Optionally crewed craft fit task forces better than global patrols

Could an optionally crewed vessel use a small passage crew and then operate remotely on station?

Usually it means short-term accommodation or maintenance access on a primarily uncrewed vessel. Supported task-force operations are more practical than independent global deployment.

Optionally crewed usually means a primarily uncrewed vessel on which personnel can live briefly or conduct maintenance. It does not necessarily imply a passage crew followed by routine remote operation from shore. Such craft make more sense within a task force where other ships provide data links, coordination, and access for repair teams. A North Atlantic bastion with nearby air bases offers another supported setting, since helicopters could carry personnel out to a disabled vessel. An independently deployed craft crossing the Pacific would lack that ready repair access. Collision responsibility, wave damage, and the limits of redundancy remain problems, especially for smaller vessels.