I figured Riker was actually commanding a task force due to the being so close to the Klingon sphere of influence.
Was it ever explained how an admiral gets to captain their own ship?
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I'm 99% certain that she's present at the battle in What You Leave Behind and he's in command. I suppose it's entirely possible that he's the mission/fleet commander while the captain is still responsible for captaining the ship itself. A bit like when The Enterprise was off looking for the Pegasus. Pressman in overall charge of the mission, but Picard still responsible for the ship.
The Bellerophon? We don't see it or any Intrepid class ship at all in the WYLB battle. When Sisko does chat with Ross on the battle, Ross is standing on what appears to be the same set as the Defiant bridge.
Kirk was a celebrity and Starfleet kept him close to home after the five year mission as an ambassador of sorts to politicians and the like that they needed for their funding.
Admirals on their own ships likely only make the big picture decisions with the First Officer/XO (possibly holding a captain rank) being in operational command of the ship.
No, admiral do not command the ships they travel on. The ships would have their own commanding officers, usually with the rank of captain, and their own XOs and so on.
During the Napoleonic Wars,the British navy had a few 1st cass ships of the line which were mostly intended for the use of Admirals and their staffs. Many or all of the 2nd rate ships of the line would have too gun decks, and all of the 3rd and 4th rate ships of hte line would have two gun decks. But all of the first rate ships of the line would have three gun decks, which meant that they also had one more deck of officer's cabins at the the starn and could accomodate an admiral anadhis staff as well as the captain and the other ship's officers.
I can imagine that a Starfleet admiral might have his office and staff permanetly station on a starship which he could take on inspection trips around his command sector and use to command lleets in battle. That would have made KIrk happier as an admiral. But the admiral's ship would also have its own captain. And a ship designed to carry an admiral and be a flagship might have two bridges, one for the captain and ship's officers and one for the admiral and his staff.
While we don’t see any action shots of the ship, I’ve not seen anything anywhere else to suggest Ross is on the bridge of another random ship. He has to get to Cardassia Prime somehow and I doubt he’s caught a lift with Martok.
I've just always assumed he was on board one of the various Galaxy class ships we see throughout that battle.
Nothing in the shows have contradicted the idea that an Admiral could have their own command.
Star Trek II said:
We know an Admiral can take command of a ship, we know they can take command of an Away Team...
Too Short a Season said:
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I thought everybody basically understood about admirals and flagships, but maybe not. When warships are organized to operate in groups (squadrons, task forces, fleets etc.), someone has to be in charge and they have to be present, IOW they have to be on one of the ships. They do not command the ship itself. If the admiral's command is ships A, B, C and D, and the admiral is using A as the flagship, the relationship between the admiral and the captain of ship A is supposed to be no different than the relationship with the captains of B, C and D. On duty, the admiral communicates with the captain through official channels. The admiral and staff have a part of the ship that is set aside for them, and if the admiral wants to leave "flag country" and walk around the rest of the ship, the captain is given the courtesy of advanced notice, just as if the admiral was visiting one of the other ships. If ship A goes in for refit, the flag can shift to B, C, D or (newly assigned) E.
The admiral could have their own space-going command, but instead of commanding officer of USS whatever they would be "Commander Cruiser Squadron X" or "Commander Task Group Y," something like that. That would be a very complex, high-responsibility job, and it's not a good idea to add the internal management of the ship to the admiral's duties. That's what a captain is for.
As I said before, this is a problem in Trek because everything is centered on the bridge. Realistically, the admiral would have a completely separate flag bridge where they and their staff could keep track of what they need to keep track of, which may not be the same as what the ship's captain needs to focus on. But if there are two plot-important people in the story, it's better dramatically to have them interacting face-to-face.
The admiral could have their own space-going command, but instead of commanding officer of USS whatever they would be "Commander Cruiser Squadron X" or "Commander Task Group Y," something like that. That would be a very complex, high-responsibility job, and it's not a good idea to add the internal management of the ship to the admiral's duties. That's what a captain is for.
