Formations are an essential part of naval warfare and combat in general. I don't see SS as an exception to this.
The idea is we'd be able to define ship formations in the Fleet menu, and set them in the in-battle command menu. When defining a formation, you'd get "nodes" that you get to place freely - each of them would represent a position in the formation. The first node would be the formation leader on which all other members would key off. With non-leader nodes, you'd be able to define whether they are to maintain a set heading in relation to the leader or if they're free to pivot within an arc you can set, or completely free rotation - furthermore, how far ships are allowed to range from the centre of their "node" or if they're to do their best to maintain that exact position. Additionally, you'd be able to set whether the formation is "dynamic" - where if a member of a formation is knocked out or told to retreat, the next "number" in the formation would fill its place, or "static" where they will maintain their relative positions.
Then, when you've defined a formation, you can fill them with your ships via the fleet menu.
When it comes to formations and a player-controlled ship, you'd always assume the role of the formation's leader. Additionally, you'd be able to hotkey a number of formations so you can change them as the situation dictates. Additional hotkeys (Numpad) would allow you to have individual members temporarily break until pressed again, for example if you want to have them strike out at a target.
For formations other than the one you're leading, you'd be able to change them in the command interface at the cost of a command point. Speaking of which, something else that'd make the leadership tree more valuable is a skill that defines how many ships you can have in a given formation.
Point of this is with the escort command, mixed groups of ships with loadouts and fields of fire that complement one another are rarely in optimal positions to take advantage of it. When leading strike groups of frigates for example, you'll also get ships managing to get cut off from you, or being too aggressive and getting themselves overloaded or killed.