RFA ''Tidesurge'' 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 2017, she entered service with the RFA on 20 February 2019.

Construction

The third-in-class, ''Tidesurge'' was built by

Okpo, Geoje Okpo is a neighborhood in the city of Geoje in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. The village is located on the eastern coast of Geoje Island and a center of the island. Geoje in Korean means "great rescue", from the syllables "geo" (Korean: ...

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 ...

. She was laid down on 7 December 2015 and was launched six months later on 4 July 2016. A series of builder's sea trials commenced soon after and, during November 2017, the ship formed a "sistership bond" with the Republic of Korea Navy frigate Daegu-class frigate, ROKS ''Daegu''. Following the completion of builder's sea trials, ''Tidesurge'' departed Opko en route for her delivery to the United Kingdom. During her journey, she made stopovers at United States Fleet Activities Sasebo in Japan and Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. She then transited the Panama Canal into the Atlantic Ocean, anchoring off Antigua before continuing her transit to Falmouth, England. She arrived in Falmouth on 27 March 2018 and underwent UK customisation work, including the fitting of self-defence weaponry, communications systems and armour, in the A&P Group, A&P Falmouth shipyard. Further trials took place within British waters and, in November 2018, the ship carried out helicopter landing trials with a Boeing Chinook (UK variants), Chinook helicopter — a "first" for the class. In February 2019, she carried out her first replenishment at sea (RAS) with Royal Navy destroyer and, on 20 February 2019, she was welcomed into the RFA fleet in a ceremony attended by her Lady Sponsor, Joanna Woodcock, in the ship's affiliated town of Greenock.

Operational history

On 9 May 2019, ''Tidesurge'' joined two other RFA ships, and ''Tideforce'', to assist with the latter's sea trials. The manoeuvres involved the first "Tide-to-Tide" RAS in history. Two months later, ''Tidesurge'' assisted with the seizure of an Iranian oil tanker, named ''Grace I'', which was believed to be heading to Syria. Royal Marines from 42 Commando fast-roped onto the oil tanker via a AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat, Wildcat helicopter which launched from ''Tidesurge''. The oil tanker was impounded in Gibraltar, an act which was condemned by Iran as an "act of piracy", before later being released. Between entering service and August, ''Tidesurge'' had seen a "surge in demand", operating in the Norwegian Sea, North Sea, Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Circle, including with an 814 Naval Air Squadron AgustaWestland AW101, Merlin helicopter on board. In October 2019, ''Tidesurge'' participated in Flag Officer Sea Training (United Kingdom), Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) before joining Exercise Joint Warrior, a large-scale NATO military exercise in Scotland. During the exercise, she carried out a RAS with U.S. Navy destroyer — reportedly a "first" for the class. In January 2020, ''Tidesurge'' underwent general repair and maintenance at Cammell Laird's shipyard in Birkenhead, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tidesurge Tide-class tankers 2016 ships Ships built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering