What a presence warship needs beyond weapons

The Littoral Combat Ship provides a caution. Its crews are credited, and the ship might yet become a decent fighting vessel, but supply problems and parts of the design undermine its presence mission. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are formidable yet heavily used and crowded. A ship expected to host two or three hundred guests needs deck space for receptions as well as room for its crew and equipment. That hospitality function matters because presence is partly about political access and visible status, but the vessel must still be a credible combatant. The requirement links back to the 1930s Royal Navy, which chose the Town class rather than treating a conventional heavy cruiser as the smaller battleship it did not need.