Modern, Dedicated Command Flagship Thread

This thread will be about dedicated, full purpose Command Ships.

Not ships that are destroyers or amphibious assault, or carriers that have strong command spaces...but purpose built, dedicated command ships.

I will start the thread with the US Navy's Blue Ridge Class command flagship vessels.

Here are some pictures that A.Man posted in the PLAN Breaking News Thread of the Blue Ridge visiting China in April 2015 to start it off:

Jeff Head
SD Super Moderator


USS Blue Ridge Is Visiting Zhanjiang China

More Photo: USS Blue Ridge Is Visiting Zhanjiang China

More Photo II: USS Blue Ridge Is Visiting Zhanjiang China

Now, more about the Blue Ridge class itself.

Two were built.

USS Blue Ridge, LCC-19 Launch: January 1969 Commission: November 1970 Status: Active
USS Mount Whitney, LCC-20. Launch: January 1970 Commission: January 1971 Status: Active

Blue Ridge serves as the command flagship of the US 7th fleet in the Pacific. Mount Whitney serves as command flagship for the US 6th Fleet in Europe.


They are both dedicated command ships and were originally designed in the 1960s specifically to act as command ships for large Amphibious Assault task forces.

However, with the advent of the large Tarawa, and then Wasp large Amphibious assault vessels which had their own extensive command spaces, these ships were tasked towards being overall fleet flagships. They now serve as floating headquarters ships for all of the various combatant commands that make up those fleets.

To do this, they have all the communications and sensor equipment necessary to provide command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) support to the fleet command staff in real time.


They are large vessels, displacing right at 20,000 tons and being 635 feet long with a 108 foot beam. They have a crew of 52 officers and 790 enlisted personnel, but also include a command staff of almost 200 officers and another 120 enlisted personnel.

They have a range of 10,000 miles and can cruise at 23 knots.

They are fairly well armed for defensive purposes with the following:

2 × Mk-15 Phalanx CIWS guns
2 × Mk-38 Mod 2 25 mm Bushmaster cannons
8 × .50 cal. Machine gun mounts
Mark 36 SRBOC chaff launchers


They carry two helicopters, generally Seahawks, but have no hanger.

The Blue Ridge has the distinction of being the longest forward deployed vessel in US history, having been forward deployed to Japan for 35 years.

She was launched in 1969 and is expected to serve in the Pacific until 2039.

Please post pictures, videos, and news about modern command flagship vessels like the Blue Ridge Class. Another vessle like this that I can think of off the top of my head are the old Russian/Soviet, nuclear powered command ships, the Kaputsa, SV-33.

I will let someone else detail that ship here and her fate.

Hey Jeff, I never quite understand why USN still have these ships in service?
I mean, in the advent of hypersonic ASBM / AShM (BrahMos, YJ-12, CM-400AKG "Wrecker") these ships are highly vulnerable and probably the first thing the OppFor would target for "decapitation strike". Granted I know they would probably be operating in safe distance away from harm with layered defence of CG/DDG/ in between to protect them, but submarine launched variant of the above mentioned ASBM/AShM could pop up anywhere and these comparatively lightly armed ships (only 2 CIWS and couple of machine guns?) would be sitting ducks for these weapons (especially against saturation attacks)

I've proposed PLAN to develop a command ship based off their Yuanwang 5/6 space tracking ships. They've already proven the ability to mount sophisticated sensors and datalinks onboard, along with a large command room, and a large amount of space for its crew that can be reallocated for other roles in a military ship, or kept for a flag officer and their staff.



At nearly 25,000 tons full, I think a fully naval Yuanwang derived command ship stuffed with datalinks, SIGINT arrays, command rooms, a full large integrated flag bridge, a few ciws, and accommodations for crew and officers would be an effective and nice looking ship.

Of course, one "issue" that's going to hinder this proposal is that PLAN can probably command quite effectively from land given most of their contingencies requiring complex operations will remain in westpac. It will only be once they reach a sufficiently large size with intention to operate in a complex fashion in expeditionary missions that a command ship becomes more necessary.

Ultra said:

Hey Jeff, I never quite understand why USN still have these ships in service?

