[arutha]

has anyone noticed this?

I mean every rank upwarts goed like this

1 dark pip crewman
1 gold ensign
1 dark +1 gold jnr ltd
2 gold lieutenant

etc..

after commander (3 gold) they skip the extra dark pip and go directly to 4 gold

why is that?

they ran out of ranks?

[angryibanezguy]

Well on a starship there really is no use for a junior captain (tahts what the rank would denote if im correct" Now if the ship were captained by an admiral there might be a use for the junior captain rank.

[arutha]

but does the rank even exist? there is no junior commander either (just lieutanant commander) and no junior ensign either.. so

[Commodore]

There is no rank between captain and commander, but if one did exist, I think it would have been called "vice captain" (y'know, like vice admiral).

I could see such a rank held by an adjutant to an admiral as angryibanezguy suggested or as a rank being used by senior officers in the operations and sciences branches.

Otherwise, back in the ole' days, commodores were essentially senior captains more than they were junior admirals...

[Celestial Fire]

The real-world explanation can be found in the American and British navy. The rank of Commander is denoted by 3 solid stripes, and Captain with 4 solid stripes. This system is copied on "Trek" with the pips. Seeing as both Captains and Commanders may command ships, it makes sense both would have all solid stripes; it's more authoritative.

I imagine an in-universe answer would be similar.

[arutha]

Originally Posted by Celestial Fire

The real-world explanation can be found in the American and British navy. The rank of Commander is denoted by 3 solid stripes, and Captain with 4 solid stripes. This system is copied on "Trek" with the pips. Seeing as both Captains and Commanders may command ships, it makes sense both would have all solid stripes; it's more authoritative.

I imagine an in-universe answer would be similar.

helpfull, that might be it, thanks!

you good be right as Sisko was in command of DS9 and was (only?) a commander

[Commodore]

Originally Posted by arutha

you good be right as Sisko was in command of DS9 and was (only?) a commander

It might have been because the producers felt that starbase commander sounded better than starbase captain.

It was a just a creative call on their part, but I think they didn't want Sisko to rank higher than Picard in the pilot, though...

[Zardoz]

C-

I thought a vice-admiral was higher than an admiral...

Commander has grades I thought until you reach Captancy. I could be wrong...

As you know Commodore is between Capt. and Admiral. Trek is real fishy about that...

[VADBAXTER]

Originally Posted by Zardoz

C-

I thought a vice-admiral was higher than an admiral...

Commander has grades I thought until you reach Captancy. I could be wrong...

As you know Commodore is between Capt. and Admiral. Trek is real fishy about that...

A Vice Admiral is higher than an Admiral, The ranking for Admirals goes as follows:

Admiral 1 gold pip in a box
Rear Admiral 2 pips in a box
Vice Admiral 3 pips in a box
Fleet Admiral 4 pips in a box

[Commodore]

Actually, we don't know what a one-pip admiral is called, but in the real U.S. Navy, the admiralty went as follows:

Admiral of the Fleet (or Fleet Admiral)-5 stars
Admiral-4 stars
Vice Admiral-3 stars
Rear Admiral (upper half)-2 stars
Rear Admiral (lower half)-1 star

It's technically possible that commodore may be a one-pip admiral in Starfleet, but we've never actually seen one onscreen after TOS and TNG may have followed the US Navy in discontinuing the rank, who knows? On the other hand, Starfleet may use the upper half/lower-half designations for junior admirals--a system I never particularly liked--or they may have some other term for a one-pip admiral that's unique to Starfleet such as "branch admiral" or something, I dunno...