Lead ship

Thelead ship,name ship,orclass leaderis the first of a series orclassofshipsthat are all constructed according to the samegeneral design.The term is applicable tonaval shipsand large civilian vessels.

Left:USSEssex,lead of theEssexclass
Right:MSVoyager of the Seas,lead ship of theVoyagerclass

Large ships are very complex and may take five to ten years to build. Improvements based on experience with building and operating the lead ship are likely to be incorporated into the design or construction of later ships in the class, so it is rare to have vessels that are identical.

The second and later ships are often started before the first one is completed, launched and tested. Nevertheless, building copies is still more efficient and cost effective than buildingprototypes,and the lead ship will usually be followed by copies with some improvements rather than radically different versions. The improvements will sometimes beretrofittedto the lead ship. Occasionally, the lead ship will be launched and commissioned forshakedowntesting before following ships are completed, making the lead ship a combination of template and prototype, rather than expending resources on a prototype that will never see actual use.

Naming

Ship classes are typically named in one of two ways; echoing the name of the lead ship, such as thePennsylvania-classbattleships,whose lead ship wasUSSPennsylvania,and theOlympicclass,whose lead ship wasRMSOlympic,or defining a theme by which vessels in the class are named, as in theRoyal Navy'sTribal-classfrigates,named after tribes of the world, such asHMSMohawk.If a ship class is produced for another navy, the first active unit will become the lead ship for that navy; for example, theOliver Hazard Perry-classfrigates are known as theAdelaideclassinRoyal Australian Navyservice.

External links

• Example of a lead ship announcement from US NavyArchived29 June 2011 at theWayback Machine
• USSPennsylvaniaBB-38Archived16 April 2003 at theWayback Machine