Editing RFA Tidepool (section)

== Operational history ==

''Tidepool'' was completed and entered service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary on 11 December 1962,{{sfn|Adams|Smith|2005|p=108}} replacing the fleet support tanker {{RFAux|Wave Sovereign|A211|2}}.<ref name="helis-tidepoola76"/>

=== Beira Patrol ===

Along with air stores support ship {{RFAux|Reliant|A84|2}} and the armament support ship {{RFAux|Resurgent|A280|2}},<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beira Patrol |url=https://www.helis.com/database/ops/33-Beira-Patrol/ |website=helis.com |access-date=21 August 2024}}</ref> ''Tidepool'' was deployed on the [[Beira Patrol]] in the [[Mozambique Channel]] in March 1966, to enforce [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 221|United Nations sanctions]] against [[Rhodesia]]. The RFA provided support for initially a Royal Navy [[aircraft carrier]] and two [[frigate]]s.{{sfn|Adams|Smith|2005|p=114}} On this deployment ''Tidepool'' claimed the record for the longest time in the Mozambique Channel at fifty-three days,<ref>{{cite news |title=Oh why .. are we wait .. ing (off Beira) |newspaper=[[Navy News]] |date=January 1967 |page=8 |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/images/navynews/archivepdfs/1960s/1967/navy-news-march-1967-issue-153.pdf |access-date=21 August 2024}}</ref> and was continuously at sea for eighty-one days.{{sfn|Adams|Smith|2005|p=115}}

=== Task Group 317.5 ===

On 25 January 1977 ''Tidepool'' left [[HMNB Devonport]] as part of Task Group 317.5, for an [[Atlantic]] deployment led by the Royal Navy’s converted helicopter cruiser {{HMS|Tiger|C20|2}},<ref name="historicalrfa-tidepoola76"/> in the company of the RFA’s small fleet tanker {{RFAux|Green Rover|A268|2}} and the fleet stores ship {{RFAux|Tarbatness|A345|2}}. She returned to the United Kingdom in May.<ref name="helis-tidepoola76"/>

=== Task Group 317.6 ===

On 5 September 1977, along with RFA’s small fleet tanker {{RFAux|Grey Rover|A269|2}}, the ammunition, explosives and stores supply ship {{RFAux|Regent|A486|2}} and the fleet stores ship ''Tarbatness'', ''Tidepool'' departed [[HMNB Portsmouth]] involved in Task Group 317.7, again supporting the helicopter cruiser ''Tiger'', the task group’s flagship,<ref name="historicalrfa-tidepoola76"/> and accompanied by the Royal Navy's ''Rothesay''-class frigate {{HMS|Rhyl|F129|2}}. The deployment was for seven and half months, and covered [[Australia]] and the [[Far East]]. She returned to the United Kingdom on 20 April 1978.<ref name="helis-tidepoola76"/>

[[File:RFA Tidepool in Total Exclusion Zone, May 1982.JPG|left|thumb|RFA ''Tidepool'' in the [[Total Exclusion Zone]], May 1982.]]
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