Sacrificing Your Ship and Crew: Knowing The Risks

[M.A.C.O.]

I’ve been pondering the responsibilities of the admiralty, commanding officers and executive officers. Specifically when it comes to their duties to their crew and the duties of the crew to the mission. Star Fleet crewman die from and during all manner of incidents. Away team missions, first contacts, transporter accidents, warp core breaches, ground and space battles, doomsday weapons and god of the week events.

For this thread, is there ever a time when you think a CO or XO should put his crew in the path of certain death or sacrifice an away team for a tactical advantage?

Scenario i’m Imagining. Away team on a Borg cube, with it’s shields powered down. Transporters are down but the crew are in the Queen’s chamber. The queen slowly bringing her ship back online. Would an CO/XO be right to target the bridge/chamber and destroy the queen and end the threat of a borg incursion before it starts?

Or take the Dominion War. The battle Sacrifice of Angels had the Federation start with 600 ships and end with 200 by the time they reached DS9. 2/3’s of the fleet gone in a span of 8 hours. 400 captains lead their crews into certain death. Before the battle even started, Sisko and Ross knew they were outnumbered and expected heavy casualties.

What do you think?

 

[Sareesataka]

As a Starfleet captain, I suppose there are 2 scenarios in which you sacrifice your ship and crew.

1. In battle, when your ship is heavily damaged and there is no time to man the escape pods. An example is Star Trek First Contact, in the battle with the Borg, Worf orders ramming speed against the Cube. The Defiant suffered heavy damage and Worf could have tried to escape but the ship probably would have been destroyed in the process so he elected to sacrifice his ship and crew. As well, to prevent the ship and all its technology from falling into the hands of the enemy. Example is Let That be Your Last Battlefield, when Kirk was willing to sacrifice his ship rather than let it be controlled by an enemy.

2. The Prime Directive. A starship captain's solemn oath is to sacrifice his ship and crew rather than violate the Prime Directive.

 

[C.E. Evans]

"Risk is our business."

I think there isn't a single starship captain that doesn't know that he or she may have to sacrifice their vessel and crew if a situation gets bad enough. It's the option of ultimate last resort, when all other options have either been exhausted or are beyond their immediate capability...but I also think that a captain also has to do everything in his or her power to avoid having to do that if possible. At such times, it can definitely be purely a judgment call with some captains either going for it and other captains opting for survival instead (to perhaps fight another day).

Whether each call is bad or good may only be determined in hindsight and far from where the crisis went down, IMO.

 

[M.A.C.O.]

I just rewatched Yesterday's Enterprise. Picard's decision and dilemma on whether to send the Enterprise-C back in time to certain death, was another tough decision of command I'd like to add.

Add in the bridge officer's exam from TNG "Thine Own Self". Where to pass Troi had to order someone to fulfill a duty that would certainly end in their death. Also the episode that motivated Troi to take the bridge officer's exam, "Disaster". Where Troi had to make several serious calls about the fate of the crew and ship.

 

[Tim Thomason]

It's perfectly fine to sacrifice your own ship and crew, as long as you do so from the safety of a shuttlecraft.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Those 400 ships sacrificed to retake DS9 allowed the Federation to win the war, saving billions of lives.

 

[MacLeod]

Or take the Dominion War. The battle Sacrifice of Angels had the Federation start with 600 ships and end with 200 by the time they reached DS9. 2/3’s of the fleet gone in a span of 8 hours. 400 captains lead their crews into certain death. Before the battle even started, Sisko and Ross knew they were outnumbered and expected heavy casualties.

What do you think?

There is nothing to say 400 ships were lost, all we know is that 200 ships broke through the Dominion lines, hundreds more could still have been involved in combat. Besides wasn't the standing order to make for Deep Space Nine if you broke through the lines.