Was Picard The Ranking Officer...

[USS Triumphant]

...when he took command of the fleet at the Battle of Sector 001 (First Contact)? I mean, I realize that he might have been the person who had the most idea of what was going on and what needed to be done, but that really isn't the way military discipline and rank work.

I would suggest that, that close to Earth, surely there were officers at Starfleet Command that were senior. Also, Captain Bateson was there, and we know he was senior. So I guess this is another example of an officer being given a pass on doing something against the rules because the results were positive?

 

[Santa Kang]

I guess time travel must screw up things like that. Bateson was made a Captain long before Picard, but Picard probably had more experience and time at that rank. Doesn't Piacard join that battle against orders?

 

[USS Triumphant]

Doesn't Picard join that battle against orders?

He does, so we already know his presence was illegal, but I'm just wondering if / speculating that he also usurped the proper chain of command.

 

[USS Avenger]

Didn't Janeway tell the captain of the Equinox that according to Starfleet regs, when there are multiple ships in a combat environment that overall command falls to the captain on the ship with superior tactical abilities? I could be wrong because I am certainly no expert on Voyager, but it stuck out in my mind as odd because it didn't take into account time in rank. Than again Starfleet regs don't have to mirror US regs, or any other for that matter I guess.

 

[Santa Kang]

I think he did. But I guess either SF command on the ground and in orbit were gone or compromised, plus it's Picard! Everyone loves him!!!!!

 

[apenpaap]

Who's this Bateson dude?

 

[nx1701g]

Starfleet Regulation 191 Article 14: In a combat situation involving more than one ship, command falls to the vessel with tactical superiority, should there not be a higher ranking officer present.

Since the Enterprise was the most advanced ship in the fleet and the Admiral's ship had been destroyed, under the regulations Enterprise would be the command ship and Picard would be the ranking officer of the fleet.

 

[USS Avenger]

Starfleet Regulation 191 Article 14: In a combat situation involving more than one ship, command falls to the vessel with tactical superiority, should there not be a higher ranking officer present.

yeah thats the one!

 

[USS Triumphant]

Who's this Bateson dude?

Captain Bateson was the captain of the USS Bozeman in the TNG Episode "Cause and Effect". He was present at the Battle of Sector 001, and had one line consisting of one word - "Acknowledged".

See also, my avatar.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Starfleet Regulation 191 Article 14: In a combat situation involving more than one ship, command falls to the vessel with tactical superiority, should there not be a higher ranking officer present.

That is a dumb regulation, but not surprising given the series it came from, which seemed to make a point of doing things that would make my eye twitch.

 

[apenpaap]

O, he. Wouldn't he be much lower-ranking, though, considering his knowledge is about a century behind? (Even if he had lots of catching-up training in the 3 years since he came to the 24th century)

 

[Santa Kang]

Starfleet Regulation 191 Article 14: In a combat situation involving more than one ship, command falls to the vessel with tactical superiority, should there not be a higher ranking officer present.

Since the Enterprise was the most advanced ship in the fleet and the Admiral's ship had been destroyed, under the regulations Enterprise would be the command ship and Picard would be the ranking officer of the fleet.

Section B states that the commander of the hero ship of the franchise always assumes command of any fleet. Unless the plot says otherwise

 

[USS Triumphant]

O, he. Wouldn't he be much lower-ranking, though, considering his knowledge is about a century behind? (Even if he had lots of catching-up training in the 3 years since he came to the 24th century)

That's not how seniority works. BUT - one might safely assume that after all the temporal mucking about that Starfleet had dealt with by the time the Bozeman emerged from the time loop, they probably have something in place that makes time that wasn't actually experienced not count for purposes of seniority.

I was being a little tongue-in-cheek in bringing up Bateson, since he's my avatar. But seriously, Earth (and Starfleet Command) was right freakin' there!

Section B states that the commander of the hero ship of the franchise always assumes command of any fleet. Unless the plot says otherwise

See, now that's a much better regulation.

 

[nx1701g]

Well, in the novels at least, Bateson does command the Sovereign Class USS Atlas.

Not that they're canon.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Well, in the novels at least, Bateson does command the Sovereign Class USS Atlas.

True, but at the battle in question, he was in command of the Bozeman, and that is canon. Now whether the Bozeman referred to is the Soyuz-class NCC-1941 shown in "Cause and Effect" (which makes most sense to me, since the battle was at Earth and presumably they scrambled whatever was available) or another Sovereign-class Bozeman as suggested in some of the novels (but really stretches things as far as I'm concerned).

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Or a Sabre class Bozeman referred to in the Memory-Alpha article you linked to...(again non-canon)

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

So where was Admiral Hayes?

We know he survived the destruction of his flagship (side note: since a court martial convenes whenever a ship is lost, I wonder if Hayes had to go through that? ), since he later shows up in an episode of Voyager. So he must have been on one of those other ships in the fleet, since I doubt there was time to get his lifeboat back to Earth. And thus, Hayes should have still been in command - of whatever ship he happened to be on.

The only explanation I can think of is that Hayes was wounded and out of commission so he couldn't take part in any subsequent engagements.

 

[Maurice]

Orrrr...simpler explanation: they're fighting the cube an not winning, and along comes the Enterprise and the message "target THIS spot", so they try it. Boom.

 

[Keith1701]

I think he did. But I guess either SF command on the ground and in orbit were gone or compromised, plus it's Picard! Everyone loves him!!!!!

Good Point....

 

[Tom]

I love how they made the Enterprise out shine the Defiant. The Defiant was beat to shit than the new Enterprise just wisks right in front of it like 'hey i'm the new bigger kid on the block now".