Question On Promotion

[Lord Pounder]

I've been thinking of something. IIRC if you're serving on a Klingon ship and you kill your superior you get his rank. So in the episode where Riker served on the Klingon ship if he'd killed the ships captain would he have been a Captain when he came back to the Enterprise?

[Crazedwraith]

He'd have been a captain in the klingon defense force. But still a comander of starfleet. Just like Kiras a Bajoran Colonel but a starfleet comander.

[Shrykull]

I've been thinking of something. IIRC if you're serving on a Klingon ship and you kill your superior you get his rank. So in the episode where Riker served on the Klingon ship if he'd killed the ships captain would he have been a Captain when he came back to the Enterprise?

I think it's through an honorable duel, like what happened where Worf killed Gowron, not outright murder or backstabbing, remember where the Klingon wanted to butcher Quark and Gowron stepped in and he was exiled by a majority vote (them turning thier backs) and by Gowron

[HemlockGrey]

Didn't the Royal Navy ban challenging superior officers to duels for just this reason? Wouldn't this lead to incessant battles and massive turnover? Ambitious, atheletic cadets could become admirals of the fleet in an instant and the command structure would be crippled because the captains would all be captain due to physical strength rather than ability.

My God, that's the stupidest idea I've heard all month.

[Crazedwraith]

Didn't the Royal Navy ban challenging superior officers to duels for just this reason? Wouldn't this lead to incessant battles and massive turnover? Ambitious, atheletic cadets could become admirals of the fleet in an instant and the command structure would be crippled because the captains would all be captain due to physical strength rather than ability.

My God, that's the stupidest idea I've heard all month.

They have to have decent grounds for a challenge i beleive. It''s onhly allowed if the captains has been acting dishonourably etc.

[Stormbringer]

Didn't the Royal Navy ban challenging superior officers to duels for just this reason?

Actually, you couldn't take over a captain's rank though in it would be way to get an acting promotion. And the reason was to stop officers from killing each off and to maintain discipline. After all, it would be hard to keep a functioning ship if your juniors were a constant threat to your life.

They have to have decent grounds for a challenge i beleive. It''s onhly allowed if the captains has been acting dishonourably etc.

It was not allowed, period. A junior officer challenging an active duty senior could be hanged for it.

[Crazedwraith]

They have to have decent grounds for a challenge i beleive. It''s onhly allowed if the captains has been acting dishonourably etc.

It was not allowed, period. A junior officer challenging an active duty senior could be hanged for it.

I was talking about the klingons.

[CDiehl]

I should mention that Klingons can only challenge an immediate superior, so a crewman can't challenge the captain his first day on the ship (Dax explains this to O'Brien in an episode of DS9). Also, he must challenge his superior formally, not jump him when he's not looking. Even in that case, the winner has to have good reason, as Klingons define it (cowardice, incompetence, disobeying orders from HQ, etc.), and I would guess there would be a board of inquiry when they returned to base. They can't possibly run their military entirely like the stereotype suggests.