Who handled Royal Navy logistics in the interwar period?
Short answerThe Royal Fleet Auxiliary, founded in 1905, supplied the Navy with coaling ships, tankers, and other support vessels.
NotesThe answer places the RFA at the center of British fleet sustainment rather than treating support ships as an improvised wartime addition. It supplied coal, fuel, and stores through a permanent organization established in 1905. Its civilian status also mattered because RFA vessels could enter some ports unavailable to commissioned warships. The model connected coal-era support to later tanker and replenishment work.