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Mother ship
Large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Mothership (disambiguation).
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.
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/B-52B_with_X43.jpg/640px-B-52B_with_X43.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Stargazer_on_IRIS_mission%2C.jpg/640px-Stargazer_on_IRIS_mission%2C.jpg)
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.