Into Darkness - Why didn't they launch shuttle craft?

[Cadet49]

After Scotty sabotaged the Vengeance, so it was temporarily unable to fire weapons, why didn't the Enterprise launch a shuttle craft to nearby Earth to call for rescue? Or why didn't they load the shuttles with torpedoes and fly them by remote into the Vengeance to disable it, while it was temporarily powerless? (The ship obviously still could access some of its shuttles, because Spock ordered evacuation to the shuttles when Enterprise was falling towards Earth). Actually, why didn't they just use a shuttle to get Kirk and Khan over to Vengeance when they were trying to board that ship?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Earth wouldn't have helped, since they'd been told the Enterprise was allied with Harrison.

Kirk and Khan were trying to sneak over, so flying a shuttle was out of the question. Opening the shuttlebay would have been extremely noticeable.

I'm also not so sure torpedoes flown by shuttle hitting Vengeance would have done much damage - it survived an insane 72 exploding inside it, and then crashed into San Francisco without exploding.

 

[Cadet49]

Earth wouldn't have helped, since they'd been told the Enterprise was allied with Harrison.

That's true - I hadn't thought of that. Marcus probably had Section 31 broadcast around Earth that Kirk and the Enterprise had conspired with Harrison to start a war with the Klingons, so even if people discovered the battle going on near the moon, they would falsely assume the Enterprise had returned with its ally, Harrison, to launch another terrorist attack on Earth, and that Marcus was intercepting the Enterprise to stop it. Marcus probably told all of Starfleet that Kirk had gone rogue even before the Vengeance left Earth to go intercept Enterprise at the Neutral Zone.

Kirk and Khan were trying to sneak over, so flying a shuttle was out of the question. Opening the shuttlebay would have been extremely noticeable.

I'm also not so sure torpedoes flown by shuttle hitting Vengeance would have done much damage - it survived an insane 72 exploding inside it, and then crashed into San Francisco without exploding.

All good points - those really do explain why the shuttles weren't used. I'm just surprised Spock or Kirk didn't try to evacuate the ship while the Vengeance was disabled ... maybe they were afraid Starfleet would fire on shuttlecraft coming from a "traitor ship", if they tried to come into Earth's atmosphere?

 

[Amaris]

^ Yeah, all of those shuttles coming down over populated areas could be seen as some kind of attack.

 

[OpenMaw]

I still don't buy that they couldn't have loaded up a few shuttles with red shirts and stormed the Vengeance. Remember, Khan said it was designed specifically to operate with a minimal crew. Of course "what's minimal?" Does come to mind.