@CaptainXtra
Mothership comes from the fact that sailing ships traditionally are gendered female when personified. So a ship that “births” other ships would also be female.
Fun fact, there are a few stories out there were certain crafts launched from a mothership are referred to as daughterships or daughtercraft.
I could imagine a story where the command ship would be called a fathership…wait. I think the men in Vandread refer to their capital ship as a fathership, since they have no concept of mothers. I feel like that was a thing that was said, but it’s been awhile since I last saw that show.