven pass Gourock

RFA Tidespring during Exercise Strike Warrior 2021

The ship's first scheduled replenishment at sea was planned to be with 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. In April, the ship participated in the bi-annual

Exercise Joint Warrior Exercise Joint Warrior is a major biannual multi-national military exercise which takes place in the United Kingdom, predominately in north west Scotland. It is the successor of the Neptune Warrior exercises and Joint Maritime Course. Joint W ...

, a large-scale

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

military exercise held off the coast of Scotland. The ship underwent a maintenance refit at Cammell Laird's shipyard in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

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 The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

. In September 2020, the ship accompanied during sea drills in the

Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; no, Barentshavet, ; russian: Баренцево море, Barentsevo More) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territo ...

alongside ships of the Danish, Norwegian and American navies.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tidespring Tide-class tankers 2015 ships Ships built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering es:RFA Tidespring (A136)