RFA Tidespring (A75)
RFA Tidespring (A75) was a Tide-class replenishment oiler of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. As a replenishment oiler, her main purpose was to refuel other ships. The ship had a long career in the RFA, entering service in the early 1960s, and finally being decommissioned in 1991.
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| History | |
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| Name: | RFA Tidespring |
| Ordered: | 28 February 1961 |
| Builder: | Hawthorn Leslie and Company |
| Laid down: | 24 July 1961 |
| Launched: | 3 May 1962 |
| Commissioned: | 18 January 1963 |
| Decommissioned: | 13 December 1991 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 5361033 |
| Fate: | Broken up, 1992 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Tide-class replenishment oiler |
| Displacement: | 27,400 long tons (27,840 t) |
| Length: | 583 ft 8 in (177.90 m) |
| Beam: | 71 ft 3 in (21.72 m) |
| Draught: | 32 ft 1 in (9.78 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × Foster Wheeler watertube steam boilers, 2 × Parmetrada steam turbines, double reduction gearbox, single shaft |
| Speed: | 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h) |
| Aircraft carried: | 3 × Westland Wessex helicopters |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | Falklands War |
Tidespring took part in the Falklands War, particularly in the recapture of South Georgia. At the time, she was carrying M Company (Captain Chris Nunn Royal Marines) of 42 Commando Royal Marines. The ship accommodated prisoners of war taken during operations. The Falklands provided a reprieve of ten years for Tidespring which had been due to decommission in 1982.
She eventually sailed from Portsmouth in tow on 20 March 1992 for the breakers, arriving in Alang, India for demolition on 2 July 1992.
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