[Deleted]

So I was thinking about what kind of ship to give my Romulan Admiral character.. I really like the Nebula Class, then I started thinking about putting her in one.

Then I was like, nah. That's not realistic. But then I started thinking about it. What if I got a Starfleet bridge officer, gave her the rank of Commander and put her in a white shoulders uniform.

She could technically be the Captain of the ship, since STO does show us that people Captain starships without the rank of Captain.. But my Romulan Admiral character could be in command of the missions the ship is sent too.. Like the ship is assigned to the Romulan Republic by Starfleet?

Kinda like how Major Kira Nerys who was only a member of the Bajoran Militia was in command of the U.S.S. Defiant numerous times even though they were other Starfleet personnel available.

Seeing how much more of an ally the Romulan Republic is to the Federation.

Does.. That make sense? Does anyone want to pitch in some more lore? Feedback? Thoughts? Positive? Negative? Hello? lol.

[Strathkin]

In fact, there have been many missions where an Admiral is onboard, yet while they command the Mission(s), they've had the Captain or Acting Captain continue to Command the ship.

In The Pegasus, doesn't Adm. Erik Pressman do that when faced with a confrontation with Sirol (Michael Mack), the Romulan commander, yet acknowledge each other's presence, creating a tense situation. I found this The Action Figure Generation video someone did to recreate that tense moment.

Yet I believe there was another Future Imperfect, with a slightly different twist showing differences can be resolved peacefully. Wil starts the day as a Commander yet suddenly finds 16 years had past, this time is now the future Captain in Command of the Enterprise and has a son, and finds himself soon before Tomalak — a Romulan commander who was formerly an archenemy of the Enterprise, now an ambassador — beams onto the ship to negotiate a peace treaty with the Federation.

So very much within the bounds of reason, since all my Captain's are in Fact Admirals, most of their bridge crew have white shoulder's, not because the Bridger Officer are Captain, but to designate members of the Admirals Senior Bridge Crew. In fact at least 9 of them still hold Lt thru Commander ranks, except for the 4th year Cadets (on Training) I have still in their Starfleet Academy Uniforms.

So I think talking about it Bridge Officer, got me thinking about something.

- - - UPDATE - - -
Or as Haseo &/or WelshAvenger notes below, unless it's the Admiral's ship, rather than one within their fleet; they may be considered a special envoy, in a diplomatic capacity or special consultant reserved for Engineers.

[Haseo]

admirals usally own there own ships but if they dont they act as a anvoy and the "captain" stays the captain unless he/she does something stupid.


as for a admiral style of a ship class, id say cruiser and up

example: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/USS_Europa

[WelshAvenger]

the "captain" stays the captain unless he/she does something stupid.

I believe that it's naval tradition that if another captain is onboard a vessel whose skipper already holds that rank, then the visitor is bumped up a rank and referred to as Commodore for the duration of their stay. A ship can only have one captain.

[Miles]

You could put your admiral in a Excelsior starship, as was Admiral Nechayev

[Deleted]

Thanks, but gonna go for a Mogai instead!

[Strathkin]

Very Nice the Mogai or Morrigu is a very FINE ship indeed.

Maybe my Romulan's join you, wing tip to wing tip.

[Alandrel]

I believe that it's naval tradition that if another captain is onboard a vessel whose skipper already holds that rank, then the visitor is bumped up a rank and referred to as Commodore for the duration of their stay. A ship can only have one captain.

Actually, in naval tradition, the CO of the boat is called Captain, regardless of their rank. This is done for simplicity. An Admiral in command of a boat can choose to be called Admiral if he chooses. If there are two Captains, the junior officer is usually temporarily reduced to Commander, just as in ST:TMP with Decker.

The rank of Commodore is usually used only in wartime situations by Commander of either a battlegroup or a task force.

[WelshAvenger]

Actually, in naval tradition, the CO of the boat is called Captain, regardless of their rank. This is done for simplicity. An Admiral in command of a boat can choose to be called Admiral if he chooses. If there are two Captains, the junior officer is usually temporarily reduced to Commander, just as in ST:TMP with Decker.

The rank of Commodore is usually used only in wartime situations by Commander of either a battlegroup or a task force.

Good job I joined the Royal Air Force, my knowledge of British Naval tradition is somewhat lacking

[Dark]

The biggest problem with applying real life logic to STO (not necessarily Star Trek, but the pandering ridiculousness of STO's ranks) is that all Admirals above Rear Admiral (Upper Half), OF-7 / O-8, are temporary. They are linked to office, not person, held only while you're holding that office. Every Admiral is linked to a specific position, and none of those positions are "wandering layabout with no responsibilities". You're an Admiral while you're in office, and when your term in that office expires so does your rank.

(Granted that's the US Navy, but Roddenberry was US Army Air Force.)

So there's never a question of an Admiral being in command of a ship, because it doesn't happen. We see this in Star Trek proper with Kirk's promotions and demotions taking him in and out of the captain's chair. I vaguely recall him essentially hijacking a ship by pulling rank on the captain. With TNG of course, we see Kirk explicitly tells Picard not to let himself get promoted out of command of a ship.

If our characters are Admirals, then they're not in command of the ship and there is a captain ferrying us around. Of course, Admirals also generally aren't leading from the front with rifle in hand...

There's a scene in Band of Brothers where the formerly Lieutenant Winters, who had led Easy Company during the Invasion of Normandy because all the senior officers in his chain of command died, wanted to charge into a fight and take command. Colonel Sink stops him and berates him. The now-Major Winters was in command of 2nd Battalion now, and while then-Captain Winters was responsible for Easy Company, he was now responsible to all the companies in the battalion. Different ranks have different responsibilities - and that changes the risks you can take. The CO of a company may live and die with their company, but the CO of a battalion owes it to all the other companies not to die with just one.