Tide-class replenishment oiler

The Tide class was a series of six replenishment oilers used by the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and the Chilean Navy.

This article is about the Cold War tankers. For the current RFA replenishment ships, see Tide-class tanker.

RFA Tidesurge (A98)
Class overview
Name: Tide class
Operators:
Preceded by: RFA Olna
Succeeded by: Ol class
Built: 1953–1963
In commission: 1955–1985
Completed: 6
General characteristics
Type: Replenishment oiler
Displacement: 26,000 long tons (26,417 t) full load or 27,400 long tons (27,840 t) (Tidepool & Tidespring)
Length: 583 ft (178 m)
Beam: 71 ft (22 m)
Draught: 32 ft (9.8 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × Parmetrada steam turbines
  • 3 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers or 2 × Foster Wheeler watertube steam boilers (Tidepool & Tidespring)
  • double reduction gearbox, single shaft
Speed: 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h)
Complement: 90 (RFA)

The class was based on RFA Olna, which had served with the British Pacific Fleet during World War II.[1] Three ships were laid down for the RFA in 1953, with a fourth being ordered by the RAN at the same time.[1] Two more ships, built for the RFA to a modified design, were launched in 1962.

Upon completion, the Australian Tide Austral could not be accepted into service because of manpower and financial difficulties. The ship was instead loaned to the RFA from 1955 until 1962, when she was returned to the RAN and commissioned as HMAS Supply. She was paid off in 1985.[1]

The first three ships were removed from service and scrapped during the late 1970s. The two modified ships, Tidespring and Tidepool saw service in the Falklands War, after which Tidepool was sold to the Chilean Navy and renamed Almirante Jorge Montt.[2] Tidespring remained with the RFA and was scrapped in 1992. Supply remained with the RAN until 1985.

Ships
Name Pennant Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Tidereach A96 Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend 2 June 1953 2 June 1954 30 August 1955 March 1978 Broken up at Bilbao, 1979
Tideflow
(ex-Tiderace)		 A97 J.L. Thompson and Sons, Sunderland 30 August 1953 30 August 1953 25 January 1956 November 1975 Broken up at Bilbao, 1976
Tidesurge
(ex-Tiderange)		 A98 Sir James Laing & Sons, Sunderland 1 July 1953 1 July 1954 30 August 1955 May 1976 Broken up at Valencia, 1977
Tide Austral A99 Harland and Wolff, Belfast 5 August 1952 1 September 1954 28 May 1955 15 August 1962 Returned to Australia as HMAS Supply
Tidespring A75 Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn 24 July 1961 3 May 1962 18 January 1963 13 December 1991 Broken up at Alang, 1992
Tidepool A76 14 December 1961 11 December 1962 28 June 1963 13 August 1982 Sold to Chile as Almirante Jorge Montt, 1982
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See also

References

Citations
  1. Donohue, From Empire Defense to the Long Haul, p 106
  2. Sharpe (ed.), Jane's Fighting Ships, 1996-1997, p. 111

Sources
  • Donohue, Hector (October 1996). From Empire Defence to the Long Haul: post-war defence policy and its impact on naval force structure planning 1945-1955. Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs. No. 1. Canberra: Sea Power Centre. ISBN 0-642-25907-0. ISSN 1327-5658. OCLC 36817771.
  • Sharpe, Richard (ed.) (March 1996). Jane's Fighting Ships, 1996-97 (99th ed.). Surrey: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-1355-5. OCLC 34998928.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
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