The construction of Tidespring was carried out by DSME in South Korea with her steel first being cut by RFA Commodore Rob Dorey on 24 June 2014.

[8] The finalisation of electrical elements and the installation of Multi-Cable Transit insulation, as per new legislative regulations, caused a delay in the ship's delivery to the UK.

On 5 February 2017, the ship departed South Korea for delivery to the UK, making stopovers at Yokosuka, Japan and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The ship transited the Panama Canal into the Atlantic Ocean and arrived in Falmouth, England on 31 March 2017.

A year later, the ship was involved in the largest Royal Navy response to a fleet of Russian warships in the North Sea.