"flagship" is largely a meaningless term anyway. At least as it is treated in Star Trek as opposed to today. IIRC, in navies today the "flagship" of a fleet is whichever ship the admiral and his staff uses. Today it can be a carrier, a specialized command ship, or even a small vessel if the circumstances warrant. For example in WWII it was not unusual when a carrier or battleship was damaged in battle for the admiral in command to "transfer his flag" to the handiest ship he and his staff could transfer to on short notice. But apparently writers in Star Trek interpreted "flagship" to mean "the biggest, strongest, and best ship in the fleet".
it seems to me that in the 23rd century the Enterprise was given the designation "flagship" because of her accomplishments. in the 24th cen it seems that the federation council just bestowed it upon the "D" because they wanted to.
Well they should have made sure that the helm and bridge officers could actually fly the ship without crashing it into a planet ....
While originally intended for long range exploration, those plans were thrown out the window by the middle of the first season. Farpoint Station was apparently a vital component of Starfleets long term exploration strategy, and it turning into a space jellyfish and flying away really ruined things.
Back in that time, they weren't in any sort of major conflict, and I think things were fairly peaceful. So for the time, the Ent-D was appropriate.
Yeah, no. The "Flag Ship" is the ship that carries the Task Group, Task Force, Battle Group, Fleet, Commander in Chief's flag. That's it. End of story. More often than not, that ship is a cruiser. Everybody knows that the Carriers and Battleships were the primary targets, so you keep the Admirals off of them. Instead of a Carrier, Admiral Halsey's "Flag Ship" was, usually, a Battleship. Admiral Jesse Oldendorf, who oversaw the last battleship versus battleship engagement in history used the U.S.S. Louisville, a heavy crusier, as his flag ship. The reason the commanders of the various Carrier Battle Groups today use the actual Carrier as their ship is only due to the size of the ships. Of all the ships in the CBG, they're the ones with the most room for the flag staff and the most comfortable quarters. The cruisers of today just aren't designed with "Flag Country", the space occupied by the Admiral and his staff, in mind.
