Fred
Retired Staff
Toshiro, Doshii Jun, Wes and I sort of had this piecemeal conversation over YIM and the content felt too good to not post over the boards:
Felt too good to pass up, even if this is a chat transcript. This ought to be material for a good wiki article, methinks.
Kotori: Wes?
Wes Davis:
Kotori: hello
Kotori: Toshiro's been asking me questions. I'll paste our conversation so you can verify.
Kotori:
Toshiro: I was wondering...how many ships can one be in command of before they cease to be a commodore and become an Admiral?
Kotori: ...no clue ~_~
Kotori: why do I get all those questions? Do I look that dependable??
Toshiro: Yes.
Kotori:
Kotori: *takes a deep breath* okay. Apparently, from the point where you are an officer above cadet, you can command a ship.
Arguably, a Shoi only has a small command, or a command where not too much is expected. That's why the Goban's captain is a Shoi. However, officer ranks between Shoi to Taii are usually found in the leading staff of a ship. Non-capital vessels like Sakura gunships and Nozomi scoutship typically end up being commanded by officers around the Taii rank.
Kotori:
Kotori: The -sa ranks then follow, which generally involve the command of a spaceship or overseeing manhy underlings.
For example, The Azalea's communication officer is a Shosa because she not only is part of Shosho Minato's bridge staff, but also relays Minato's orders to the rest of the Azalea squadron.
It's really all linked to how many people you'll command. The -sa ranks makes it more likely that you'll either command a squadron of small vessels, or one powerful/big starship
Kotori: powerful^
Toshiro: I see...
Kotori:
Kotori: -sho ranks would defenitely qualify you to command capital vessels, and probably many of them
Toshiro: Wow.
Kotori: Shosho might be leading a battleship squadron, while Chujo would lead multiple squadrons and Taisho would pretty much direct the whole fleet.
Only one master Taisho exists, whom manages the movements of all the fleets
Toshiro: So Shoho and Chujo are like Commodores.
Kotori: somewhat
Kotori:
Kotori: you have to consider how it looks from the top
Yui: "You, send our fleets strategic pool to attack the mishhu at Arzank."
Chujo: "Shosho Minato, you will be leading the strategic pool in leading the assault on Arzank."
Shosho Minato: "Squadron 2, and 5 will be hitting the shipyards. Squadron 3 and 4 will occupy mishhu warships to leave Squadron 1 and 2 free to act. Squadron 1 will go after the battleships and cut off the head."
Taisa Hanako: "Helm, join the squadron 1's formation."
Shoi Metea: "Yes Taisa."
Kotori: Hanako is too high ranked for the job she's doing, though.
Toshiro: yeah, I noticed. Even Yaichiro even controls more people than her, though they are just faceless minions. He has control over about 20 technical sentries and engineers
Kotori:
doshii_jun: Hanako's actually just right.
doshii_jun: She's in charge of one of the more industrious and legendary gunships. Those aren't left to lower-ranked officers.
Kotori: Kotori commands with the same load of responsability and is a Taii ~_~
doshii_jun: She's a special case.
doshii_jun: Arguably, she's definitely too low-ranked to be in charge of the ship she has.
doshii_jun: I think she should be at least a Shosa, which is a sub-Lieutenant Commander, I think.
Wes Davis: Think of Taisa as the highest line rank there is -- the admiral ranks are all administrative. Shosho command groups of ships while Chujo control large organizations. A Taisho is the Chujo who heads a fleet.
Kotori: highest line rank?
Wes Davis: As in, line of battle or line of duty - that's the frontline officers commanding ships.
Kotori: but t Taisa rank, shouldn't Hanako have a squadron of her own to command?
Kotori: at^
Wes Davis: Anything higher than a Taisa will be in charge of an organization (eg squadron) rather than a ship.
Wes Davis: No, Taisa just get bigger ships, usually.
Kotori: so battleship CO's can be commanded by light gunship squadron leaders?
Wes Davis: So, a Shosa might command a Yui, but a Taisa has a Yuumi.
Wes Davis: Battleships are almost always going to be Taisa.
Wes Davis: Smaller ships will typically be lower ranked.
Kotori: so in comparison, where does this make Kotori and Hanako sit?
Kotori: or higher ranked officers whom still don't have command positions?
Kotori: take, for example, Eikan's comm officer... whom is a Shosa.
Wes Davis: Well, Hanako's rank is a little high for a gunship, but hey, it's the Sakura.
Kotori: ...which makes Doshii more or less right on the issue... just like in Star Fleet serving on the Enterprise ought to be prestigious, right?
Wes Davis: And, any CO will have officers under them.
Wes Davis: If the ship commander is a Taisa, they'll typically have Taii as bridge crew.
Wes Davis: ( one or two)
Wes Davis: If the CO is a Shosa, then Shoi, etc
Felt too good to pass up, even if this is a chat transcript. This ought to be material for a good wiki article, methinks.
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