A75 Tidespring moored at Gosport in 1979
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	Scrapped 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

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.

Tidespring took part in the Falklands War, particularly in the recapture of South Georgia. At the time, she was carrying M Company 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.^[1]

She eventually sailed from Portsmouth in tow on 20 March 1992 for the breakers, arriving in Alang, India, for demolition on 2 July 1992.^[1]

References