Adams, Thomas A. Dictionary of Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships from 1905

ships from 1905 to the present day; it is obvious this has been a labour of love, and it will certainly become the "go-to" reference book for the history of the RFA.For those not familiar with the RFA, it began in 1905 as the fleet of support ships for Britain's Royal Navy (RN) bringing the "bullets, beans and black oil" to wherever RN warships were operating.Additionally, the RFA vessels included amphibious support ships (such landing ship dock/heavy), hospital ships, refrigerated stores vessels, scientific research ships, salvage vessels, forward repair ships, and tugs.The ships were, and still are, crewed by merchant mariners and followed the warships into battle, thus suffering the same wartime conditions and losses as their RN counterparts.In many respects the RFA is similar to the US Military Sealift Command.In the past the RFA merchant mariners came from countries of the former British Empire.Often the officers were British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealanders, or South Africans.The deck department, engine room crew (the black gang), and cooks and stewards came from nations across the British Empire.Indians from the sub-continent filled many of the engine room and deck department roles while many Asian seafarers, mainly from Hong Kong, were cooks and stewards.British citizens now operate the vessels.World War I saw the RFA operating around the globe.One of the more obscure vessels was RFA City of Oxford that was a kite balloon ship serving with the Dover Patrol spotting