Did James Kirk command a ship before the Enterprise ?
- Thread starter Bones1864
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There is just a bit of onscreen evidence that Kirk had another command before the Enterprise...Garth of Izar refers to him as a great military commander, to which Kirk replies that he's primarily an explorer now. That would suggest that he had previously commanded a dedicated warship.
It also just makes sense that if the Constitutions were so few and so top-of-the-line that they wouldn't give command of one to an untried captain.
It also just makes sense that if the Constitutions were so few and so top-of-the-line that they wouldn't give command of one to an untried captain.
Yes. It is stated in an excerpt from the Star Trek Writer's Guide in The Making Of Star Trek and it is reasonably affirmed in a spoken reference in WNMHGB when Elizabeth Dehner refers to Kirk's first command.Bones1864 said:
Did James T. Kirk command a ship before the Enterprise, NCC-1701 ?
I read in a book by Roddenbery when I was in high school that he commanded a smaller destroyer type ship.
Certainly. You don't get to command a starship your first time out.
The Lydia Sutherland, which never became canon because its mostly from novels and POSSIBLY excised/cut/never filmed dialogue from a TOS episode script("Obsession"?) At least that's what I always heard.
^The Enterprise may have been Kirk's first command at the rank, not the position, of captain (still making him the youngest Captain [rank] in Star Fleet). Logically, he'd have commanded several smaller vessels, much like the Navy does with its officers, before commanding a ship as prestigious as a starship. After all, it is stated in TOS that to command a starship is a rare thing handed out to the rarest breed of officers ("Court Martial" and "Bread and Circus"). Ideally, Kirk would have had to prove himself as a skilled ship driver to get one of the twelve.
I think that Kirk probably commanded something akin to a frigate or clipper as a Lieutenant Commander and [full] Commander before getting the Enterprise and a promotion to the rank of Captain.
Besides the Lydia Sutherland, DC Comics had Kirk commanding the Saladin before the Enterprise in their take on the first mission in "All Those Years Ago.." (Star Trek Annual #1).
I think that Kirk probably commanded something akin to a frigate or clipper as a Lieutenant Commander and [full] Commander before getting the Enterprise and a promotion to the rank of Captain.
Besides the Lydia Sutherland, DC Comics had Kirk commanding the Saladin before the Enterprise in their take on the first mission in "All Those Years Ago.." (Star Trek Annual #1).
Gievn Kirk's rapid rise in the ranks, could it be possible he was a First Officer for several years and then made the jump to Captain of the Enterprise with the rank of Captain?
^He could've spent time as a first officer, as well as having a short-term, maybe just several months, command of a smaller vessel. Then been given the Enterprise. There is a lot of time in those years before the Enterprise; it doesn't seem like it, but people get shipped/transferred a lot.
And you're pulling that out of which orifice?
You DON'T get command of a starship right out of the gate. Period. The people writing TOS knew about the service. They would never have contemplated that this would be his first command.
Yes, he was the captain of the Fairie Queene, but she was blown up by the Klingons. Starfleet then gave Kirk command of the Enterprise, but admonished him to "try to be more careful this time."
Before the Lydia Sutherland reference (which is a somewhat strained conflating of two of Hornblower's commands) in Enterprise: The First Adventure, the accepted fan lore was that Kirk had been XO of the Saladin-class destroyer Alexander and rose to command the vessel on the death of the ship's captain in combat. Supposedly that is where he won the Medal of Honor.
This website has the Kirk story about as I remember it being pre-Enterprise: The First Adventure
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/3253/regular/shatner_kirk_bio.html
Except for the "6 ft 0 in" business. I met Shatner once. I am 6' tall. I had several inches on him, ergo he ain't "6 ft 0 in".
This website has the Kirk story about as I remember it being pre-Enterprise: The First Adventure
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/3253/regular/shatner_kirk_bio.html
Except for the "6 ft 0 in" business. I met Shatner once. I am 6' tall. I had several inches on him, ergo he ain't "6 ft 0 in".
GodThingFormerly
A Different Kind of Asshole
I almost tripped over Shatner by accident at Grand Slam 2001. "Punky" was so incredibly short, tubby and effeminate that I initially thought he was a young girl suffering through the terminal stages of some horrible glandular disorder.
TGT, 6'11" in 7" stilettos
^^^ Obviously you are not over the age of 40 or you would be familiar with "Super Star Trek". 
Professor Moriarty said:
^^^ Obviously you are not over the age of 40 or you would be familiar with "Super Star Trek".
No, I still have a couple of years before earning that distinction.
And I wouldn't have had access to a computer in the 70s regardless, though I remember reading about this game somewhere.
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