Russia's varied fleet required more auxiliary support than it had brought, yet the auxiliaries it did have also restricted its movement. Uncertain port access and the absence of a usable dry dock made maintaining the force especially difficult. Later fleets in the First and Second World Wars took substantial fleet trains over much shorter distances. British arrangements in the Second World War relied on supplies flowing between established bases, with faster logistics ships serving the fleet from the nearest base. The Russian expedition lacked that network and had to carry its support over the long route to East Asia, including around Africa for many ships.
Notable Point · 1:32:49-1:34:27
Why a fleet train still needed a network of bases
Russia's auxiliaries had to cover a long deployment without assured dockyard access, while later British supply ships could work from a worldwide base network.