# Are flagships still a thing in current navies? Does the US have a ship they designate as the flagship of the US Navy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 2025, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892 "2025-10-12T14:03:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/1 "2025-10-12T14:03:20Z")
Title says it all. I get what a flagship used to be back in Napoleonic times. Then it morphed into more of a place of honor when flags were no longer used. Is it still a thing? If so, what is the current flagship of the US Navy? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/2 "2025-10-12T14:12:39Z")
The US Navy has flagships for each fleet generally. In a carrier fleet, it is pretty much going to be the carrier. There are also the 2 LCC for some other fleets: > **[USS Mount Whitney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Mount_Whitney)** > > USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) is one of two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships of the United States Navy and is the flagship and command ship of the United States Sixth Fleet. USS Mount Whitney also serves as the Afloat Command Platform (ACP) of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO). The ship had previously served for years as the COMSTRIKFLTLANT(NATO Designation) / US Second Fleet's command ship. She is one of only a few commissioned ships to be assigned to Military Sea... > **[USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Blue_Ridge_(LCC-19))** > > USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) is the lead ship of the two Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ships of the United States Navy, and is the third Navy ship named after the Blue Ridge Mountains, a range of mountains in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. > As the flagship of the Seventh Fleet, her primary role is to provide command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) support to the commander and staff of the Fleet. She is currently forward-deployed to U.S. Nav... Unofficially, the USS Constitution is the Flagship of the US Navy, but again, that is unofficial. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/3 "2025-10-12T14:18:54Z")
Isn’t a flagship any ship an admiral happens to be using. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/4 "2025-10-12T14:24:06Z")
I wondered the same thing. Kinda like Air Force One is not a particular plane. It is any plane the US president is on. If for some reason the US president is flying with you in your single engine Cessna you are Air Force One. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/5 "2025-10-12T14:26:02Z")
> [@What\_Exit's link](#): > > [USS Mount Whitney - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Mount_Whitney) At this point, the Navy needs acronyms for their acronyms. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/6 "2025-10-12T14:28:10Z")
Sure, but there is still a designated special airplane that, 99% of the time, the president would be using. I’m guessing the OP is asking the same; like, a carrier commander isn’t going to go aboard a submarine. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/7 "2025-10-12T14:37:46Z")
I’m not sure. Whack-a-Mole talks about flags but my understanding is that a flagship is where the an admiral is at because it literally flies his flag showing where he is as a flag officer. I’ll read stories of World War II where the admiral’s carrier will be sunk and he move to another ship and all of the sudden a cruiser is now the flagship. Am I missing something here? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/8 "2025-10-12T14:40:30Z")
My understanding is the flagship was what the admiral was on but the “flags” were used as communication. The admiral was coordinating the armada/fleet and back then the only way to do it was via signal flags. So, the admiral’s ship was the flagship…the one running up flags giving orders to all the other ships. This was the Age of Sail of course. This sort of thing: [![](https://www.omniglot.com/images/langsamples/englandexpects2.jpg) ](https://www.omniglot.com/images/langsamples/englandexpects2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/9 "2025-10-12T14:47:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > If for some reason the US president is flying with you in your single engine Cessna you are Air Force One. Only if “you” are the US Air Force. When the president flies in the Marine helicopter in and out of the White House, it’s Marine One. I presume that the sitting US president is not permitted to fly in private aircraft, but if he/she did fly in your private Cessna, it wouldn’t be called Air Force One. They’d probably have to come up with some other call sign to indicate that the president was on board. Whack One? Any of our local pilots know if my two assumptions are accurate? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/10 "2025-10-12T14:51:25Z")
