The Kirk's Quarters Question: why so small?

[@ryanhampson673]

I disagree about having a plain cabin would erode authority. When I was in Iraq a General came to visit. The commanders of the base went to work to build a bunch of amenities and furniture for the generals room. The General arrived and was shown his room. He asked, did every soldier have quarters like this? And when told no, they made it for him he said no thank you and found another room that was normal. That to me brings way more respect.

[@whattowatchrightnow]

Eisenhower slept in what we would call an RV while serving as General of the Army and Supreme Allied Commander European Theater of Operations.

[@sdfried4877]

Exactly, an officer staying in grand accommodations doesn’t breed respect, it breeds contempt.

[@AngelCatBaby]

I agree…👍❤️🙏🏼

[@RichardHansbury]

I'm a veteran and most officers had two areas. An office and a private quarters. The latter were usually not much more than bed, kitchenette, and exercise equipment. Usually a boom box and portable size TV. Most of the time was spent trying to stay ahead of "swivel chair spread", not partying.

[@JeffreyTappan-bb8rr]

He must have been a mustang.

[@NathanSherwood114]

On the ship I work on, granted a smaller vehicle ferry, the captain's quarters is about the same size as every other quarter on the ship. The difference is that he gets his own permanent room to decorate as he pleases. While we cant since its used by a rotating roster. In a military context, the ships of the 2nd world war are much closer to what we see on the enterprise. With the captain having only a slightly larger cabin compared to the rest of the officers. The issues of crewmen walking in on the captain in his pyjamas and traffic delays during emergencies is lessened by (as is probably the case in star trek) the entire officer's quarters being in a separate area of the ship from the enlisted crew. The command officers are also separated from the engineering officers on real warships. So that, during an emergency, there's no cross traffic. The captain and senior officers are rushing to the bridge, the chief engineer and his staff are rushing to the engine room, and the enlisted are rushing to their action stations along separate tracks. If a captain is reliant on the opulence of his quarters to maintain his authority he's not a good captain.

[@superdave8248]

On a US Navy ship I served on, the Captain's Quarter's was located directly below the bridge. And the Captain could return to the bridge is a moment's notice. The Captain's quarters was split into two basic sections. A small conference room of sorts where the captain could do his meetings with his senior staff, and a living quarters which consisted of a basically a bathroom - with shower, sink, and toilet, and enough space for a bed, nightstand, and closet. I don't even recall it having room for a desk. If the Captain needed to meet with all his officers, they would just adjourne to the Officer's Mess for the meeting. On another much smaller ship I served on the captain's quarters was also directly below the bridge but was the same size as the other officer quarters. The difference was there was no conference room. It also had one other difference. It was a small ship with a small crew so the captain's quarters also was used as the ship's arsenal. He had the gun vault in his room. The executive Officer (XO) was the default medic on the ship. So he had the medical supplies in his space. They were the only two people assigned to their own room. All other officers share a quarters with at least one other person.

[@RaddSpencer]

This comment says everything I was thinking while watching this video. "We Travel by Night" seems to have confused a ship captain with royalty. Plus the TOS/movie era starships while large, weren't THAT large. If we look at internal volume, the Enterprise is comparable to a modern naval warship, and absolutely dwarfed by something like a modern aircraft carrier, and those don't exactly have luxury cabins for the captains. We also know that even the original Enterprise had a conference room, which is where Kirk would meet with his senior officers. Not his cabin. He only met people in his cabin when it was just a couple of people. The point about being close to the bridge might be valid (even here though, his quarters were close to a turbolift that would quickly get him to the bridge, I assume the issue of other crew using the turbolift wouldn't have delayed him much but I've long since forgotten the details of how turbolifts work) but everything else is just odd. I can't imagine modern British naval officers live in luxury about their ships like this video describes, which is why they had to go to Presidents, Royalty, old wooden sailing ships, and the Nautilus for their examples.

[@southtexasprepper1837]

You 'hit the nail on the head.' "We Travel by Night" is just being nauseous by pointing out things that Fans of "Star Trek" really don't care about. He's treating people like that they don't even notice and truly don't care about. Watching any movie (particularly "Star Trek") is about being entertained. Not wanting a lesson on how a décor should be or how sailors live on a "ship." I really had to force myself to watch this entire video.

[@Svensk7119]

"On the ship I work..." End it there. The second on is redundant.

[@nonplayercharacter6478]

I think he over estimates the distance too. It's only a few feet to a turbolift, which is not an elevator, you don't have to wait for the car to come back. It's probably only 15 or 20 seconds max to the bridge from Kirk's quarters.

[@ptonpc]

Modern ships, especially warships, need to pack crew around the ship's systems. Kirk's quarters are not that unusual in size, a cabin for personal care and sleep, a cabin for work. So it does fit the ship and his personality. Federation society is more egalitarian, you don't have to 'wave your willy' in front of your crew but you do need more space to do your work.

[@superdave8248]

I also got the impression that Star Fleet didn't consider itself to be a military force. Their weapons (although destructive) were intended to be defensive in nature. This is also observable in the design as the original Enterprise had several structural weak points in its design.

