Fast oilers become amphibious-warfare ships

First World War-era oilers could no longer keep pace with a modern fleet, so the Royal Navy began building fast replacements. Several were converted into landing-craft gantry ships under Winston Churchill's influence. The conversions added amphibious capacity and made sense for operations near Britain's dense home-base network. They were less useful in the Far East, where fast replenishment ships could not be replaced by frequent returns to nearby ports.