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From: jonab@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Jonathan Biggar)
Newsgroups: net.startrek
Subject: Re: ? about ST I & ST II movies; rank of capt.
Message-ID: <978@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 9-Apr-84 12:18:48 EST
Article-I.D.: sdcrdcf.978
Posted: Mon Apr  9 12:18:48 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 11-Apr-84 05:25:37 EST
References: <1327@sdccs6.UUCP>
Reply-To: jonab@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Jonathan Biggar)
Organization: System Development Corporation, Santa Monica
Lines: 19

In article <1327@sdccs6.UUCP> ix21@sdccs6.UUCP writes:
>In the first movie when Admiral Kirk was placed in command of the
>Enterprise, he was temporarly demoted to captain and Captain Decker to
>commander.  This was both mentioned in the dialogue and in a change of
>the insignias on their uniforms.  Yet when Kirk took command of the
>Enterprise in the second movie he retained his rank of Admiral and
>Spock never took off his Captain bars.  Anyone have any guesses or
>educated ideas?

It is navy tradition that only one person aboard a ship be called
"Captain" -- the person in charge of the ship.  Kirk was not demoted,
he is still an admiral, but is called captain out of respect for his
responsibility as master of the ship.  Decker cannot be called 
captain while Kirk is in command, so they had call him by the 
rank of commander instead.

Jon Biggar
{allegra,burdvax,cbosgd,hplabs,ihnp4,sdccsu3}!sdcrdcf!jonab