[@SuperGamefreak18]

@@superdave8248 The TOS era star fleet leaned more towards military compared to some eras but you aren't wrong. They did see themselves as well a superior group, and well the Connie even with its design was seen by most factions as the ship of the line, klingons and romulans effectively feared that ship, even if some of them called the ship a hunk of junk. Though I dont think anyone wouldnt say that the excelsior wasnt an obvious battleship for the setting

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

@@superdave8248 That is true, but the history of the Federation shows that the constitution class starship was being built during the start of the Klingon war so there is a very good chance that they were quickly modified for warships and were far more offensive in nature than the usual starfleet ships. Probably why they considered them to be heavy cruisers and not dedicated exploratory ships.

[@Hammerhead137]

As a ship's captain, the further away your quarters are from the bridge, the greater the likelihood of something happening to you on your way to the bridge in an emergency or in a combat situation.

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

@@Hammerhead137 "As a ship's captain, the further away your quarters are from the bridge, the greater the likelihood of something happening to you on your way to the bridge in an emergency or in a combat situation." Considering the size of the ship and the necessary interfaces between the bridge, as well as the space necessary for the captain and the command officers who worked on the bridge, it would be necessary for the command officers quarters to be 2 or 3 decks below the bridge. In a combat situation, in real life, with the technology available to fire energy weapons and target the site you want to hit, the first place you would want to damage or destroy would be the bridge. Besides keeping the command officers safe in case of a sneak attack, and giving them the option of going to the main bridge or the auxiliary bridge, it would also give them more time to be told what was happening before they got there so they could start issuing necessary commands immediately when they stepped onto the bridge. After all, the Romulans first and then the Klingons proved they had cloaking devices that could allow them to sneak up on the ship and get into an advantageous firing position before they decloaked and opened fire.

[@captainjason1157]

Definitely a British take on officers. Star Trek was a U.S. show. The U.S. rejected the idea of "Authority through pretense." Officers in the U.S. cannot purchase a commission at the highest rank their fortune will allow. They have a series of accomplishments they must achieve before they are admitted to OCS. Then they have to succeed in OCS to receive their commission. That commission is at the lowest officer rank. Each subsequent promotion is earned. No need to project magnificence to achieve authority. Every crewman on the Enterprise knew that Kirk's rank and authority was earned just like the rank they wore. Earned.

[@TrentonBennett]

Well said and I completely agree. US military officers in terms of rank are different compared to others on the other side of the pond. I'm not sure if anyone on the other side of the pond can buy their rank or not. Yeah even in Star Trek, Kirk was the youngest officer to get to Captain so fast. It was because he was a bit like Picard. Although Kirk took a lot more risks than Picard. Kirk took risks to get noticed. His rank was earned not "bought" or bribed his way up to Captain. I know books are NOT cannon but a lot of the books explain how Kirk rose up through the ranks so fast.

[@randomobserver8168]

OK, but the purchase system was originally instituted as a way to get around pure political appointments, a reform in its time, when plainly and catastrophically outmoded it lingered basically as the pension system, and then was phased out in Victorian times and, of course, never existed in the Royal Navy, which is the more apt analogy for Star Trek. In the Royal Navy, every officer started as midshipman, the required training, experience and book learning for lieutenant was rigourous and the exam demanding, and after that one got promoted by performance.

[@1ricollins]

General Ulysses S. Grant (a hero of Kirk's) famously wore the uniform of a private, with general's epaulettes stitched on. His opponents often had way more ornate uniforms. He won.

[@RichardHansbury]

I don't know about these histories, I've found much of it hagiography, meaning glorified bull$hit propaganda. I do know that most all of the officers I served under were highly dedicated and educated. Discipline was for them as much as us. If we didn't fill our assignments it reflected badly on our lieutenant because the assignments didn't get completed adequately. Not because we were a bunch of grunts thoughtlessly going through the motions.

[@bentonmarcum8924]

Guys British alright anyone else noticed he pronounced lieutenant leftenant.?

[@TheAttercop]

In ST 2 he was a visiting Admiral; unless he had displaced Spock in 18th-century sail style (unlikely since we saw the decor in Spock's cabin) it's very possible Kirk was in a cabin designated for visiting VIPs/Flag Officers. Immediate bridge access would therefore be less neccessary.

[@zomfragger]

There is a naval tradition dating back the era of sail ships where a visiting Admiral would automatically be assigned the captains quarter's unless equivalent accommodations where available. My guess given the Enterprise being the flagship of the fleet Spock retained his original quarters and kept Kirk's open for when Kirk or another Admiral came thru.

[@Phillyfan45]

In The Motion Picture, he was already an Admiral. Decker was the captain.

[@kmbbmj5857]

Most likely he would have been in Flag quarters, specifically designed for Flag purposes, rather than Captain's quarters, which serve a different purpose.

[@allangibson8494]

WW2 ships captains typically had two cabins - a stateroom used for receptions and official business and a day cabin next to the bridge used when the ship was underway. The stateroom was well away from the bridge and typically on the main deck.

