RFA Tidespring (A75)
A75 Tidespring moored at Gosport in 1979
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | RFA Tidespring |
Ordered | 28 February 1961 |
Builder | Hawthorn Leslie and Company |
Yard number | 752 |
Laid down | 24 July 1961 |
Launched | 3 May 1962 |
In service | 18 January 1963 |
Out of service | 18 December 1991 |
Identification |
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Fate | Scrapped 1992 |
Notes | [1][2] |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Tide-class replenishment oiler |
Tonnage | |
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) |
Depth | 40 ft 6 in (12.34 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h) |
Complement | 110 - plus embarked RN flight party |
Aircraft carried | 3 × Westland Wessex helicopters |
Aviation facilities | Helicopter deck, hangar |
Notes | [3] |
Service record | |
Operations: | Operation Corporate |
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.[4]
She eventually sailed from Portsmouth in tow on 20 March 1992 for the breakers, arriving in Alang, India, for demolition on 2 July 1992.[4]
Battle honours
[edit]On 4 October 1984 Tidespring received her Falklands Islands 1982 Battle honour, presented by Captain Cyril Gordon Butterworth, Chief Marine Superintendent (CMS).[5][6]
References
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ "RFA Tidespring - Historical RFA". historicalrfa.uk. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ "A75 RFA Tidespring". helis.com. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Puddefoot 2009, p. 190.
- ^ a b "RFA Tidespring". historicalrfa.org. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
- ^ "Operation Corporate Battle Honour Awards - Historical RFA". historicalrfa.uk. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Gordon Butterworth, a remembrance". rfaa.uk. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
Bibliography
[edit]- Puddefoot, Geoff (2009). The Fourth Force The Untold Story of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary since 1945. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-046-8.