rjnoe@ihlts.UUCP (Roger Noe) (05/08/84)
In reference again to the episode "The Menagerie", Lt. Commander Spock took command of the Enterprise without orders to do so and without a complete crew. The captain was just one of many missing; most of the bridge crew is gone, with no navigator, and only Lt. Uhura at communications, Lt. Hansen at the helm (Hagan Beggs, also in "Courtmartial"), and Lieutenant Commanders Scott and McCoy on board but not always on the bridge. McCoy is on the bridge when Spock decides to have the ship come to a full stop so that Kirk and Mendez can be beamed aboard. Spock says, "Effective until then, Lt. Hansen is in operational command." A moment later Spock says to McCoy, "Doctor, as senior officer present, I present myself to you for arrest." When Kirk materializes in the transporter room, Hansen says to him, "Transferring command to you, sir" which Kirk then accepts. But Scott is in the transporter room at the same time, so Lt. Hansen did not hand over command to Lt. Commander Scott even though the opportunity was there. It could be argued that Scott was needed in Engineering rather than in the captain's chair because of the smaller crew. And since Spock was in mutiny, handing over command to Hansen has questionable legality since Spock was in violation of regulations. Command authority seems to operate by some very arbitrary rules and we can assume that the one with that authority can delegate that authority to just about anyone else they choose. However, this always seems to happen on the bridge. Roger Noe ihnp4!ihlts!rjnoe
wbpesch@ihuxp.UUCP (Walt Pesch) (05/09/84)
There is the key in my opinion. The command must be transferred to someone that is currently on call to or on duty on the bridge. This is true in modern times...you don't command the ship from the engine hold or from the storage deck but from the bridge. Note also that when Scotty took command, he was always called to the bridge, and there the transfer of command took place. In the case of Kirk being given command back in the transporter room in the Menagerie, this is simpply the case since Kirk is the Commander of the Enterprise, the Captain. Also, in regards to Spocks rank being that of one grade higher than the rest of the department heads, Spock is also the First Officer. Normally the first officer will outrank a department head (i.e. being a Commander instead of Lt. Commander.) Therefor the chain of command is Captain -> Executive Officer -> Department Heads. If anyone has ST:tMP on videotape, could they check, for then the Enterprise had an Executive Officer and also a Science Officer. What were their ranks? Here Mousey, Mousey, Mousey Walt Pesch AT&T TEchnologies ihnp4!ihuxp!wbpesch
friedman@uiucdcs.UUCP (05/10/84)
#R:ihlts:-45700:uiucdcs:24900037:000:192 uiucdcs!friedman May 10 09:36:00 1984 In ST:TMP, when the First Officer (Executive Officer) and Science Officer were two different people (Decker and Spock), they were both Commanders. But then, Spock was a very senior Commander.