Maybe this answer is in the technical manual. What is the protocol to initiate auto-destruct? What is the protocol in abort? I ask because I noticed in First Contact, after everyone abandoned ship and Picard stayed behind to help Data, Who aborted the auto-destruct sequence? Do you need three officers (maybe even the same officers) to cancel auto-destruct?
Depends. In Star Trek it took Kirk plus his First and Second Officers to initiate it. But it only took Kirk alone to cancel it (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield). In The Next Generation it took the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer to both initiate and cancel the destruct sequence (11001001). As for the original cast movies the auto-destruct stayed the same (The Search for Spock). Later on... who knows.
The auto-destruct sequence works however the author of this week's episode wants it to work. There isn't really any continuity most of the time.
You are right about that because I believe on Voyager and Enterprise the same officers had to use their command codes to abort the auto-destruct. I'm going to pull my DVDs out use an episode guide and review those protocols. It would make sense to not have to go through all that again to save a starfleet vessel.
OK I looked at the Memory Alpha site and it is not clear about the abort instructions aboard a Sovereign-class starfleet vessel. On a Defiant-class vessel from the bridge, you need two officers' hand prints to activate and abort. Its solely up to the captain on the Intrepid-class but yet aboard the Sovereign-class it was a "three-officer" activation. so I guess in theory it may take three to start and one captain to abort. I'm also going to go with the theory that the First Contact writers skipped that detail or it was edited out the film. Like NCC-1701 said, "How the author... wants it to work."
There's no reason to believe the authorization protocols are specific to any class. They could be set by the individual vessel's CO, a fleet commander, or the Starfleet admiralty. Starfleet might change the policy every few years just to annoy and endanger their personnel, like they keep redesigning their uniforms and changing the rules regarding transporting through shields, phasers at warp, and "faster than light, no left or right."
Data wasn't the captain of the Enterprise-E and he was able to cancel the auto-destruct. In Modern Trek the is no clear cut way this is handled. In Star Trek we've only seen the auto-destruct used twice and it worked the same way both times (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield/The Search for Spock).
Are you sure? Memory Alpha seems to be implying that it was used or attempted several times. http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Auto-destruct
That wasn't a proper "self destruct" sequence. That was Kirk ordering Scotty to blow the main's manually, like he almost did in the episode with the Kelvans.
Depends really on how the system is modified to respond. Usually it took about 2 people to do it. In later Trek shows, the system could have been activated or deactivated by just one individual (and in critical situations, it would appear that having only 1 individual capable of doing so would severely cut back on the time spent on 'proper protocol'). I think it really depends on the premise if the vessel is under different circumstances. If it's not, then 'proper protocol' is followed ... and in Voyager's case for example ... well, it was a smaller ship under very different circumstances, so having only 1 person able to do it seems reasonable enough.
NO general agreement about it. Far too many differences from series to series. From memory-alpha one would imagine it is perhaps in part dependent upon the class of ship and/or how one intends to destroy the ship. Different procedures mean different ways to cancel it out.
Real special considering he is only the second officer. If I remember correctly, he wasn't even part of the trio that activated the auto-destruct (which was different from the Enterprise-D) in First Contact. Wasn't it Picard, Worf and Crusher? Which I find peculiar because Worf wasn't even a member of the Enterprise-E crew, nor part of the command staff.
You are right about it being Picard, Crusher, and Worf. I can't remember why Worf was there but yes they activated the auto-destruct then abandoned ship. So my question is who aborted the auto-destruct when Picard was too about to abandon ship but heard Data's subliminal distress call and chose to stay behind to help him fight the Borg?
Wow! You are absolutely right. I guess I was attentively looking for some kind of protocol since a "three-officer" crew activated it I thought it would be more complex to abort it just for that very reason during that scene where Data, a subordinate, is acting against the captain's authority. I guess as Alidar Jarok posted, "Data is special."