Shore influence does not automatically make every gun platform a capital ship

Are monitors or modern amphibious assault ships capital ships?

Monitors are specialized support ships, while major LPDs and LHDs can qualify as capital assets because of their central expeditionary role.

A functional definition of a capital ship produces different answers for two awkward categories. A monitor can influence events ashore, but it exists chiefly to deliver artillery support and is not intended to decide fleet combat or carry a broader expeditionary system. Large LPDs and LHDs can be different because an amphibious force may depend on them as its principal instrument for putting troops, aircraft, and command capability ashore. Capital status therefore follows strategic centrality instead of gun size alone. The label changes as fleet roles evolve.