One of the bits of "common knowledge" about James T. Kirk is that he was a maverick who'd constantly disobey orders. This reputation comes mostly from the movies and has seeped into the popular consciousness.
But how many times did Kirk actually disobey or disregard an order from a higher authority? I'd argue that it was a lot fewer than the myth would suggest. I thought I'd try to come up with a definitive list of Kirk disobeying orders, using TOS and the movies (for the purposes of this exercise, I won't be including any examples from the Kelvin timeline, as those feature a very different James T. Kirk with a very different personal history.)
"The Galileo Seven"
Kirk definitely creatively interprets his orders here and stretches them to the breaking point, but he doesn't disobey them. He continues his search for Spock and the Galileo 7 shuttle until the last possible second, and when he's required to leave the system to deliver the medical supplies he has to, he departs at the slowest possible speed.
FERRIS: I remind you, Captain, I'm entirely opposed to this delay. Your mission is to get those emergency medical supplies to Makus Three in time for their transfer to the New Paris colonies.
KIRK: No problem, Commissioner. And may I remind you that I have standing orders to investigate all quasars and quasar-like phenomena wherever they may be encountered. Besides, it's three days to Makus. And the rendezvous doesn't take place for five.
KIRK: We have until 2823.8 to continue the search, Commissioner.
FERRIS: You don't really think you'll have any luck, do you?
KIRK: Look, these people are my friends and my shipmates. I intend to continue the ship's search for them until the last possible moment.
FERRIS: Very well, Captain, but not one second beyond that moment. Is that clear? If it isn't, I suggest you look at book nineteen, section four thirty three, paragraph twelve.
KIRK: I'm familiar with the regulations, Commissioner. I know all about your authority. Launch shuttlecraft Columbus.
FERRIS: Captain Kirk, check your chronometer. You'll see that it is 2823.8. Your time is up.
KIRK: But they're still out there.
FERRIS: So are the plague victims on New Paris. I'm sorry, Captain. I now assume authority granted me under Title fifteen, Galactic Emergency Procedures, and I order you to abandon search.
KIRK: The Columbus hasn't returned yet. I still have two search parties out.
FERRIS: You're procrastinating, Captain. You have your orders. Recall your search parties and proceed to Makus Three immediately.
KIRK: Lieutenant.
UHURA: Yes, sir.
KIRK: Order the transporter room to immediately beam up the two search parties from the surface. Attempt to contact the Columbus.
UHURA: I'm in partial contact with them now, sir.
KIRK: Then have them return immediately. Mister Sulu, prepare to abandon search. Set course for Makus Three.
KIRK: Mister Sulu, proceed on course for Makus Three, at space normal speed.
SULU: Space normal, sir?
KIRK: Those are my orders. Lieutenant Uhura, order all sensor sections to direct beams aft. Full function, continuous operation until further orders.
Kirk violates orders in
"A Taste of Armageddon," but only at the insistence of Ambassador Fox:
KIRK: Code seven-ten means under no circumstances are we to approach that planet. No circumstances what so ever.
FOX: You will disregard that signal, Captain.
KIRK: Mister Fox, it is their planet.
FOX: Captain, in the past twenty years, thousands of lives have been lost in this quadrant. Lives that could have been saved if the Federation had a treaty port here. We mean to have that port and I'm here to get it.
KIRK: By disregarding code seven-ten, you might well involve us in an interplanetary war.
FOX: I'm quite prepared to take that risk.
KIRK: You are. I'm thinking about this ship, my crew.
FOX: I have my orders, Captain, and now you have yours. You will proceed on course. Achieve orbit status and just leave the rest to me. You're well aware that my mission gives me the power of command. I now exercise it. You will proceed on course. That's a direct order.
In
"Amok Time," Kirk doesn't hesitate to defy orders once he knows that Spock's life is in danger.
KOMACK [on monitor]: You will proceed to Altair Six as ordered. You have your orders. Starfleet out.
MCCOY: Well, that's that.
KIRK: No, it's not. I know the Altair situation. We would be one of three starships. Very impressive, very diplomatic, but it's simply not that vital.
MCCOY: You can't go off to Vulcan against Starfleet orders. You'll be busted
KIRK: I can't let Spock die, can I, Bones? And he will if we go to Altair. I owe him my life a dozen times over. Isn't that worth a career? He's my friend.
