There are five more to be told off on the fingers of the other hand.
First, the Auxiliary Cruisers, which are swift merchant liners quickly
armed and manned by trained Reservists, who are mostly merchant seamen
and fishermen in time of peace. These cruisers do scouting and escort
duty, and sometimes have a hard fight with the enemy; though they are
not strong enough for regular battles between great men-of-war.
Secondly, the Supply Vessels of every size and every kind, which keep
the Fleet supplied with food and fuel, munitions and repairs, and
everything else a great fleet needs. So vast is British sea-power of
every kind, compared with the sea-power of any other people, that
foreign fleets and joint expeditions generally have to get British
shipping to help them through their troubles when the British are
either neutral or allied. The Russian fleet could not have gone to the
Far East in 1904-05 without the supply ships of the British. The
American fleet that went round the world in 1908-09 had to depend on
British colliers. And over three-fifths of all the American soldiers
that went to France to fight the Germans went in British transports.
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