Worst command decisions by Captain James T. Kirk

[Herbert]

Not really. Kirk joining Starfleet put into motion those events; all the rest was just the inevitable happening.

That is, I can't see a scenario where Kirk the starship captain would not beam over to Khan's ship, and I certainly can't see any organization chiding let alone condemning him for the decision, be the organization real or fictional. It's ridiculous to expect him to just put the derelict in tow or blow it to smithereens without first examining it closely.

Timo Saloniemi

I retract my previous statements. Kirk should have blown the SS Botany Bay to smithereens. problem solved

 

[MAGolding]

Agreed with Tenacity that timidity in "Immunity Syndrome" would have served no purpose. Sure, probes were disappearing into the zone of darkness and not returning - but that would have been a valid way for Kirk's ship to operate, too. Just go in and kill the thing, since it needs killing and since there's nothing visible to fire at from the outside. Survival would be optional.

As for "The Galileo Seven", the very fact that the Murasaki phenomenon was there and wasn't going anywhere was telling enough - despite this, Starfleet had not been able to study it. Apparently, Kirk was taking a rare shortcut (supposedly because of the medicine delivery mission) and going where nobody would go again in years. Starships are busy things, after all. If Kirk has three days to use, why not use them? It's not as if the medicine mission would have been endangered in any way - Kirk made sure of that by only sending a shuttle.

What's odd about the episode is that Kirk stays there to search for the shuttle party. Why not leave them, since they aren't going anywhere, either? It's not as if they would have been in any sort of danger, equipped as they were with plenty of water and food and weapons. If they survived the supposed crash at all, they'd be fine. Just deliver the medicine and then return to continue the search. Heck, the other shuttle(s) could keep on searching while Kirk was delivering the medicine. Kirk could get tither and yon in the allocated three days, or at least in the episode he very much acts as if he can.

Note also that the mission was cleverly written as a rendezvous. The suffering masses would not suffer more if Kirk delayed, or less if Kirk hurried: they would only get their medicine after the three days were up and the second leg of the voyage of the vital vials began.

Kirk's ship not being a valid target in the virtual war? Why not? Surely the Vendikans would wish to shoot down any ship attempting to make friends with the Eminians, knowing that outsiders would swing the balance of the war. And while they'd actually do well to shoot at Kirk with live ammo there, they could also sort of rest assured that Anan 7 would do their dirty work for them - just like his granddad had done with the Valiant as far as the episode insinuates.

Timo Saloniemi

I never understood about the Rendezvous bit. How could transferring medicine from starship to starship get it to the destination faster than just having one single starship fly straight from the source of the medicine to the infected planet?

 

[MAGolding]

And throw in the auto destruct sequence countdown for extra enjoyment!

I would simply beam up the miners and their dilithium crystals and declare that I was using eminent domain to buy the crystals at normal prices, the girls could marry the miners if they wanted to, and the miners were under arrest for treason for threatening to let a Federation starship crash.

 

[MAGolding]

I got the impression that the Murasaki phenomenon was short lived, and it wouldn't be possible to return and study it later, towards the middle of the episode didn't it dissolve?

They could have sent unmanned probes to study it, and maybe left a shuttle and it s crew at a safe distance to study it.

T'Zombie wrote:

Come on, Mitchell. Some friend you were to Kirk. Didn't even know his middle name.

Everybody knows that it is possible and common for Earth Humans to have more than one middle name. Everybody knows that people have a lot of choice in which form of their names to use. In fact, in the USA it is legal for people to totally change their names as long as no fraud is involve. And yet people always make this seem like some big deal.

 

[Elder Knight]

Even if Khan was restricted to the basic engineering manuals (as opposed to the step by step Enterprise operator's instruction manual) I imagine his genetically engineered superior intellect would have been able to extrapolate the rest.

There's a Sherlock Holmes joke wherein Watson is amazed that some local criminal successfully impersonated a Professor of Chinese Philosophy for many years. Holmes notes the bookmarks in the man's Encyclopaedia Brittanica and concludes that the fellow read the article on "China" and the article on "Philosiophy" and simply "combined his information."

 

[Gary7]

Last night CORBOMITE MANEUVER was running on the Heroes and Icons channel. By my count Kirk exposed the ship's crew to about 20 seconds of lethal-zone radiation, as Spock put it. Granted, Bailey prolonged the situation somewhat, but yeesh.

As soon as Spock announced "entering lethal zone", Kirk snapped up with "Lock phasers on target!" And Bailey hesitated. So it would seem radiation exposure wasn't all that bad, nothing that Dr. McCoy couldn't handle with treating the crew who had unhealthy radiation exposure.

What I found more problematic was their encounter with the Fesarius pilot vessel, in the midst of pulling away from it. Temperatures in the engines went to critical. Shouty-Spock yelled out "She'll blow soon!" And then Kirk goes ahead requesting Sulu advance to "impulse power 2". Ummm... really? Ship is gonna blow up, sir!

