Naval Ranks (US ones I think)

[Daston]

Hey guys,

Picked up season 4 of battlestar the other day so working my way through seasons 1 - 3 and one thing in all these Sci-fi shows (star trek included) is the ranks.

My understanding was to be in command of a ship you were a Captain and then under you was your 1st officer. Where does this "Commander" Rank come in (same as Star Trek DS9).

In season 3 Lee is promoted to Commander of the other Battlestar however when he looses the ship he becomes a Major surly he should be a Colonel as thats rank under Commander.

I know this is all made up but still anyone else thought this?

[sneijder]

Thanks, that was the push I needed to turn off the computer and crack on with the million jobs I have to get on with.

[Kaelic]

Daston said:

Hey guys,

Picked up season 4 of battlestar the other day so working my way through seasons 1 - 3 and one thing in all these Sci-fi shows (star trek included) is the ranks.

My understanding was to be in command of a ship you were a Captain and then under you was your 1st officer. Where does this "Commander" Rank come in (same as Star Trek DS9).

In season 3 Lee is promoted to Commander of the other Battlestar however when he looses the ship he becomes a Major surly he should be a Colonel as thats rank under Commander.

I know this is all made up but still anyone else thought this?

Major and Colonel are army/marine ranks

Naval ranks are generally (well for the uk):

Midshipman
Sub Lieutenant
Lieutenant
Lt Commander
Commander
Captain

and on to the flag ranks etc...


In the Royal Navy a lot of Ships Captains are Lt Commander/Commander and a lot of the smaller ships Captains are Lt's. They retain the rank of Lt Commander but are Captain of a vessel.

[Kaelic]

Ooops double post

Edited by Kaelic on Friday 22 May 18:44

[Daston]

ahhhhh with ya so in BSG case its because they got Marines and fighter pilots.

[strudel]

No - it's purely naval ranks. Captain is a rank, but also a title given to the leading officer of the ship. Hence why the admiral is also a captain.

[Lurking Lawyer]

strudel said:

Captain is a rank, but also a title given to the leading officer of the ship. Hence why the admiral is also a captain.

An admiral isn't a captain.

Generally, an admiral commands a fleet or battle group. He'll have his flag aboard a particular ship, usually the biggest in the group, from which he commands the group but that ship will have its own captain.

BSG just played around with the "normal" naval ranks for the colonial fleet.

[Neil_H]

Daston said:

Hey guys,

Picked up season 4 of battlestar the other day so working my way through seasons 1 - 3 and one thing in all these Sci-fi shows (star trek included) is the ranks.

My understanding was to be in command of a ship you were a Captain and then under you was your 1st officer. Where does this "Commander" Rank come in (same as Star Trek DS9).

In season 3 Lee is promoted to Commander of the other Battlestar however when he looses the ship he becomes a Major surly he should be a Colonel as thats rank under Commander.

I know this is all made up but still anyone else thought this?

I think the reason for the change in ranks was because he went from the leader of a fighter squadron to the captain of a ship.

[Lurking Lawyer]

Neil_H said:

I think the reason for the change in ranks was because he went from the leader of a fighter squadron to the captain of a ship.

I think it had been established by then that the normal rank for the CAG (Commander Air Group - the senior aviator aboard) was Major, so when Pegasus was destoyed and Apollo reverted to being Galactica CAG he reverted to the usual rank.

It's never actually said but I guess you have to assume that the promotion to Commander was an acting rank.

[Taita]

Holy st I can't believe you are talking about this