How many first officers did he have when he was captain of the stargazer?.He was in command of the Stargazer for some twenty odd years,surely he would of had a few exective officers during those years?.
picard's first officers
- Thread starter Mr Pointy Ears
- Start date
Not according to canon.
All we know from the episodes themselves is that he temporarily took charge of the ship's bridge when her captain was killed, back in some unspecified date, and that he was the commanding officer of that ship in the 2350s. We have no canonical idea when Picard performed his heroics; when and how Starfleet rewarded him for those; and when he was assigned as CO of the Stargazer. For all we know, his career as a captain was just six and a half years long or something.
The idea that Picard's heroism in temporarily taking charge of the bridge happened in 2233 is derived from the completely noncanon idea that his command of that ship was 22 years long (this comes from the writers' guidebook, which wasn't adhered to in other respects), and is then combined with the speculation that the heroism immediately led to him becoming the CO (which is not suggested in the slightest in our only source episode for the incident, "Tapestry"). None of it stems from onscreen sources, nor is supported by it.
Timo Saloniemi
When the captain was killed, at the same time the first officers was injured. Picard was the second officer (ops?) and assumed command. There's nothing to indicate he keep command from that point forward, the first officer might have recovered, or Starfleet could have assign someone senior to Picard after he had held command for weeks or months.
Would have looked good on his service record though.
Would have looked good on his service record though.
I'm not sure how the novels (mainly the Friedman ones?) have described the incident, but its only canonical description comes from "Tapestry", through Q's account. Q tells why the alternate Picard never reached high rank and position in Starfleet, saying he never took risks. He then lists two incidents of risk-taking:
Since Q doesn't list any incidents after the bridge one, we might speculate it was the final step in Picard achieving fame and earning a command. We know little about his rank at the time, though. It simplifies things if we assume he held high rank, because in that case only a few top officers would need to be incapacitated before Picard would be the next in line - but it's also possible that the bridge was isolated and a very junior Picard took command at a crucial moment before the three Commanders and a dozen Lieutenants outranking him could reach the scene.
Interestingly, all canon references to Picard's service as the CO of the Stargazer are from the 2350s, just before his losing that ship. All references to him serving aboard that ship in an unknown role (basically just the above two bits of heroism) are undated. Perhaps he only held command of that ship for a couple of years, then?
OTOH, "Relics" firmly establishes Picard's first starship command (at the rank of Captain at least) was the Stargazer. If he only assumed command of her in the 2350s, and lost her soon thereafter, it's a bit odd that he'd next be given the Federation Flagship. Unless his exploits in command of other starships between the Stargazer and the E-D during the "missing" nine years were really legendary, that is.
But the thing remains that the episodes and movies themselves don't paint a picture of a legendary career for Picard in command of the Stargazer. To the contrary, three of the four known incidents were failures of sorts: running away from Cardassians ("The Wounded"), losing Jack Crusher ("Encounter at Farpoint", "The Bonding" "Attached"), and losing the ship ("The Battle"). The fourth was a nondescript visit to Chalna ("Allegiance"). I thus doubt we'll ever learn of a succession of legendary XOs to Picard, either... Except in the novels, where a long and legendary career for Picard indeed has been dreamed up.
Timo Saloniemi
Since Q doesn't list any incidents after the bridge one, we might speculate it was the final step in Picard achieving fame and earning a command. We know little about his rank at the time, though. It simplifies things if we assume he held high rank, because in that case only a few top officers would need to be incapacitated before Picard would be the next in line - but it's also possible that the bridge was isolated and a very junior Picard took command at a crucial moment before the three Commanders and a dozen Lieutenants outranking him could reach the scene.
Interestingly, all canon references to Picard's service as the CO of the Stargazer are from the 2350s, just before his losing that ship. All references to him serving aboard that ship in an unknown role (basically just the above two bits of heroism) are undated. Perhaps he only held command of that ship for a couple of years, then?
OTOH, "Relics" firmly establishes Picard's first starship command (at the rank of Captain at least) was the Stargazer. If he only assumed command of her in the 2350s, and lost her soon thereafter, it's a bit odd that he'd next be given the Federation Flagship. Unless his exploits in command of other starships between the Stargazer and the E-D during the "missing" nine years were really legendary, that is.
But the thing remains that the episodes and movies themselves don't paint a picture of a legendary career for Picard in command of the Stargazer. To the contrary, three of the four known incidents were failures of sorts: running away from Cardassians ("The Wounded"), losing Jack Crusher ("Encounter at Farpoint", "The Bonding" "Attached"), and losing the ship ("The Battle"). The fourth was a nondescript visit to Chalna ("Allegiance"). I thus doubt we'll ever learn of a succession of legendary XOs to Picard, either... Except in the novels, where a long and legendary career for Picard indeed has been dreamed up.
Timo Saloniemi
Huh. True. I never connected the dots like that. This is why I dig a lot of your posts. Nice connection.
I wonder how long the court martial took for the Stargazer... as the JAG said, a court martial is standard procedure when a ship is lost.
I only know of Gilead Ben Zoma -- but then I've only read the first three Stargazer novels, plus Valiant. Friedman's Reunion might have more info, but I've put it off until I'm finished with the Stargazers.
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