Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 3:12:02-3:14:10

What happened to the Royal Navy's fast fleet oilers

The Royal Navy possessed a large auxiliary network, but conversions of new fast oilers into amphibious ships weakened its ability to support distant wartime fleets.

Amphibious WarfareFleet OilersNaval LogisticsRoyal Fleet AuxiliaryWinston ChurchillWorld War II
Watch at this timeFull video guide
Question

Why is there less discussion of Royal Navy fleet oilers, and how did Britain supply fuel?

Short answer

Britain used its global bases and a large RFA tanker fleet, but wartime conversions removed many of the fast oilers it later needed overseas.

Notes

Britain used a worldwide network of bases and numerous slower Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers to move fuel between them. That system reduced the immediate demand for fast fleet oilers compared with the US Navy's requirements. A new fast-oiler class was nevertheless under construction in the late 1930s. Churchill supported converting several of those ships into amphibious vessels with large gantries for landing craft, on the assumption that Atlantic and Mediterranean bases supplied the current war. Those choices removed fast support ships that would have been useful when operations extended into the Indian Ocean and Far East.