On 18 May, at 20:00 in the early evening, the British Naval Auxiliary vessel RFA Tidespring (IMO 9655535) arrived off Cape Town, at the end of a long voyage south from the British Royal Naval Base at Gibraltar.
She entered Cape Town harbour, proceeding into the Duncan Dock, and going alongside the Landing Wall, at the far end of the dock. It was an unusual berth for a Naval vessel, even for one that might need any maintenance support, on top of the usual logistical requirements for bunkers, stores and fresh provisions.
Ordered in February 2012, as the first of a class of four Fast Fleet Replenishment Tankers, known as the Tide Class, RFA Tidespring was laid down in December 2014, launched in April 2015, completed in July 2016, and commissioned in November 2017. She was constructed by Daewoo Shipbuilding, at Okpo in South Korea.
The order of a class of British Naval Auxiliaries given to a foreign shipyard, for the first time in Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) history, caused uproar and consternation at the time. As Naval Auxiliaries are registered as civil vessels, and not warships, it was considered a sound commercial decision by the government of the day, as it did not break the requirement for Royal Navy warships to be built only in British shipyards. The class of four cost £550 million (R13.32 billion), which was £200 million cheaper than a similar offer from an Italian shipyard. As it was, no British shipyard bid for the contract due to cost and yard availability.
Built under the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) programme, RFA Tidespring is 201 metres in length with a gross registered tonnage of 29,324 tons. She has a CODELOD propulsion system, which means Combined Diesel Electric or Diesel. She is powered by two Wärtsilä 6L46F six cylinder, four stroke, main engines producing 9,656 bhp (7,200 kW) each. Power can be transferred to two General Electric (GE) Vernova motors producing 2,400 kW each, driving twin, skeg mounted, fixed pitch propellers for a service speed of 20 knots.
Designed to deliver fuel, water and stores via replenishment at sea (RAS) operations, RFA Tidespring is fitted with four RAS stations, two on the starboard side with twin hoses and jackstay mounts, one on the port side with twin hoses, and one at the stern with a single hose. She has a container carrying capacity of just 8 TEU, with 4 reefer plugs, all carried on deck, and used to carry humanitarian aid, engineering spares, foodstuffs, and frozen produce for fleet use. She has two Pellegrini deck cranes, with a lifting capacity of 10 tons each, to move equipment and stores around the deck. She can maintain RAS operations up to Sea State 5.
RFA Tidespring has 17 tanks with a cargo carrying capacity of 19,000 m3, and able to hold either Marine Diesel (MGO), or Aviation JET A1 fuel, plus 1,400 m3 of fresh water. She has a range of 18,200 nautical miles, and is crewed by an operational crew of 63 persons, plus further accommodation of 46 support crew such as a Fleet Air Arm aviation detachment, or Royal Marine Commando detachment.
She is defensively armed with two Vulcan Phalanx close in weapons systems (CIWS), one mounted forward, and one mounted aft, plus two 30mm cannons, both mounted aft, and numerous mounts for MANPAD anti-air missile launchers, and heavy machine guns. Her helideck is capable of taking a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter, and a hangar able to house an Agusta Westland AW101 Merlin helicopter. Her helicopter detachment allows RFA Tidespring to carry out vertical replenishment, anti-submarine patrols, counter narcotics operations, and humanitarian missions.
Back on 21 April, RFA Tidespring sailed from the Royal Naval Base at Portland in Dorset, to join up with the Royal Navy Carrier Strike Group 2025 (CSG 25), which was to sail from the Royal Navy base at Portsmouth in Hampshire on 22 April, and with further naval assets joining from the Royal Navy Base at Plymouth in Devon. CSG 25 was embarking on an eight month deployment, covering over 33,000 nautical miles. The deployment would go via the Mediterranean Sea, then via the Suez Canal to India. From there it would head to Australia, then Japan, before a return to the UK before Christmas 2025.
