So I was wondering about why we are Commander and not Captain ...

Alien

Alien
After all in Star Trek, Commander is one rank lower than Captain. If we're all Commanders, where is our Captain? If it's our ship we're flying, and we're in charge, shouldn't we be Captains and not Commanders?

So I wondered if it was based on the rank structure in the British Navy, Army or Air Force. I decided to do some research ... and looked at Wikipedia ...
Naval Ranks
Army Ranks
Air Force Ranks

The Army doesn't have "Commander" in it's ranks, so that's out. Of the other two, they both have Captain higher than Commander (note: I am looking at the British ranks, as David Braben & Ian Bell are both British, I doubt they would have based it on another country's rank structure)

So I'm still at a loss as to why, if it's our ship, and we're in charge, why aren't we Captains?
 
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Hurricane Moon

Banned
H
Alien said:
After all in Star Trek, Commander is one rank lower than Captain. If we're all Commanders, where is our Captain? If it's our ship we're flying, and we're in charge, shouldn't we be Captains and not Commanders?

So I wondered if it was based on the rank structure in the British Navy, Army or Air Force. I decided to do some research ... and looked at Wikipedia ...
Naval Ranks
Army Ranks
Air Force Rank

The Army doesn't have "Commander" in it's ranks, so that's out. Of the other two, they both have Captain higher than Commander (note: I am looking at the British ranks, as David Braben & Ian Bell are both British, I doubt they would have based it on another country's rank structure)

So I'm still at a loss as to why, if it's our ship, and we're in charge, why aren't we Captains?
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i like to think that they use that rank in homage to "wing commander" series.
after all these guys that make these games are the original pioneers of the space genre.....
 

Scrat

Scrat
How I see this:

A Captain commands others where to fly.
A Commander flies by himself wherever he likes.
 

Jockey79

Jockey79
Because we are not in any armed forces, we are civilians for hire (or self employed).

Just like private security firms do not give the "rank" or "title" used in the UK Police of "Officer" or "Constable" to their staff, despite doing similar jobs, they are still civilians.

(Just a guess)
 

Sapient6

S
It's the size of the ships under our command. Generally speaking they are a little bit small for a Captain. I'd expect the officer at in command of a capital ship to be a Captain.

An Anaconda might be big enough for a Captain, but a Sidewinder is definitely out.
 

Defacto

Defacto
Wikipedia:

NASA rank

In NASA spacecraft missions since the beginning of Project Gemini, one crew member on each spacecraft is designated as mission commander. The commander is the captain of the ship, and makes all real-time critical decisions on behalf of the crew and in coordination with the Mission Control Center (MCC).
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However, as I understand it, some light ships can be commanded by people with lower ranks than ''captain'' (of course differing depending on what nation's navy we're talking about).
 

Jockey79

Jockey79
Defacto said:
Wikipedia:



However, as I understand it, some light ships can be commanded by people with lower ranks than ''captain'' (of course differing depending on what nation's navy we're talking about).
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Mission Commander... hmm, I like that and it fits better than my guess :)
 

Hurricane Moon

Banned
H
Iskariot said:
Are you kidding?
Because I can't tell.

The wing commander games are green compared to the Elite series.
Braben was first. What he did was revolutionary.
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i obviously didnt think about my wording to well....ha ha..

i am a old school gamer too...from the speccy up to current day.
 

Captain N

C
Captain is naval terminology for the commanding officer of a ship - it's also separate from the rank of captain - a captain of a ship does not necessarily have to hold the rank of a captain in a naval force.

It could be the term Commander in Elite has evolved from the NASA practice of calling the commanding officer of a spacecraft a Flight Commander (air force terminology, for someone who leads a flight).
 
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ZeeWolf

ZeeWolf
Hurricane Moon said:
i like to think that they use that rank in homage to "wing commander" series.
after all these guys that make these games are the original pioneers of the space genre.....
Click to expand...

Hello? 1984 called. Honestly you 90's kids and your 'Wing commander' ;-)

cover.jpg
 
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badwolf77

B
Whatever the rank of the commanding officer of a contemporary ship, they are referred to as 'captain'.

The only conclusion I can draw is that 'weird 4th millennium stuff' happened. :p
 
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