皇家舰队辅助队成立于1905年8月，最初是一个后勤保障组织，隶属于海军，但在民用航线上运行，由各种各样、非常乏味的煤矿机、货船和港口船只组成。仅仅一个多世纪后，它已经发展到面目全非的地步：它的船只在尺寸、成本和复杂程度上与除最大军舰外的所有军舰相比，而RFA本身已经发展成为所有三种军种的重要分支。它是真正的“第四部队”——正如它自己的人员所知——如果没有它，目前在全球部署的英国军人将是不可能的。
这本书描绘了自第二次世界大战结束以来超越RFA的真正革命。新技术和技术反映了现代战争中后勤重要性的快速增长，而RFA的作用不断扩大，这在其作战历史中可见一斑，其中许多鲜为公众所知。这本书结合了船舶技术数据、官方信函和个人回忆，主要讲述了RFA的男男女女和他们的故事——这是对一项服务历史的深入了解，该服务的首字母缩写被非正式地翻译为“准备好做任何事”。
The Fourth Force: The Untold Story of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary since 1945
Set up in August 1905, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary was originally a logistic support organization, part of the Navy proper but run on civilian lines, comprising a miscellaneous and very unglamorous collection of colliers, store ships and harbor craft. Just over a century later it has evolved beyond recognition: its ships compare in size, cost and sophistication with all but the largest warships, and the RFA itself has developed into an essential arm of all three Services. It is truly the ‘Fourth Force’ – as it is known to its own personnel – and without it, the current worldwide deployment of British service men and women would be simply impossible.
This book charts the veritable revolution that has overtaken the RFA since the end of the Second World War. New technology and techniques reflect the rapid growth in the importance of logistics in modern warfare, while the broadening role of the RFA is to be seen in the history of its operations, many of them little known to the public. Woven together from a combination of technical ship data, official correspondence and personal recollections, it is predominantly about the men and women of the RFA and their stories – an insight into the underreported history of a service whose initials unofficially translate as Ready For Anything.
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