Abigail's first ship

pnakasone wrote:

saber964 wrote:Yes and no, who is and where the fall in the chain of command depends on the rank and seniority of the officer. IIRC on the Tristan the chain command was CO XO Cheng Astro ComO ATO then TO. During my navy service I had a division officer who was senior to the XO in both time in service and grade but was junior because of the position the XO held.

Who is in command could be complicated by what kind of situation they are finding themselves in and the disposition of the officers above her in the command chain. Some of them may yield command due to either not having the skill set or feeling that they would better serve the ship running their division.

It would also depend on their being "Line of the Navy" vs Limited Duty Officer. The ChEng is probably a LDO, rather than Line. Comm may also be a LDO, although less likely on a DD. By definition, the TO is senior to her ATO. That's only four levels of command to be eliminated. RAH cites, I believe, six, as the greatest loss of chain of command (IIRC, some poor schlub middie on Chesapeake who hauled Lawrence down to the cockpit when he was wounded. And missed all of the Lieutenants getting wiped out. Cashiered for not defending his command and leaving his post as commanding officer.)

munroburton wrote:Going straight to the Crusher before her first official command is even likelier. Especially if she inherits tactical command and saves the ship.

Nitpick, isn't going straight to the Crusher before official command the most common path to commanding a warship?

It was specified early, that Honor was lucky to command at least one hyper-capable warship prior to going to the Crusher, I believe it was the destroyer Hawkwing. One of the major reasons that may have changed was due to the wars with Haven, but Manticore still tried to send potential ship commanders to the Crusher first, because that was their final make/break test. If you fail the Crusher, you became a desk jockey REMF, or staff officer never again able to command directly.

Somtaaw wrote:

munroburton wrote:Going straight to the Crusher before her first official command is even likelier. Especially if she inherits tactical command and saves the ship.

Nitpick, isn't going straight to the Crusher before official command the most common path to commanding a warship?

It was specified early, that Honor was lucky to command at least one hyper-capable warship prior to going to the Crusher, I believe it was the destroyer Hawkwing. One of the major reasons that may have changed was due to the wars with Haven, but Manticore still tried to send potential ship commanders to the Crusher first, because that was their final make/break test. If you fail the Crusher, you became a desk jockey REMF, or staff officer never again able to command directly.

That is completely correct. Even during the war against Haven, potential warship commanders were routed through the Crusher; after all, the RMN's training standards were one of the main reasons why it performed as well as it did.

Most likely she will XO a cruiser, then head to the crusher, then command a Grayson cruiser.

Then likely XO a podnaught. Although she might step sideways and TO for an admiral.

In her case there is more squirrely politics than normal at play.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

The E wrote:

Somtaaw wrote:
Nitpick, isn't going straight to the Crusher before official command the most common path to commanding a warship?

It was specified early, that Honor was lucky to command at least one hyper-capable warship prior to going to the Crusher, I believe it was the destroyer Hawkwing. One of the major reasons that may have changed was due to the wars with Haven, but Manticore still tried to send potential ship commanders to the Crusher first, because that was their final make/break test. If you fail the Crusher, you became a desk jockey REMF, or staff officer never again able to command directly.

That is completely correct. Even during the war against Haven, potential warship commanders were routed through the Crusher; after all, the RMN's training standards were one of the main reasons why it performed as well as it did.

While Honor had a Destroyer command before the Crusher, it wasn't unusual, just uncommon. At that time, no one would ever command anything BIGGER than a Destroyer before taking the Crusher. Having the Destroyer command first was sign of the respect the Admiralty had for a Lt. Commander.

Given the reshuffling of personnel during the 2nd war and the "rebuilding" of the Navy, forces, I expect there to be a few like Caplan who were handed Destroyer commands without the Crusher - of course these were usually vetted combat veterans who had experienced a crusher of their own.

Given the reshuffling of personnel during the 2nd war and the "rebuilding" of the Navy, forces, I expect there to be a few like Caplan who were handed Destroyer commands without the Crusher - of course these were usually vetted combat veterans who had experienced a crusher of their own

I thought Naomi Caplan went through the Crusher after her rehab from the injuries she received at Monica, I seem to remember a passage in one of the books to the effect that she had completed the Crusher before she was given Tristam.

George J. Smith wrote: I thought Naomi Caplan went through the Crusher after her rehab from the injuries she received at Monica, I seem to remember a passage in one of the books to the effect that she had completed the Crusher before she was given Tristam.

I can't find any reference to her attending the Crusher after (during) her rehab. Her command of HMS Tristam is consistent with RMN practice of giving command of destroyers prior to crusher attendance to outstanding officers according to "the needs of the service."

Weird Harold wrote:

George J. Smith wrote: I thought Naomi Caplan went through the Crusher after her rehab from the injuries she received at Monica, I seem to remember a passage in one of the books to the effect that she had completed the Crusher before she was given Tristam.

I can't find any reference to her attending the Crusher after (during) her rehab. Her command of HMS Tristam is consistent with RMN practice of giving command of destroyers prior to crusher attendance to outstanding officers according to "the needs of the service."

Harold,

I checked because I was sure I did read it

Shadow of Freedom wrote:
“Yes, Sir, it would have.” Kaplan nodded. “On the other hand,” she continued in the same mild tone, “it probably wouldn’t have left me outside the range of the missiles you actually gave the Sollies for the exercise.”
“What’s that?” Zavala cocked his head, blue eyes narrowed as he gazed quizzically at Kaplan. “Are you suggesting I’d cheat, Captain?”
“To quote one of my tac instructors at the Crusher, Sir, if you aren’t cheating, you’re not trying hard enough.” Kaplan shrugged. “Just as a matter of curiosity, how much of a range boost did you assign?”

How long is the Crusher in training time and how many slots are available?

Fox2! wrote:

pnakasone" [quote="saber964 wrote:Yes and no, who is and where the fall in the chain of command depends on the rank and seniority of the officer. IIRC on the Tristan the chain command was CO XO Cheng Astro ComO ATO then TO. During my navy service I had a division officer who was senior to the XO in both time in service and grade but was junior because of the position the XO held.

Who is in command could be complicated by what kind of situation they are finding themselves in and the disposition of the officers above her in the command chain. Some of them may yield command due to either not having the skill set or feeling that they would better serve the ship running their division.

It would also depend on their being "Line of the Navy" vs Limited Duty Officer. The ChEng is probably a LDO, rather than Line. Comm may also be a LDO, although less likely on a DD. By definition, the TO is senior to her ATO. That's only four levels of command to be eliminated. RAH cites, I believe, six, as the greatest loss of chain of command (IIRC, some poor schlub middie on Chesapeake who hauled Lawrence down to the cockpit when he was wounded. And missed all of the Lieutenants getting wiped out. Cashiered for not defending his command and leaving his post as commanding officer.)[/quote]


On the USS Chesapeake it was IIRC nine levels of command and the suddenly elevated commander was a junior midshipman age 14 or 15.

IIRC
CO WIA later DOW
XO KIA
1LT KIA
2LT KIA
3LT WIA
A3LT WIA senior midshipman
Sailing Master WIA
Masters Mate KIA mix between CMC and WO
then our midshipman