CSG 25 is quite a formidable force, considered to be the largest outside of United States Navy carrier strike groups. It will initially consist of the flagship aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (R09), destroyer HMS Dauntless (D33), frigate HMS Richmond (F239), HMS Astute (S119), Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Tidespring (A136), Norwegian Navy frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen (F311), Norwegian Navy Auxiliary HNoMS Maud (A530), Spanish Navy frigate ESPS Méndez Núñez (F104), and the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH332).
On entering the Indian Ocean CSG 25 will be joined by Singapore Navy frigate RSS Formidable (F68), Royal New Zealand Navy frigate HMNZS Te Kaha (F77), Royal Australian Navy destroyers HMAS Brisbane (DDG41) and HMAS Sydney (DDG42), and Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Argus (A135). The whole of the deployment is known as Operation Highmast, with initial exercises conducted in the Mediterranean with an Italian Navy Carrier Strike group, before stopping off at the United States Navy NATO base at Souda Bay, on the Greek island of Crete.
However, for reasons not fully understood, RFA Tidespring did not follow the CSG 25 fleet into the Mediterranean Sea, but detached herself from the fleet and, instead, headed down the Atlantic Ocean, via West Africa, and bound for Cape Town. It was expected that she would rejoin CSG 25 when they exited Suez and the Red Sea, and entered the Indian Ocean. The question was when.
After almost four days alongside in Cape Town, the requirements for RFA Tidespring to be in Cape Town had seemingly been met, and she made ready to sail. However, it was not towards CSG 25. At 10:00 in the morning of 22 May she sailed from Cape Town, but only as far as the Table Bay anchorage. Her AIS indicated on 23 May, at 09:00 that she was still lying at anchor.
However, as the CSG 25 was reported to have exited the Suez Canal on 25 May, an enquiry from the writer, to a local maritime enthusiast that same day, was to check to see if RFA Tidespring was still there. The answer was that she was not, and it became obvious that on 23 May she had gone ‘Dark’ on AIS, and silently sailed from Table Bay, presumably to rendezvous with CSG 25.
As well as CSG 25 having a mass of conventional navy heavy guns, missiles and torpedoes, as an offensive force, she is first and foremost a Carrier group. As such, HMS Prince of Wales (R09) is home to 24 Lockheed Martin F35B ‘Lightning’ naval fighter aircraft. These 5th generation aircraft are from the Fleet Air Arm 802 Naval Air Squadron, known as ‘The Immortals’, and from the famous Royal Air Force 617 Squadron, known as ‘The Dambusters’.
Between the Royal Navy fleet she is also carrying six Agusta Westland EH101 Merlin HA.2 anti-submarine helicopters, three EH101 Merlin HA.2 Crows Nest airborne early warning helicopters, three EH101 Merlin HC.4 troop carrying helicopters, and four Agusta Westland Wildcat HMA.2 attack helicopters. There are further Merlin, Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk, and CH-148 Cyclone helicopters on other warships of the fleet. HMS Prince of Wales and RFA Tidespring are also carrying nine Malloy T-150 heavy cargo carrying rotary UAV drones, and RQ-20 Puma fixed wing reconnaissance UAV drones.
When RFA Tidespring reaches the CSG 25 in the Indian Ocean, she will take part in a number of naval and amphibious exercises in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, with the forces of India, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and the United States. The biggest exercise will be Exercise Talisman Sabre, which will take place off Australia, and will include forces from 19 participating nations. The exercise is another collaboration that sends a clear message to China, in regards to their current sabre rattling, and posturing in the South China Sea, and Pacific region.
Throughout CSG 25 RFA Tidespring is expected to dispense 45,000 m3 of fuel, at a delivery rate of 800,000 litres per hour, which is the astonishing equivalent of filling 14,500 family vehicles with 55 litres each, in the space of one hour. The route of CSG 25 back to the United Kingdom later this year is not yet known, and also if any of the fleet will use the Cape sea route on their way home.
Written by Jay Gates for Africa Ports & Ships and republished with permission. The original article can be found here.
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