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Because they are extremely powerful in the C4I role, and the two large fleets they operate in themselves are each based thousands of miles away from the US mainland.

Ultra said:

I mean, in the advent of hypersonic ASBM / AShM (BrahMos, YJ-12, CM-400AKG "Wrecker") these ships are highly vulnerable and probably the first thing the OppFor would target for "decapitation strike".

Granted I know they would probably be operating in safe distance away from harm with layered defence of CG/DDG/ in between to protect them, but submarine launched variant of the above mentioned ASBM/AShM could pop up anywhere and these comparatively lightly armed ships (only 2 CIWS and couple of machine guns?) would be sitting ducks for these weapons (especially against saturation attacks)

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There are all sorts of defenses that a battle group like the one that surrounds one of these ships, would use. They are not sitting ducks unless they were caught out alone.

1st is their location. They will not be front line in a time of war..

2nd is the electronic warfare environment that would surround such vessels in the event of war. There are both very strong passive and active electronic measures that would help defend them.

Then of course is the layered missile defense that will have long range, medium range and short range components. The same is true of ASW defenses. it would be layered as well.

Finally there would be the CIWS that they carry.

Not an easy nut to crack at all.

Of course, they would be less prepared, and more vulnerable in a surprise attack during peace time...but not too terribly so. They are usually accompanied by a number of ships, or are themselves in the middle of a battle group. The US exercises for those types of things all the time.

Bltizo said:

I've proposed PLAN to develop a command ship based off their Yuanwang 5/6 space tracking ships. They've already proven the ability to mount sophisticated sensors and datalinks onboard, along with a large command room, and a large amount of space for its crew that.

At nearly 25,000 tons full, I think a fully naval Yuanwang derived command ship stuffed with datalinks, SIGINT arrays, command rooms, a full large integrated flag bridge, a few ciws, and accommodations for crew and officers would be an effective and nice looking ship.

Of course, one "issue" that's going to hinder this proposal is that PLAN can probably command quite effectively from land given most of their contingencies requiring complex operations will remain in westpac. It will only be once they reach a sufficiently large size with intention to operate in a complex fashion in expeditionary missions that a command ship becomes more necessary.

Click to expand...

Yes, that would be one heck of a command ship.

The PLAN will see more need for such a ship as they begin to extend their operations for any significant length of time at a great distance from the mainland. Onece they are doing that with a significant numer of ships, and themselves have fleets tasked with it, they may well see the need.

The US Navy 7th fleet is based across the Pacific Ocean from the US mainland. The US 6th Fleet across the Atlantic, so the desire to have such a moving command base is more readily apparent.

One day if the PLAN has similar operating fleets, they may see the need for it as well.

If they do...that ship, built and configured as a fleet command vessel would make one heck of a candidate.

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gCaptain said:

The U.S. Navy has confirmed that a fire broke out on board USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) while the ship was in Viktor Lenac Shipyard in Rijeka, Croatia this past Friday, with the extent of damage still unknown.

The Navy said the fire occurred July 31 and lasted about 45 minutes before it was extinguished by the shipboard fire suppression systems and shipyard firefighters. No personnel were injured in the incident.

The cause of fire and extent of damage are under investigation, the Navy said.

USNI News reported that the fire originated in a diesel generator space during testing, according to a Navy official.

Mount Whitney has been in Viktor Lenac Shipyard since January 2015 undergoing a scheduled maintenance overhaul designed to extend the service life of the ship to 2039. The Navy said previously that the USS Mount Whitney is scheduled to depart the shipyard later this summer.

Mount Whitney is a Blue Ridge-class command and control ship that forward-deployed to Gaeta, Italy and operates with a combined crew of U.S. Navy Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners. The civilian mariners perform navigation, deck, engineering and supply service operations, while military personnel support communications, weapons systems and security. It is one of only two seaborne Joint Command Platforms in the U.S. Navy.

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This appears to be fairly minor in terms of damage...but we will have to wait and see what the US Navy reports.

She was about complete with the overhaul and was going to go back to see within the next few weeks.

I am kind of surprised that such a significant (8+ month) overhaul was done there in Croatia..