RFA ''Tideforce'' is a replenishment tanker of the British

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported b ...

(RFA). Launched in 2017, the ship entered service with the RFA in 2019.

Construction

''Tideforce'', along with her three sister ships, was built by DSME in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. As the fourth and final Tide-class vessel, her steel was first cut on 2 December 2015 prior to being laid down on 24 December 2015. Around nine months later, the ship was fully assembled and floated out by 12 September 2016. A series of builder's sea trials subsequently commenced and, in June 2018, the ship left South Korea for delivery to the United Kingdom via

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

and the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a Channel ( ...

. The ship arrived in Falmouth for fitting out on 22 August 2018. This involved the installation of communications equipment, defensive systems, a floating helipad and refueling rigs. Following fitting out, the ship carried out capability assessment trials, replenishment at sea (RAS) trials and first-of-class flying trials. Her first RAS was carried out with off the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * ...

and a RAS with her sister ship occurred shortly thereafter. In July 2019, she achieved further milestones, carrying out her first RAS with the aircraft carrier , as well as her first RAS with a foreign vessel, of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

Operational history

''Tideforce'' entered service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary on 30 July 2019, the last of her class to do so following sister ships ''Tidespring'', ''Tiderace'' and ''Tidesurge''. In September, the ship joined the UK Carrier Strike Group on its three-month Westlant 19 deployment to the United States. In August 2020, ''Tideforce'' rendezvoused with

Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) is one of NATO's standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability. ...

to provide replenishment. In March, whilst conducting aviation training off the Devon and Dorset coast, ''Tideforce'' responded to an emergency call from a Dutch-flagged ship and provided assistance to an injured sailor. During the same month, the ship joined eight UK naval ships in responding to seven Russian vessels near British waters. In June, the ship carried out the first night time replenishment at sea with a . In October 2022, ''Tideforce'', with Wildcat helicopter embarked, was deployed to the

Turks and Caicos The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of Island#Tropical islands, tropical islands i ...

islands to provide surveillance support to the

Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force is the national police force of the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies. It is one of the oldest police ...

which was confronted with rising gang violence in the territory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tideforce Tide-class tankers 2017 ships Ships built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering