The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, USS Carl Vinson is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class of ships A ship ( Audio (help·info)) is a large vessel that floats on water. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. In traditional terms, ships were considered to be vessels which had at least one continuous water-tight deck extending from bow to stern. However, some modern designs for ships, and boats, all constructed according to the same general design. Almost always, this is only applicable for military ships and larger civilian craft.
Overview
Large ships are complicated internally and may take as much as five to ten years to construct. Any changes or advances that are available when building a ship are likely to be included, so it is rare to have two that are completely identical. Constructing one ship is also likely to reveal better ways of doing things, and even errors. For example, when the United States built the USS Ohio as the lead ship of her class The Ohio class is a class of nuclear-powered submarines used by the United States Navy. The United States has 18 Ohio class submarines: of submarines A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine equipped to launch ballistic missiles, they found that the access hatches were not large enough to load some internal components only after construction was nearly complete.[citation needed]
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 building prototypes, and the lead ship will usually be followed by copies with some improvements rather than radically different versions. The improvements will sometimes be retrofitted The production of retrofit parts is necessary in manufacture when the design of a large assembly is changed or revised. If, after the changes have been implemented, a customer wishes to purchase a replacement part then retrofit parts and assembling techniques will have to be used so that the revised parts will fit suitably onto the older assembly to the lead ship. Occasionally, the lead ship will be launched and commissioned for shakedown testing 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 the Pennsylvania-class battleships, whose lead ship was USS Pennsylvania, or defining a theme by which vessels in the class are named, as in the Royal Navy The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s. In World War II the Royal Navy operated almost's Tribal-class frigates, named after tribes of the world, such as HMS Mohawk. If a ship class is produced for another fleet, the first active unit will become the lead ship for that fleet; for example, the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates are known as the Adelaide-class in the Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following federation of the Australian Colonies in 1901, the former colonial navies merged to become the Commonwealth Naval Forces. From this early fleet, the Royal Australian Navy was officially established in 1911 to become the new navy of the Commonwealth of. Larger civilian craft, such as the Sun Princess, the lead ship of the Sun-class cruise ships A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way. Transportation is not the prime purpose, as cruise ships operate mostly on routes that return passengers to their originating port, so the sometimes follow this convention as well.
The same custom is often followed in fiction: the Constitution-class cruiser is the basis for the Enterprise of Star Trek Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise. The original Star Trek is an American television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, which debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation Starship Enterprise, following an earlier pilot film †(though it should be noted that in Star Trek the term pathfinder is also occasionally used in lieu of lead ship) and the Imperial-class Star Destroyer appears in Star Wars Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise conceived by George Lucas. The first film in the franchise was originally released on May 25, 1977, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, spawning two sequels, released at three-year intervals. Sixteen years after the release of the trilogy's final film, the first in.
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