page_title: Mother ship
hierarchical_section_title: Mother ship
context_page_description: A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft.
  Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental aircraft to altitudes where they can conduct their research, or ships that carry small submarines to an area of ocean to be explored.
  A mother ship may also be used to recover smaller craft, or go its own way after releasing them.
  A smaller vessel serving or caring for larger craft is usually called a tender.
context_section_description: A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft. 
  Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental aircraft to altitudes where they can conduct their research (such as the B-52 carrying the X-15), or ships that carry small submarines to an area of ocean to be explored (such as the Atlantis II carrying the Alvin).
  A mother ship may also be used to recover smaller craft, or go its own way after releasing them.
  A smaller vessel serving or caring for larger craft is usually called a tender.
caption: The Boeing X-43 being dropped from under the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress
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