[9][10] On 31 May 1978, along with RFA’s Green Rover and Stromness, she departed HMNB Portsmouth involved in Task Group 317.7, led by the Royal Navy’s converted helicopter cruiser Blake, the task group’s flagship,[2] and accompanied by the Royal Navy's Leander-class frigate Juno.

She was part of the task force led by the destroyer Antrim, which also included two frigates: Plymouth and Brilliant, plus the Royal Navy’s ice patrol vessel Endurance.

[1] On 22 April both helicopters were lost when attempting to airlift D Squadron, 22 Special Air Service (SAS), from the Fortuna Glacier.

Crews from the Leander-class frigate Ariadne and Tidespring demolished the buildings of the former base, but left a flagpole, two weather beacons, and a fully provisioned hut.

[14] November 1986 saw Tidespring deployed to the Persian Gulf on the Armilla Patrol, the Royal Navy's permanent presence in the area at the time.

[2] Between October and December 1987 a Westland Lynx helicopter detachment of 241 Flight parented by 815 Naval Air Squadron, from the destroyer Birmingham, was embarked in Tidespring.

[1] From 1 June through to August 1988 she was part of Operation Eldorado, a safety deployment[15] and she stood by off the coast of Monrovia,[16] the capital and largest city of Liberia, to assist with any evacuation required during the First Liberian Civil War, once again supporting the frigate Broadsword,[11] as well as the Leander-class frigate Phoebe.

[17] By December 1991 she was laid up at Portsmouth and was eventually towed out on 20 March 1992 for the breakers, arriving at the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, India, for demolition on 2 July 1992.

[4] On 4 October 1984 Tidespring received her Falklands Islands 1982 Battle honour, presented by Captain Cyril Gordon Butterworth, Chief Marine Superintendent (CMS).