Of course, Kirk's actions are retroactively excused, thanks to T'Pau:
UHURA: Response to T'Pau's request for diversion of Enterprise to planet Vulcan hereby approved. Any reasonable delay granted. Komack, Admiral, Starfleet Command.
KIRK: Well, a little late, but I'm glad they're seeing it our way. How about that T'Pau? They couldn't turn her down. Mister Chekov, lay in a course for Altair Six. Leave orbit when ready. Kirk out.
"Mirror, Mirror"
Kirk definitely defies orders here, but since they were orders to destroy the Halkan planet, I think we can forgive this one.
UHURA: No storm damage, sir. All stations report normal. (quietly) You're ordered to annihilate the Halkans unless they comply. No alternative.
SPOCK: Planet's rotation is carrying primary target beyond arc of phaser lock.
SULU: Shall I correct orbit to new firing position?
KIRK: No.
SPOCK: Lock on to secondary city.
SULU: Aye, sir.
KIRK: Lieutenant Uhura, contact the Halkan council. I wish to talk to them again.
UHURA: Yes, sir.
SPOCK: Captain?
KIRK: This is a new race. They offer other things of value besides dilithium crystals.
SPOCK: But we cannot expect their co-operation. They have refused the Empire. Command procedure dictates that we provide the customary example.
SULU: Secondary target now moving beyond our phaser lock.
KIRK: Put phasers on standby, Mister Sulu.
SPOCK: A serious breach of orders, Captain.
KIRK: I have my reasons, and I'll make them clear to you in my own good time.
SPOCK: Captain, you've placed yourself in a most grave position. This conduct must be reported.
KIRK: You're at liberty to do so, Mister Spock.
CHEKOV: (holding a phaser on Kirk) So you die, Captain, and we all move up in rank. No one will question the assassination of a captain who has disobeyed prime orders of the Empire.
Kirk definitely alters the course of this universe's natural development at the end of this episode, but I suppose it's a matter of interpretation as to whether or not the Prime Directive applies to parallel universes. I'd imagine that Kirk would argue that the Empire itself was the anomaly.
SPOCK: You must return to your universe. I must have my captain back. I shall operate the transporter. You have two minutes and ten seconds.
KIRK: In that time I have something to say. How long before the Halkan prediction of galactic revolt is realised?
SPOCK: Approximately two hundred and forty years.
KIRK: The inevitable outcome?
SPOCK: The Empire shall be overthrown, of course.
KIRK: The illogic of waste, Mister Spock. The waste of lives, potential, resources, time. I submit to you that your Empire is illogical because it cannot endure. I submit that you are illogical to be a willing part of it.
SPOCK: You have one minute and twenty three seconds.
KIRK: If change is inevitable, predictable, beneficial, doesn't logic demand that you be a part of it?
SPOCK: One man cannot summon the future.
KIRK: But one man can change the present. Be the captain of this Enterprise, Mister Spock. Find a logical reason for sparing the Halkans and make it stick. Push till it gives. You can defend yourself better than any man in the fleet.
Kirk is rather insubordinate to Nils Baris in
"The Trouble With Tribbles," not bothering to hide his disdain for the man and his interpretation of Federation orders.
KIRK: Mister Baris, you summoned the Enterprise without an emergency. You'll take full responsibility for it.
BARIS: What do you mean?
SPOCK: Misuse of the Priority One channels is a Federation offence.
BARIS: I did not misuse the Priority One channel. I want that grain protected.
LURRY: Captain, couldn't you at least post a couple of guards? We do have a large number of ships passing through.
SPOCK: It would seem a logical precaution, Captain. The Sherman's Planet affair is of extreme importance to the Federation.
KIRK: Kirk to Enterprise.
UHURA [OC]: Enterprise here.
KIRK: Secure from general quarters. And beam down two, and only two, security guards. Have them report to Mister Lurry. Authorise shore leave for all off-duty personnel.
UHURA [OC]: Yes, Captain.
KIRK: Kirk out.
BARIS: Captain Kirk, how dare you authorise a mere two men for a project of this importance? Starfleet Command--
KIRK: I have never questioned the orders or the intelligence of any representative of the Federation. Until now.
