Why was he in command of a ship as large as a Nebula class?
LCDR Hobson
- Thread starter Trekboy1993
- Start date
And Data was also a LCDR and a Nebula class is not a small ship
I think Hobson was basically acting captain while the ship was in dock, overseeing repairs. Data was specifically ordered to take command of the Sutherland by Picard, who was in overall command of the task force. Essentially, a field commision, which would go back to being Lt. Cmdr. ehen that mission was over.
I agree. I should have said he wasn't the permanent captain of the Sutherland and there seemed to be no indication that he would be promoted to captain.
Yeah. I think at best, he would end up XO.
Had Hobson been the commanding officer on the Sutherland, he should have been a captain, but he was not.
Also if Hobson had been the captain, I don't think he would've taken it nicely when someone else comes to his ship and takes command.
If Hobson was the captain, there would not have been the need to transfer Data to the Sutherland.
Also if Hobson had been the captain, I don't think he would've taken it nicely when someone else comes to his ship and takes command.
If Hobson was the captain, there would not have been the need to transfer Data to the Sutherland.
If Lieutenant (j.g.) Piersall can command the Nebula-Class Prometheus for a mission then I'm sure either Lieutenant Commander Data or Hobson could do so as well. Admittedly the costume department messed up there and missed out one of his rank pips, as he was meant to be a Lieutenant Commander as well, but it always amuses me when I watch "Second Sight".
I think Piersall was made a LCDR because the writer wouldn't want Sisko to take a backseat to a full Captain and he wouldn't be able to order a Commander. Of Course he couldn't order a Bridge Officer on a ship not his...
And in real world Navies, LCDR are Captains of smaller vessels such as Corvettes and Minesweepers not larger ships like Destroyers, Frigates, Subs which are commanded by Commanders usually and Certainly not Aircraft Carriers which are Commanded by Full Birds. I could see a LCDR in command of a Defiant class, Oberth hell even an Intrepid in a pinch but a Nebula thats going to far
I think you just won this thread.
I always saw the installation of Data on the Sutherland as a display of favouritism on Picard's part.
Hobson was a command track officer, in hindsight the move of Data to the Sutherland was the right one but I would have been annoyed if I was Hobson to be usurped.
Hobson was a command track officer, in hindsight the move of Data to the Sutherland was the right one but I would have been annoyed if I was Hobson to be usurped.
Lt. Piersall as mentioned above was indeed intended to be a Lt. Commander with a costuming error resulting in him being a Lieutenant JG. Also, the script never specified which class the Prometheus was, but the writer thought they would use a smaller ship than the Nebula class. That whole situation is a result of miscommunication all around.
No it wasn't favoritism. If you remember, Data wasn't even given a task force command initially. It only took Data "guilt tripping" Picard into giving him a command.
After which it became favoritism.
But he probably can't. I mean, he doesn't do any commanding in his one appearance. Instead, he takes commands from a passenger.
Piersall sitting in the CO chair is probably no more significant than Ensign Harry Kim doing that. The ship is in chaos when we see this Lieutenant: the man who really calls the shots (and for all we know is the formal CO, despite choosing to wear non-regulation garb) is off to light up a star with his personality, and in order to get there, he has probably confronted the top staff of the ship and left them stunned on the shuttlebay floor or locked out in their cabins. I mean, if Picard tried to get out of the E-D, that's what he'd have to do to Riker, Data etc.
On the other hand, the Prometheus no doubt was intended to be a tiny ship. But so quite possibly was the Sutherland. And whenever the Nebula class appeared, it was indeed portrayed as smaller than its design intent - the docking scene with DS9 particularly shows a dwarf ship, only about half the size of the E-D in relation to that station.
Timo Saloniemi
But he probably can't. I mean, he doesn't do any commanding in his one appearance. Instead, he takes commands from a passenger.
Piersall sitting in the CO chair is probably no more significant than Ensign Harry Kim doing that. The ship is in chaos when we see this Lieutenant: the man who really calls the shots (and for all we know is the formal CO, despite choosing to wear non-regulation garb) is off to light up a star with his personality, and in order to get there, he has probably confronted the top staff of the ship and left them stunned on the shuttlebay floor or locked out in their cabins. I mean, if Picard tried to get out of the E-D, that's what he'd have to do to Riker, Data etc.
On the other hand, the Prometheus no doubt was intended to be a tiny ship. But so quite possibly was the Sutherland. And whenever the Nebula class appeared, it was indeed portrayed as smaller than its design intent - the docking scene with DS9 particularly shows a dwarf ship, only about half the size of the E-D in relation to that station.
Timo Saloniemi
Star Trek really over and under-exaggerates the ranks there was no way a LCDR would be in Command of a Ship as large as a Nebula, no way a Commander or Captain would be put in Charge of a Space Station, No reason for a Captain to command a Defiant class a LCDR hell even a LT would have sufficed, and an Intrepid-class had no reason to be commanded by a Captain a CMDR would have sufficed. Take a look at modern Navies: A Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier is commanded by a Captain and has roughly 5000 personal (Roughly that of a Galaxy Class), A Frigate and Destroyer roughly 147-157 (Roughly the crew size of Voyager) is commanded by a Commander which also command Subs as well, and Corvettes with crews of around 127 are commanded by LT. Commanders
I guess times have changed, command structures are more loose than right now in our time, if a person with a lower rank can be trusted with a ship from past experience, he may take command for some time.
No one can debate minutia more than Star Trek or Star Wars fans.
Or Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans in general.
I agree that Nebulas (which are as much as 90% the size of a Galaxy-class) would rate a CAPT or at least a senior CMDR; according to navy.mil CMDRs and CAPTs may command bases on shore (the closest RW equivalent to a starbase) although this becomes less teniable as tensions with the Cardassians, Klingons and Dominion mount as the series goes on (ADM Ross or his predecessor really should have been installed no later than s4); I agree that a CAPT was overkill for the Defiant, but looking outside the USN, LCDRs are tasked as COs for crews as small as 20-25 if a degree of autonomy is desirable (the RANs' Fremantle and Armidale-class patrol boats for instance); again, I agree that Janeway's rank should have been CMDR (unless we suppose two ranks of CAPT), especially as her XOs were LCDRs.
The Galaxy-class is typically assumed to have a crew of around 1,000 (roughly inline with the old Invincible-class light carriers of the Royal Navy) or the San Antonio-class LPDs, however this is not inconsistent with the idea of the CO being a CAPT (as CVNs often have at least three, if not four or five CAPTs embarked (CO, XO, CHENG, CAG, Flag COS), especially as Yesterday's Enterprise indicates that the Galaxy-class has a capacity of seven to eight thousand and Ensigns of Command suggests a short-term evac capacity of up to fifteen thousand. As noted above, CDR would be sufficient for Intrepids (and indeed the earlier Constitutions) and LCDRs for Defiants , Oberths and Sabres, though in all cases they could hold the title of "Captain" ("Skipper" or "CO" are also acceptable internationally if preferred).
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