Executive One. > **[Executive One](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_One)** > > Executive One is the call sign designated for any United States civil aircraft when the president of the United States is on board. Typically, the president flies in military aircraft that are under the command of the Presidential Airlift Group, which include Air Force One, Marine One, Army One, Navy One and Coast Guard One. > On December 26, 1973, President Richard Nixon became the only sitting president to travel on a regularly scheduled commercial airline flight when he flew on United Airlines ... ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/11 "2025-10-12T15:05:24Z")
IIRC when Nixon left office he took off as president and it was Air Force One. During the flight the resignation took effect and the plane changed its call sign to something else. It was no longer Air Force One. Not sure about the JFK assassination. Since he was dead did the plane take-off as Air Force One? Or did it become Air Force One when Johnson was sworn in as the next president on board the plane? (I really do not now how that worked…I am curious) @Velocity answered the broader question of a president on a private plane. Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/12 "2025-10-12T15:08:42Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Sure, but there is still a designated special airplane that, 99% of the time, the president would be using. I’m guessing the OP is asking the same; like, **a carrier commander isn’t going to go aboard a submarine.** Former submariner here. A _carrier_ commander? We wouldn’t have had him. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > **IIRC** when Nixon left office he took off as president and it was Air Force One. I’m not sure you do. In _my_ memory, there’s a famous photograph of Nixon giving his famous double-v salute as he boards a helicopter on the White House lawn for the last time. ETA: subsequent posts appear to indicate that either my memory or my assumptions about the connotations of that memory are faulty. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/13 "2025-10-12T15:12:12Z")
Famously, when Nixon left office, he boarded a plane while still President. It was designated Air Force One. Ford was sworn in mid-flight. Nixon’s plane stopped being Air Force One, and became SAM 27000. > **[Did Air Force One Change Call Signs After Nixon's Resignation?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/air-force-one-nixon-call-signs/)** > > The call sign "Air Force One" refers to any Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. Edit - Ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/14 "2025-10-12T15:12:52Z")
Could be “Special Air Mission” followed by the tail code number. I recall reading that when George W. Bush flew from Washington DC to Texas right after Obama was sworn in as president, Bush flew on the usual presidential-colors 747 jet, but the callsign was “Special Air Mission 28000.” Edit: Ninja’d, **Peter Morris** beat me to it. Edit: double ninja! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/15 "2025-10-12T15:23:56Z")
In fiction a flagship often seems to just be the ship itself. In Star Trek the USS Enterprise is often referred to as the flagship of Starfleet even though there is (usually) no admiral aboard. Make no mistake, I get that is fiction and our navy is real. Seems to be along the lines of the USS Constitution being the flagship in spirit though. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/16 "2025-10-12T15:41:59Z")
A fleet commander isn’t just one guy - it’s the command and control for the entire fleet. That means hundreds of people, dozens of rooms they can work out of and tons of communication equipment. It makes sense for there to be a designated ship for that. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/17 "2025-10-12T16:32:46Z")
Some WW2 admirals chose to command from a cruiser. They were large enough to absorb the admiral’s staff but small enough to not be targeted when surrounded by more important targets. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/18 "2025-10-12T16:40:03Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Unofficially, the USS Constitution is the Flagship of the US Navy, but again, that is unofficial. Does the USS Constitution have a crew and a captain even if it never goes anywhere? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/19 "2025-10-12T16:52:46Z")
There are active duty sailors involved in the maintenance and sailing of the USS Constitution. That would indicate some officer must be designated the Captain, but that I would have to look into. ETA: The current captain is Commander Crystal L. Schaefer, **the ship’s 78th commanding officer** , who assumed command in June 2024. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892/20 "2025-10-12T16:56:16Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > Some WW2 admirals chose to command from a cruiser. During Midway, Admiral Fletcher was forced to transfer his flag (ie his control party) from _Yorktown_ to a cruiser, _Astoria_, after _Yorktown_ was first hit by the Japanese. He eventually ceded operational control to Admiral Spruance on _Enterprise_, because he didn’t think he could be effective commanding from the cruiser. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-flagships-still-a-thing-in-current-navies-does-the-us-have-a-ship-they-designate-as-the-flagship-of-the-us-navy/1023892.md?page=2)