Kirk unquestionably violates his orders in
"A Private Little War," even noting it in his log:
Captain's log, Stardate 4211.4: Keeping our presence here secret is an enormous tactical advantage, therefore I cannot risk contact with Starfleet Command. I must take action on my own judgment. I've elected to violate orders and make contact with planet inhabitants.
There are other TOS episodes where you could argue that Kirk defied the Prime Directive of non-interference, but those usually contained some bit of dialogue about how the planet in question was the victim of outside interference, and Kirk was actually restoring the normal state of development. There are also a few episodes like "Where No Man Has Gone Before" or "Metamorphosis" that imply that Kirk left out pertinent details in his log. I discussed those over in
this thread.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was the first film to really hit the "Kirk is a rule breaker" thing hard, as it was a post-Watergate, post Vietnam era, and rebellious heroes were much more in vogue. Kirk starts out by taking the
Enterprise on a training cruise before his inspection is officially finished:
KIRK: Well, Mister Scott, are your cadets capable of handling a minor training cruise?
SCOTT: Give the word, Admiral!
KIRK: Mister Scott, the word is given.
SCOTT: Aye sir.
McCOY: Admiral, what about the rest of the inspection?
KIRK: Later.
He later ignores regulations in favor of his own instincts, despite the protestations of Lt. Saavik:
SULU: Reliant in our section, this Quadrant, sir, and slowing.
SAAVIK: Sir, may I quote General Order Twelve, 'On the approach of any vessel, when communications have not been established...
SPOCK: Lieutenant, the Admiral is well aware of the Regulations.
SAAVIK: Aye sir.
An exchange later in the movie implies that Kirk's been a rule breaker since the Academy:
SAAVIK: Sir, may I ask you a question?
KIRK: What's on your mind, Lieutenant?
SAAVIK: The Kobayashi Maru, sir.
KIRK: Are you asking me if we are playing out that scenario now?
SAAVIK: On the test, sir, will you tell me what you did? I would really like to know.
McCOY: Lieutenant, you are looking at the only Starfleet cadet who ever beat the no-win scenario.
SAAVIK: How?
KIRK: I reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship.
SAAVIK: What?
DAVID: He cheated!
KIRK: I changed the conditions of the test. I got a commendation for original thinking. ...I don't like to lose.
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock contains the biggest instance of Kirk disobeying orders. According to STIV, he violates nine Starfleet regulations, even though they only mention six during his trial:
SULU: The word, sir?
KIRK: The word ...is no. I am therefore going anyway.
It seems that
STIII was the movie that really cemented Kirk's reputation as a maverick and a rule breaker. By the time of
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Kirk is so casual about violating orders that he goes over the speed limit in Spacedock seeming for the hell of it:
SPACEDOCK VOICE: This is control. Enterprise, Permission to depart granted. ...Thirty seconds for port gates.
VALERIS: Clear all moorings.
KIRK: Awaiting port gates from this mark.
SPACEDOCK VOICE: All lines cleared.
VALERIS: Aft thrusters.
KIRK: Thank you. Lieutenant, one-quarter impulse power.
VALERIS: Captain, may I remind you that regulations specify thrusters only while in Spacedock?
SPOCK: Hm. Hm.
McCOY (OC): Jim?
KIRK: You heard the order, Lieutenant.
Kirk also keeps a cache of illegal Romulan Ale aboard, against regulations:
VALERIS: Captain, there is a supply of Romulan Ale aboard. It might make the evening pass more ...smoothly?
KIRK: Officer thinking, Lieutenant.
KERLA: Captain Kirk, I thought Romulan Ale was illegal.
KIRK: One of the advantages of being a thousand light years from Federation headquarters.
At the trial of Kirk & McCoy, General Chang cites Kirk's supposedly long record of violating orders:
CHANG: On the contrary, Captain Kirk's views and motives are, indeed, at the very heart of the matter. This officer's record shows him to be an insubordinate, unprincipled, career-minded opportunist with a history of violating the chain of command whenever it suited him.
KLINGON JUDGE: Continue.
CHANG: Indeed the record shows that Captain Kirk once held the rank of Admiral and that Admiral Kirk was broken for taking matters into his own hands in defiance of regulations and the law. Do you deny you were demoted for these charges, Captain? Don't wait for the translation. Answer me now!
