View source for RFA Tidespring (A75)

{{Short description|1963 Tide-class replenishment oiler of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{{other ships|RFA Tidespring}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= RFA A75 Tidespring.jpg
|Ship caption=A75 ''Tidespring'' moored at Gosport in 1979
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= United Kingdom
|Ship flag= [[File:British-Royal-Fleet-Auxiliary-Ensign.svg|100x35px|Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ensign]]
|Ship name= RFA ''Tidespring'' 
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=28 February 1961
|Ship builder= Hawthorn Leslie and Company
|Ship laid down=24 July 1961
|Ship launched= 3 May 1962
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 18 January 1963
|Ship decommissioned= 13 December 1991
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|Ship identification={{IMO Number|5361033}}
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|Ship fate= Scrapped 1992
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass2|Tide|replenishment oiler}}
|Ship displacement= {{Convert|27400|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{Convert|583|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam= {{Convert|71|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught= {{Convert|32|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion= 2 × Foster Wheeler watertube steam boilers, 2 × Parmetrada steam turbines, double reduction gearbox, single shaft
|Ship speed= {{Convert|17|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
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|Ship aircraft=3 × Westland Wessex helicopters
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{{Service record
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|operations=Falklands War
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'''RFA ''Tidespring'' (A75)''' was a {{sclass2|Tide|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.

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

{{Falklands War British ships}}

{{Tide class replenishment oiler}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tidespring}}

{{UK-aux-ship-stub}}
{{SouthGeorgia-stub}}