Now, we know Kirk is a fully trained and experienced captain. But he's not an engineer. And you'd expect the very first thing he'd do is confirm with Scotty if he could get more power without blowing up the ship. They sheered away at the very last second, just as it seemed that the Enterprise engines were about to blow up. I have to say, that was a terrible risk. They were so close to blowing up. And then afterward, Scotty suddenly shows up with "Engines need work badly, Captain. Can we hold it here for a while?" So, this action did cause damage... but again, Kirk isn't an engineer. I don't think he was really aware of the ramifications. He got LUCKY.

 

[johnnybear]

I never understood about the Rendezvous bit. How could transferring medicine from starship to starship get it to the destination faster than just having one single starship fly straight from the source of the medicine to the infected planet?

Maybe The Enterprise was a faster ship?
JB

 

[J.T.B.]

I never understood about the Rendezvous bit. How could transferring medicine from starship to starship get it to the destination faster than just having one single starship fly straight from the source of the medicine to the infected planet?

It wouldn't necessarily be faster but making the whole trip could pull a starship away from its assigned area longer than would be desirable. Where I live when state troopers make a blood or antivenin run for a hospital, they relay it: Run lights-and-siren to the edge of their patrol section (usually the county line), hand off to a trooper from the next section, and then get back to their patrol area.

 

[Mytran]

As soon as Spock announced "entering lethal zone", Kirk snapped up with "Lock phasers on target!" And Bailey hesitated. So it would seem radiation exposure wasn't all that bad, nothing that Dr. McCoy couldn't handle with treating the crew who had unhealthy radiation exposure.

What I found more problematic was their encounter with the Fesarius pilot vessel, in the midst of pulling away from it. Temperatures in the engines went to critical. Shouty-Spock yelled out "She'll blow soon!" And then Kirk goes ahead requesting Sulu advance to "impulse power 2". Ummm... really? Ship is gonna blow up, sir!

Now, we know Kirk is a fully trained and experienced captain. But he's not an engineer. And you'd expect the very first thing he'd do is confirm with Scotty if he could get more power without blowing up the ship. They sheered away at the very last second, just as it seemed that the Enterprise engines were about to blow up. I have to say, that was a terrible risk. They were so close to blowing up. And then afterward, Scotty suddenly shows up with "Engines need work badly, Captain. Can we hold it here for a while?" So, this action did cause damage... but again, Kirk isn't an engineer. I don't think he was really aware of the ramifications. He got LUCKY.

I always assumed that Kirk came from an engineering background - his actions in Court Martial indicate duties in that area, certainly and he's never shied away from jury-rigging and repair work in other episodes.

 

[Gary7]

I always assumed that Kirk came from an engineering background - his actions in Court Martial indicate duties in that area, certainly and he's never shied away from jury-rigging and repair work in other episodes.

There's different levels of engineering knowledge, and I've no doubt Kirk has a basic level as part of his responsibilities in being captain of a starship. I just don't think that level is sophisticated enough for him to know just how far he can push the engines, to nearly exploding... without any input from the chief engineer.

 

[Push The Button]

Maybe The Enterprise was a faster ship?
JB

It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs. She'll do point-five past light speed.

 

[johnnybear]

It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs. She'll do point-five past light speed.

HaHaHa I had thought of adding that but I decided to resist the temptation!
JB

 

[Spock's Barber]

HaHaHa I had thought of adding that but I decided to resist the temptation!
JB

First time for you resisting temptation, JB?

 

[Commishsleer]

I'm watching Paradise Syndrome now.
Spock says they have 30 minutes to deflect the asteroid and Kirk says lets fool around on the planet (not literally) because we have all this time.
Kirk should have diverted the asteroid before they even stepped foot on the planet.
I mean who cares what was on the planet anyway? There were sentient beings. Divert the asteroid and ask questions later.

 

[Leviathan]

Failure to shorten the standard Yeoman uniform by 3 inches.

 

[Brennyren]

Failure to shorten the standard Yeoman uniform by 3 inches.

Was that even possible?

 

[Nebusj]

There's different levels of engineering knowledge, and I've no doubt Kirk has a basic level as part of his responsibilities in being captain of a starship. I just don't think that level is sophisticated enough for him to know just how far he can push the engines, to nearly exploding... without any input from the chief engineer.

While there's never any guessing exactly how rigorously the writers were thinking of this sort of thing, it is the case that in the postwar US submarine service a captain must be a qualified (nuclear) engineer. I don't know what the requirements are for other kinds of US Navy ship. But it would seem plausible for Trek's writers to have the rough idea that of course the captain of a starship is thoroughly versed in the engines of the ship.

(Do we ever see an example of someone talking ship's technical detail that Kirk doesn't understand, or at least doesn't seem to follow?)

 

[johnnybear]

First time for you resisting temptation, JB?

You're a fine one to talk my Lord!
JB

 

[Spock's Barber]

You're a fine one to talk my Lord!
JB

Yes, when temptation calls, I'm the first one to answer.

 

[J.T.B.]

While there's never any guessing exactly how rigorously the writers were thinking of this sort of thing, it is the case that in the postwar US submarine service a captain must be a qualified (nuclear) engineer. I don't know what the requirements are for other kinds of US Navy ship.

In terms of education and training, US Navy line officers are engineers more than anything. Except for those who came up through aviation, it would be extremely rare to find a warship captain who had not served as chief engineer or one of the main assistants (propulsion, electrical, damage control) at some point in his/her career.