Command ship
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Command ships serve as the flagships of the commander of a fleet. They provide communications, office space, and accommodations for a fleet commander and their staff, and serve to coordinate fleet activities.
An auxiliary command ship features the command and control components prevalent on landing ships (command) and also features the capability to land troops and equipment. These forces will be slightly less than those on a pure landing ship due to the nature of the ship as a command vessel and hence will also house the assault commander, the flotilla commander or someone of similar status (generally of NATO OF-7 or OF-8 rank—such as a major general or vice admiral).
Currently, the United States Navy operates two command ships, Template:USS and Template:USS, both of the purpose-built Template:Sclass. Two command ships, Template:USS and Template:USS were converted from Landing Platform Docks (LPD); these ships were decommissioned in March 2005 and December 2006 and sunk as targets in support of a fleet training exercise on 11 April 2007 and as part of live-fire exercise Valiant Shield 2012, respectively.<ref name="ComPacFlt_Sept2012">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Soviet Union operated several space program command ships, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, and the Soviet communications ship SSV-33 Ural. These ships greatly extended the tracking range when the orbits of cosmonauts and uncrewed missions were not within range of Soviet land-based tracking stations.<ref name="kosmonavtka">Tracking sites and ships, Komsmonavtka Website, Retrieved 13 June 2008 Template:Webarchive</ref> Similar U.S. vessels were classified as Missile Range Instrumentation Ships (T-AGM).
See alsoEdit
- Amphibious command ships
- Auxiliary command ships
- Command cruisers
- Space tracking or command ships
- World War II construction battalion (Seebee) and Service Squadron command ships
- Template:USS - Service Squadron mobile base command ship, ex-fleet flagship
- Template:USS - Service Squadron mobile base command ship
- Template:USS - Seebee command ship
- Template:USS - Service Squadron mobile base command ship
- USS Wright/ USS San Clemente - Service Squadron mobile base command ship