Night Shift

[HoundDog]

Ok, this might be a silly topic, but it's friday evening - and being on night shift again this weekend, I thought: Well, let's open a thread about night shifts in Star Trek.

And here we go: Who was the better night-shift-commander - TNGs Data or VOYs Harry Kim? Who was in command during night shift on the other Trek-shows? What about other officers/crewmembers we've seen having night-shift-duty? Who were they? And did they make it to day-shifts eventually?

 

[greenmystik]

I don't think it's even a contest here. Data by a long shot.

He had way more experience plus never got tired or hungry so he wouldn't need a "nap" in between shifts. Hell, he could have covered Ops and Con on the night shift while sitting in the center seat!

 

[Michael]

I like to think Chekov had the night shift in TOS' first season. That's why we never saw him.

 

[HoundDog]

^ Never thought about it that way, but I like that idea.

Btw, had there ever been a TOS-Ep that actually showed the night shift?

 

[greenmystik]

This is gonna sound completely ignorant but I don't remember seeing a major crew doing nights on DS9. Somebody help me out here.

 

[HoundDog]

Just checked on Memory-Alpha:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Night_shift
They don't say anything about TOS, DS9 and ENT-night shifts.

 

[Penta]

Where the heck do they determine time aboard ship from anyway?

 

[starburst]

Its likely a central standard time, mayb even Earths GMT

 

[raleighrob]

I could swear I saw a brief glimpse of DS9 having one. Seems like it was mostly-staffed by Bajoran militia crew.

 

[sbk1234]

Actually, I always thought it would make much more sense for First officer to take night shift, while Captain had day shift. That way, there was always a senior officer on the bridge, since emergency situations could come up at any time. Or perhaps there should have been 3 eight-hour shifts, led by the Capt., First Officer, and Second Officer.
I probably wouldn't want to put all my top guys on the bridge at once, except during an emergency situation.

 

[captcalhoun]

Ensign/Lt. Burke from "Peak Performance" was night-shift head of security

 

[Red Ranger]

Star Trek: Night Shift! Bull messes up the con! Sorry, couldn't resist.

It's not a bad question. I think only TNG and VOY addressed the question directly. As I recall in TNG, Dr. Crusher took on night shift duty as well. Don't recall when they established Data did so, but it makes total sense given his ability to go without sleep.

Does anyone know if they addressed the issue in ENT? I am pretty sure no one explicitly tackled the issue in DSN.

RR

 

[captcalhoun]

Data was seen running night-shift in... "Data's Day"

 

[WillsBabe]

A couple of my thoughts about night shifts - captains seem to put more junior or less experienced officers in charge during the night shift. Seriously, do enemies not attack, do things not go wrong during the hours of darkness, so to speak? Also, I like the TNG episode where Data is starting the night shift, the other officers leave and the lights are dimmed. It was a nice touch to see something different on Trek.

 

[HoundDog]

Actually, I always thought it would make much more sense for First officer to take night shift, while Captain had day shift. That way, there was always a senior officer on the bridge, since emergency situations could come up at any time. Or perhaps there should have been 3 eight-hour shifts, led by the Capt., First Officer, and Second Officer.
I probably wouldn't want to put all my top guys on the bridge at once, except during an emergency situation.

Maybe you would if you're producing a TV-show and your actors want screentime.
But in general, I agree with you.
How did their shift-system work anyway? Is it only night and day, or is it 3/4-shifts-system?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Well, the Next Generation talked of three shifts (because they wanted to move it to four in Chain of Command). I got the impression that Picard didn't actually take a shift, but had to be on call all the time (usually in his ready room). So Riker took first shift. Data could easily have taken all three shifts, to be honest. Otherwise, I'd imagine they'd give somebody like Worf a shift (since he's on the bridge anyway).

 

[Colonel Midnight]

Actually, I always thought it would make much more sense for First officer to take night shift, while Captain had day shift. That way, there was always a senior officer on the bridge, since emergency situations could come up at any time. Or perhaps there should have been 3 eight-hour shifts, led by the Capt., First Officer, and Second Officer.
I probably wouldn't want to put all my top guys on the bridge at once, except during an emergency situation.

Maybe you would if you're producing a TV-show and your actors want screentime.
But in general, I agree with you.
How did their shift-system work anyway? Is it only night and day, or is it 3/4-shifts-system?

Well, if it's anything like RL in the USCG or USN, then they're probably running a three 4-hour watch routine (i.e. 0800-1200, 1200-1600, 1600-2000, etc.).

It's typically referred to as '1-in-3', since you stand one watch in every three. This depends on the number of qualified watchstanders per position, of course. If you're lucky enough to be on a ship that has, say, 6 qualified OOD's (Officer of the Deck), then you (as a person) would only stand 1 watch per 24-hour day (1-in-6).

Note: Some ships or places will change/split the 1600-2000 watch into two "Dog" watches, typically 1600-1730 and 1730-2000, to account for both dinner and to throw some 'variety' into which watch you stand. Otherwise, like the poster mentioned above, you may always get "stuck" on the 0000-0400 (the "Mid" watch), and never be known to exist...

(By the end of one trip on the icebreaker, we had 11 qualified EOW's, so we were standing one 4-hour watch every day and a bit. It was actually pretty damn difficult on your biological clock, even though it was a nice rotation, weird as that sounds!)

Traditionally, the Navigator would take the 0400-0800 watch, during the age of celestial navigation, in order to 'shoot' the stars & planets and thus, figure out where the heck the ship was... In the same vein, the XO (Executive Officer) would take the 0800-1200 watch to kick off the daily routine. You don't see either case anymore or at least, rarely...

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[Wil has a posse]

Actually, I always thought it would make much more sense for First officer to take night shift, while Captain had day shift. That way, there was always a senior officer on the bridge, since emergency situations could come up at any time. Or perhaps there should have been 3 eight-hour shifts, led by the Capt., First Officer, and Second Officer.
I probably wouldn't want to put all my top guys on the bridge at once, except during an emergency situation.

It always bothered me to see the ship just going about it's normal business with the 3 highest-ranking officers all together on the bridge. In alert conditions, maybe, but it seems like Picard, Riker, and Data all worked Alpha shift together. Leaving command of the ship when they got off to...I dunno, Ensign Allenby, I guess.

 

[erastus25]

^ Never thought about it that way, but I like that idea.

Btw, had there ever been a TOS-Ep that actually showed the night shift?

TOS didn't need a night shift. Back in the 23rd Century they were hardcore enough to work all day every day. Duh. That's why Kirk needed Shore Leave so bad in Shore Leave.

 

[S'kai]

This is gonna sound completely ignorant but I don't remember seeing a major crew doing nights on DS9. Somebody help me out here.

It was always night on DS9.