Why Didn't The Defiant Have Its Own Crew?

[CuttingEdge100]

I hope this one hasn't been covered before, but why didn't the Defiant have it's own crew?

I mean it's a vessel of it's own, not a shuttle or a runabout...


CuttingEdge100

 

[JNG]

I'm not sure I am understanding the question. What makes you think there weren't full-time crew members on the Defiant?

 

[Candlelight]

I'm not sure I am understanding the question. What makes you think there weren't full-time crew members on the Defiant?

The OP means having it's own Captain, EXO, etc instead of Sisko coming in and taking it over.

I think the answer lies in it was treated like a shuttle or runabout to begin with. It was assigned to DS9 for their disposal. It wasn't until later when the ship entered active service that they started getting their own crews, like the Valiant.

 

[nx1701g]

I'm not sure I am understanding the question. What makes you think there weren't full-time crew members on the Defiant?

In a Season Four episode when Worf announced he was going to live on Defiant instead of the station O'Brien asked him if he realized he'd be alone on the ship.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

The Defiant was assigned to DS9. That meant that the ship was there for the station's crew to use. And on top of that, the Defiant's crew complement was... I want to say forty, but I'm not sure. I'm almost positive, though, that it was under one hundred. With the Defiant docked at DS9 most of the time, are the officers assigned to it supposed to just sit around alternating between the bunks of the Defiant and playing dabo, or does the station, being operated by a few thousand Starfleet personal, pick a handful to man the ship when it's needed?

 

[Candlelight]

The Defiant was assigned to DS9. That meant that the ship was there for the station's crew to use. And on top of that, the Defiant's crew complement was... I want to say forty, but I'm not sure. I'm almost positive, though, that it was under one hundred. With the Defiant docked at DS9 most of the time, are the officers assigned to it supposed to just sit around alternating between the bunks of the Defiant and playing dabo, or does the station, being operated by a few thousand Starfleet personal, pick a handful to man the ship when it's needed?

The station only has 300 permanent personnel (that is, before 'The way of the Warrior' it was). Sending 20% of them off on a mission leaves the station understaffed in terms of senior officers.

The complement has been between 40-50. It was 47 in 'The Children of Time'.

 

[Cyke101]

The Defiant was assigned to DS9. That meant that the ship was there for the station's crew to use. And on top of that, the Defiant's crew complement was... I want to say forty, but I'm not sure. I'm almost positive, though, that it was under one hundred. With the Defiant docked at DS9 most of the time, are the officers assigned to it supposed to just sit around alternating between the bunks of the Defiant and playing dabo, or does the station, being operated by a few thousand Starfleet personal, pick a handful to man the ship when it's needed?

The station only has 300 permanent personnel (that is, before 'The way of the Warrior' it was). Sending 20% of them off on a mission leaves the station understaffed in terms of senior officers.

The complement has been between 40-50. It was 47 in 'The Children of Time'.

When you say 300 personnel, does that include Bajoran staff as well?

Also, something to consider, but it's not like all 300 of them are that crucial or work constantly. After all, on a starship like the Enterprise-D, there are three shifts, which means at any given day 2/3rds of the crew (aside from the captain) is not working on something ship related.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Where did the figure of DS9 having a crew of 300 come from? A Galor-class attack cruiser has at least 300 (possibly up to 600), so that would be kind of surprising...

 

[Candlelight]

Where did the figure of DS9 having a crew of 300 come from? A Galor-class attack cruiser has at least 300 (possibly up to 600), so that would be kind of surprising...

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Deep_Space_9

Crew: 300 to 1,200 (Starfleet and Bajoran)

The number went up in season four I believe.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

The station only has 300 permanent personnel (that is, before 'The way of the Warrior' it was). Sending 20% of them off on a mission leaves the station understaffed in terms of senior officers.

The complement has been between 40-50. It was 47 in 'The Children of Time'.

Up until 'Way of the Warrior,' though, DS9 wasn't exactly a bustling hotspot - even with all the weaponry upgrades they recieved in the over a year of preparation for the Dominion, it really comes across that Starfleet never expected it to be seeing much action, so they probably expected that running with 80 to 85 percent of crew would be good enough to hold out, particularly if the Defiant is in action alongside the station itself. Then they actually needed to fight, so the station gets more crew assigned, which frees up more crew to be available to join the Defiant crew.

Also, the 300 to 1200 crew seems like pretty conservative estimates to me, given that the station can house seven thousand.

 

[JNG]

I guess it makes sense that starbases sometimes have small cruisers assigned to them and the crews live and work on the station when that ship isn't out on a mission.

 

[RobertVA]

Even in the future I doubt a ship like the Defiant could be attached to a station's docking port and ignored until it is needed. I suspect there would be some fairly frequent maintenance tasks for things like the dilithium crystals and coolant system.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Probably, but those crewmen wouldn't be permanently assigned there - they'd probably just be DS9 techs, rated for work on starships, and assigned as needed to maintenence the Defiant's various parts. But when they clock out, it's back to the Promenade for some relaxation and then to their quarters on the habitat ring to get some sleep.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Where did the figure of DS9 having a crew of 300 come from? A Galor-class attack cruiser has at least 300 (possibly up to 600), so that would be kind of surprising...

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Deep_Space_9

Crew: 300 to 1,200 (Starfleet and Bajoran)

The number went up in season four I believe.

Hmm...frankly, I'd say the latter makes a lot more sense considering the comparison to the Galor numbers.

 

[Timo]

The figure of 300 personnel comes from "Captive Pursuit", where O'Brien tells the Tosk that that many people are living aboard, "more or less". The figure may in fact refer to the sum total of Starfleet and Bajoran crew and assorted civilians, as the wormhole had only recently been discovered and there might not have been more than a handful of merchants on the station yet.

It seems likely that as the number of merchants, family members and assorted riffraff grew, Starfleet and Bajor would also have increased their presence, long before the station was upgunned for "Way of the Warrior".

As for the Defiant, let's remember that she was a very special case, an "unofficial" starship dragged out of the junk yard to be Sisko's personal plaything. Sisko might not have wanted to have any sort of official status for the ship, and Starfleet might have wanted to keep as tight a lid on her existence and operations as possible, too. Certainly the ship didn't appear particularly capable of independent operations: there were few if any long duration missions (that is, past a few days), and in combat engagements the ship typically sought sanctuary in the armpit of the station...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Odo's_Bucket]

In the episode "Field of Fire" it was said that there are over 900 starfleet officers living on DS9.

 

[Kaziarl]

and in combat engagements the ship typically sought sanctuary in the armpit of the station...

Timo Saloniemi

That may be true, but I think she held her own in FC. As Riker said "Tough little ship"

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

How do you keep a lid on the existence of the Defiant when it doesn't seem to cloak while docked, and any incoming vessel can see it?

 

[nx1701g]

How do you keep a lid on the existence of the Defiant when it doesn't seem to cloak while docked, and any incoming vessel can see it?

They could claim it was a visiting freighter. The design of the ship - according to the designer of the ship in the real world - said it began life as a freighter.

 

[Timo]

Well, not that tight a lid...

Although to be sure, it appears she is cloaked most of the time she's docked there. Or at least the stock footage prominently fails to feature her.

Timo Saloniemi