# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 12:32am 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/1023892/41 "2025-10-20T00:32:31Z")
Surely that’d depend on the circumstances under which the flag was being transferred? If the original flagship is destroyed completely, which is a thing that can happen in war, then the new ship might be fishing the admiral and his staff out of the brine. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 12:55am 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/1023892/42 "2025-10-20T00:55:41Z")
For sure. But what if it was damaged but not sunk? ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 1:01am 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/1023892/43 "2025-10-20T01:01:11Z")
Like in the song. > **[Oscar Brand – Turalai](https://genius.com/Oscar-brand-turalai-lyrics)** > > \[Verse 1\] / The enlisted men ride in a motor launch / The Captain he rides in a barge / He don't go a damned sight faster / But it gives the old bugger a charge / \[Chorus ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 4:48am 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/1023892/44 "2025-10-23T04:48:30Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > For sure. But what if it was damaged but not sunk? It happened a number of times in the Pacific War and generally what happened was that when the admiral needed to leave the ship, it was still in the chaos of the battle. They would have to leave quickly. It wasn’t practical to pull another capital ship in to transport the admiral so it would be done with small boats or maybe a destroyer. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 6:21am 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/1023892/45 "2025-10-23T06:21:54Z")
Or by [breeches buoy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeches_buoy). ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2025, 2:01pm 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/1023892/46 "2025-10-23T14:01:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If the original flagship is destroyed completely, which is a thing that can happen in war, then the new ship might be fishing the admiral and his staff out of the brine. That happened in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The Center Force command officer Vice Adm. Kurita had made his flag the heavy cruiser _Atago_ and a destoyer had to come to the rescue. An American sub torpedoed it out from under him. > Dace made four torpedo hits on the heavy cruiser Maya (sister to Atago and Takao).[32] Atago and Maya both went down quickly with significant loss of life.[33] Atago sank so rapidly that Kurita was forced to swim to survive, though he was rescued by the Japanese destroyer Kishinami and then later transferred to the battleship Yamato.[34 Some of the staff were lost and it’s said that Kurita was tired by this experience, both of which may have contributed to his poor performance in the upcoming battle. When they have time, they don’t have to swim. In the Battle of Midway, the commanding officer Nagumo had the carrier Akagi as his flagship, and was forced to transfer his flag: > Realizing that his flagship was crippled, if not doomed, Admiral Nagumo decided to transfer his flag to the light cruiser _Nagara,_ flagship of DesRon 10. The destroyer _Nowake,_ therefore, was ordered to come alongside, and at 0746 Admiral Nagumo and his staff abandoned the _Akagi’s_ bridge and prepared to board the destroyer. While this transfer was in progress the undamaged _Hiryu,_ flying the flag of Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi, ComCarDiv 2, launched her first attack against the _Yorktown:_ eighteen dive bombers escorted by five or six fighters. > > At 0830 Admiral Nagumo boarded the _Nagara_ from the _Nowake_ and promptly sent two radio dispatches, one to Admiral Yamamoto and one to the Mobile Force. Note that there are three flagships here: _Akagi_, the initial flagship for the 1st Air Fleet, the force attacking Midway; _Nagara_, which was the flagship for DesRon 10 (10th Destroyer Squadron) then transferred his flag to it. Note that they still have one carrier left, but Nagumo, a black shoe admiral, decided he wanted a surface encounter and elected to transfer to _Nagara_. _Hiryu_ was the flagship of the Second Carrier Division (with two of the four carriers). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2025, 12:55am 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/1023892/47 "2025-10-24T00:55:09Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > …and it’s said that Kurita was tired by this experience, I should expect so! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2025, 8:44pm 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/1023892/48 "2025-12-23T20:44:10Z")
Bumped. > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > … Because it’s USS Constitution (still technically a ship and technically afloat, even if it never goes anywhere except to turn around in the harbor every now and then)… [Well, I’d say rarely, but not never.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constitution#Sailing_on_200th_anniversary) ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 5:03pm 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/1023892/49 "2026-01-13T17:03:48Z")
HMS Hood was said to the RN flagship at the beginning of WW2.. She was often on tours visiting lots of ports and raising flags for the visit. So the term meant something different, but that term is used to explain why she went into WW2, and met her demise at Battle of the Denmark Straight, without upgrades… But the strategic term refers to the ship used to send signals… from when the signals were literally the flags. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 5:30pm 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/1023892/50 "2026-01-13T17:30:54Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > 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) I didn’t see this question getting answered, and since this has been bumped… LBJ was sworn in on Air Force 1 before the plane took off (with JFK’s casket as well) so no need to change call signs. [Previous 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)