KIRK: I cannot deny it.
CHANG: You were demoted.
KIRK: Yes.
CHANG: For insubordination.
KIRK: On occasion, I have disobeyed orders.
Sulu also violates orders in this movie, giving the coordinates of the Khitomer Conference to Kirk and the
Enterprise. He's apparently following Kirk's example:
SPOCK: I've been dead before. Contact Excelsior. ...She'll have the co-ordinates.
UHURA (OC): I've already got it, sir.
SULU (on viewscreen): Standing by, Captain Kirk.
KIRK: Sulu! You realise that by even talking to us, you're violating regulations.
SULU (on viewscreen): I'm sorry, Captain, your message is breaking up.
KIRK: Bless you, Sulu. Where's the peace conference? They're going to attempt another assassination.
In a deleted scene when a crewman accuses him of treason, Sulu quotes from E.M. Forster: "If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope that I should have the guts to betray my country."
And the tag of the movie has Spock encouraging Kirk & the crew to violate Starfleet orders in order to take one last spin in the
Enterprise:
UHURA: Captain, I have orders from Starfleet Command. We're to put back into Spacedock immediately, ...to be decommissioned.
SPOCK: If I were human, I believe my response would be 'Go to Hell!' ...If I were human.
CHEKOV: Course heading, Captain?
KIRK: Second star to the right, ...and straight on 'til morning.
The
Voyager episode
"Flashback" has Sulu defying orders again, implying that it's the norm for Captains in the 23rd Century, who aren't nearly as proper as the more enlightened officers of the 24th Century:
TUVOK: He is about to attempt a rescue of Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy. As you can see, everyone seemed perfectly willing to go along with this breach of orders. However, I felt differently.
TUVOK: Captain, am I correct in assuming that you have decided to embark on a rescue mission?
SULU: That's right. Do you have a problem with that, Ensign?
TUVOK: I do. It is a direct violation of our orders from Starfleet Command, and it could precipitate an armed conflict between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.
SULU: Objection noted. Resume your station.
TUVOK: Sir, as a Starfleet officer, it is my duty to formally protest.
RAND: Tuvok!
SULU: A pretty bold statement for an Ensign with only two months space duty under his belt.
TUVOK: I am aware of my limited experience, but I am also very much aware of Starfleet regulations and my obligation to carry them out.
RAND: That's enough. Ensign, you're relieved. I'm sorry about this, Captain. I assure you it will not happen again.
SULU: Ensign, you're absolutely right. But you're also absolutely wrong. You'll find that more happens on the bridge of a starship than just carrying out orders and observing regulations. There is a sense of loyalty to the men and women you serve with. A sense of family. Those two men on trial, I served with them for a long time. I owe them my life a dozen times over, and right now they're in trouble, and I'm going to help them. Let the regulations be damned.
TUVOK: Sir, that is a most illogical line of reasoning.
SULU: You better believe it. Helm, engage.
JANEWAY: You know, you did the right thing.
TUVOK: Perhaps.
JANEWAY: It would seem that Captain Sulu decided not to enter that journey into his official log. The day's entry makes some cryptic remark about the ship being damaged in a gaseous anomaly and needing repairs, but nothing else.
KIM: You mean he falsified his logs?
JANEWAY: It was a very different time, Mister Kim. Captain Sulu, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy. They all belonged to a different breed of Starfleet officer. Imagine the era they lived in. The Alpha Quadrant still largely unexplored. Humanity on verge of war with Klingons. Romulans hiding behind every nebula. Even the technology we take for granted was still in its early stages. No plasma weapons, no multiphasic shields. Their ships were half as fast.
KIM: No replicators, no holodecks. You know, ever since I took Starfleet history at the academy, I always wondered what it would be like to live in those days.
JANEWAY: Space must have seemed a whole lot bigger back then. It's not surprising they had to bend the rules a little. They were a little slower to invoke the Prime Directive, and a little quicker to pull their phasers. Of course, the whole bunch of them would be booted out of Starfleet today. But I have to admit, I would have loved to ride shotgun at least once with a group of officers like that.
Those are about the only examples I could think of. Any others I'm overlooking?
What do you think? Is Kirk's reputation as a rule breaker exaggerated?
