Tide-class tanker
A CGI of the Tide-class tanker
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Tide class |
| Builders: | DSME |
| Operators: |
 Royal Fleet Auxiliary
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| Preceded by: | Leaf class and Rover class |
| Cost: |
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| In service: | from 2017 |
| Planned: | 4 (RFA) + 1 (Norway) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Fast Fleet Tanker |
| Displacement: | 37,000 t (36,000 long tons) |
| Length: | 200.9 m (659 ft 1 in) |
| Beam: | 28.6 m (93 ft 10 in) |
| Draft: | 10 m (32 ft 10 in) |
| Propulsion: | CODELOD |
| Speed: | 26.8 knots (49.6 km/h; 30.8 mph) |
| Range: | 18,200 nautical miles (33,700 km; 20,900 mi) |
| Capacity: |
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| Complement: | 63 plus 46 non-crew embarked persons (Royal Marines, flight crew, trainees) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 1 medium helicopter with full hangar facilities, flight deck for helicopter as large as a Chinook |
The Tide-class tanker (formerly the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) project) is a class of four fast fleet tankers that will enter service with the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary from 2017. The 37,000 t ships will provide fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world. Norway has ordered a 26,000 t version with a 48-bed hospital and greater solid stores capacity, for delivery in October 2016 as HNoMS Maud.
The two variants are both based on the AEGIR design from Britain's BMT Defence Services but are being built by Daewoo in South Korea with final outfitting in the UK and Norway respectively. Britain ordered four ships in February 2012 at a cost of £452m, causing controversy for being built abroad. The Norwegians ordered their ship in June 2013 for NOK1,320m (~£140m).
On 22 February 2012 an order for four tankers was placed with Daewoo at a cost of £452 million, of which £150m would be spent in Britain. Building ships in South Korea caused controversy in Britain, but no British yards had tendered for the order as they were all busy on the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. On 14 November 2012 it was announced that the new class would revive names from the Cold War Tide-class oilers - Tidespring (A136), Tiderace (A137), Tidesurge (A138), and the new name Tideforce (A139). The previous Tidespring earned a battle honour in 1982 for her service during the Falklands War, which included transporting a company of Royal Marines to recapture South Georgia. The board carrying the honour and the ship's badge were both taken to Korea for installation in the new Tidespring.
The Tide-class are a 200.9 m (659 ft 1 in), 37,000 t derivative of BMT Defence Services' AEGIR-26 design, whose origins lie in a civilian tanker from Skipskonsulent of Norway. They are double-hulled to reduce or prevent oil being lost by damage to the outer hull, in line with the MARPOL regulations for civilian tankers (from which military tankers are partially exempt). As well as being safer, this means that Tides can go to places that discouraged their single-hulled predecessors - the two remaining Rover-class vessels and the recently decommissioned Leaf-class tankers.
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Wikipedia