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.

History
United Kingdom
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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