As I said before, this is a problem in Trek because everything is centered on the bridge. Realistically, the admiral would have a completely separate flag bridge where they and their staff could keep track of what they need to keep track of, which may not be the same as what the ship's captain needs to focus on. But if there are two plot-important people in the story, it's better dramatically to have them interacting face-to-face.
Admirals have adoption of "Flagship" if however they have captaincy experience it's not above them getting their own vessel.
For example, A Defiant class ship is small and sufficient enough a "Fully dedicated" crew isn't necessary. A ship need only a crew of 50-75 and a skeleton of 30; and a command level officer under captain. Kira, Worf and even Jadzia all took upon missions where command of defiant was relegated to them and crew accordingly.
https://wiki.fed-space.com/images/5/59/Defiant_Bridge.jpg
[Unlike Traditional starships Defiant had no need of a formal "Department heads" associated division of labor]
If you could run a shuttle or runabout, You could run a Defiant.
Ross was in command of Sao Paulo for duration of delivery
Ross: you are requested and required to take command of USS Sao Paulo. Signed, Vice Admiral William J. Ross, Stardate 52861.3. Computer, transfer all command codes to Captain Sisko.
Now whether than was a symbolic formality or he was actually in command.
In TNG episode "All Good Things..." Riker was in Command of Enterprise, he even had sufficient political clout and power to refit the vessel rather than decommission it.
It's not mentioned how big Starfleet is in manpower or how many flag officers serve at given... Wolf 359, saw 39 ships lose 11,000 people so an average crew capacity for a mid 24th century vessel is 282. Tack on 1,000 to 10,000 running vessels any given time, fleet has anywhere from 250,000 to 3 million under it's employ....of which 1/10th of 1% serve banner of flag officer....If an admiral wants a ship, You give em a ship.
Many Admiral took "Command' capacity of ship when situation demanded
For example, A Defiant class ship is small and sufficient enough a "Fully dedicated" crew isn't necessary. A ship need only a crew of 50-75 and a skeleton of 30; and a command level officer under captain. Kira, Worf and even Jadzia all took upon missions where command of defiant was relegated to them and crew accordingly.
https://wiki.fed-space.com/images/5/59/Defiant_Bridge.jpg
[Unlike Traditional starships Defiant had no need of a formal "Department heads" associated division of labor]
If you could run a shuttle or runabout, You could run a Defiant.
Ross was in command of Sao Paulo for duration of delivery
Ross: you are requested and required to take command of USS Sao Paulo. Signed, Vice Admiral William J. Ross, Stardate 52861.3. Computer, transfer all command codes to Captain Sisko.
Now whether than was a symbolic formality or he was actually in command.
In TNG episode "All Good Things..." Riker was in Command of Enterprise, he even had sufficient political clout and power to refit the vessel rather than decommission it.
It's not mentioned how big Starfleet is in manpower or how many flag officers serve at given... Wolf 359, saw 39 ships lose 11,000 people so an average crew capacity for a mid 24th century vessel is 282. Tack on 1,000 to 10,000 running vessels any given time, fleet has anywhere from 250,000 to 3 million under it's employ....of which 1/10th of 1% serve banner of flag officer....If an admiral wants a ship, You give em a ship.
Many Admiral took "Command' capacity of ship when situation demanded
- Admiral Kirk: V'Ger incident 2270's
- Admiral Pressman: Pegasus recovery
- Admiral Jameson
- Ross: Invasion of Cardassia
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I had imagined Riker was running the starbase and had the Enterprise assigned to it like how Sisko later had the Defiant at DS9. In the novelisation it seems he commands a bunch of ships, as he has Shelby and Sam Lavelle as captains under his command.
Warning for hotlinking to someone else's site. Again.
Maybe Riker took the bridge as his flag bridge and shunted the poor CO and his team to the Battle Bridge.
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