[@lavern007]

My destroyer had a Commodore state room next to the cops import cabin. The only real time it was used was when they put four female. Midshipmen for their fourth year cruise.

[@Stuff_And_Things]

What do you mean "small"? He's got a bedroom with desk, head and small kitchen, a full dining room, a full bar, several workshops for whatever tinkering he's in a mood for, a full staff compliment to cater to his whims, a computer with almost as much power as a first gen smart phone, an amazing call plan that allows him to talk to almost anyone in this quadrant of the galaxy, the medicine chest is walk-in and staffed... You call that small?

[@jefferypardue7509]

You're describing the star trek strange new world's version of Pike's Captain's cabin.

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

This is talking about the original series.

[@Stuff_And_Things]

@@jefferypardue7509 I'm describing Kirk...Captain of the Enterprise. Every Starship captain lives in a mansion full of waitstaff, cooks, doctors, a full bar, a selection of shuttles for excursions...Need I go on? ;)

[@brynking2527]

agreed, that rooms just for a bed and private desk. and to keep his safe for secret orders.

[@wrayday7149]

Well the problem is.... it's shown in all the series that all the crew had those sized rooms. Spock had a large room for his instruments, paintings, desk ect. The Motion Picture is a bad example because Kirk came on as temporary command so he is probably in a diplomats quarters.... Decker was the Captain. If you want to talk about disrespect.... what would it look like to the crew if every time an Admiral came on board they just threw the captain out of his room?

[@renpytom]

One interesting thing to think about is that the people who filmed Star Trek: The Original Series were in intimate contact with the WWII generation, if not members of it. The size and layout of Kirk's cabin on TOS reminds me of captain's at-sea cabins from WWII ships - USS New Jersey has an at-sea cabin on the O4 deck with the cabin closer to the bridge, and the office a bit further away. (IIRC, some instruments have repeaters in the cabin so the captain can bring himself up to speed as he dresses.) The captain had a second cabin lower down that was used on the O-1 level that's used for entertaining, amlost the size of the one Pike uses in Strange New Worlds, though I think that's more of a coincidence.

[@christheghostwriter]

Kirk's crew was also double the size of Pike's. Some fans have come up with the idea that the ship was modified between Pike and Kirk to make room for the much larger crew contingent

[@Yandarval]

I was going to post along those lines. The OG 1701 and the refit are supposed to be the same length as the US carriers of the time. Forrestal and Nimitz classes. So the Captains quarter are likely a similar size to the carriers. The ships Captain will likely have a turbolift car sent to the nearest turbolift to the Captains quarters when he is down there. For his use only. We know from various tech manuals that cars are kept in parking areas throughout the ship. So one for the Captains use next to the nearest turboshaft. Its even possible that a dedicated car may follow the Captain around the ship.

[@kevinmoore2929]

There's one example of the junior officers' quarters on ST:V . In a scene where Tuvok and Janeway where they were in a memory when Tuvok was serving under Sulu. Junior officers had a six man room with bunks, lockers and a communal table. This is what you'd see in most WW II movies that showed sleeping areas. The senior enlisted would have something much like this also while the junior enlisted would be almost stacked on top of each other.

[@napasada]

USS Excelsior NCC 2000. Great ship!

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

@@kevinmoore2929 And they did not have their own bunks. They practiced what is called hot bunking where several crew members used the same bunk throughout the day and night. Whoever was off duty and scheduled to sleep used the bunk so there might be three or four people using the same bunk each day. I would believe that personal hygiene was considered to be of paramount importance since one crew member would be rolling out of a bunk so the next crew member could use it..

[@dcb_75]

In terms of the size of the cabin, I think there is a very Trek reason - no ego. Humanity was supposed to have grown by then so Kirk doesn't need a large cabin to show off he rank and all that. It isn't the size of the room that people respect, it is who occupies it. That is Kirk's private area, he has the rest of the ship to use for anything else.

[@randomobserver8168]

There is no evidence on screen that humans had changed so fundamentally in their qualities, nor any human character on Star Trek whose equivalent could not have easily been seen in the 20th century. Arguably, a failure of writers to live up to that particular Roddenberry concept.

[@dcb_75]

@@randomobserver8168 maybe but TOS and TNG tried to show it. Yeah later shows didn't live up to it, especially DS9 and the Kurtzman crap but they tried to show a better humanity through the franchise where ego wasn't as big a factor. I mean Picard even said the accumulation of wealth is no longer the driving factor - wealth equals status so if you don't care about wealth, then you don't push status and need the large cabin.

[@SageKasuto]

And yet, Kirk's ego is the biggest in the franchise!

[@dcb_75]

@@SageKasuto only when it came to women 😂

[@katherineberger6329]

@@dcb_75 Pike's quarters are something Anson Mount worked out with the producers - his justification is that he believed that Captain Pike, knowing when and how he was fated to die, wanted quarters that were a space he could invite others into - something of an intersection between his personal space and his self-perceived role as the paterfamilias of the Enterprise crew.

[@tabachivq]

I mentioned this video to my GF who said: Plus, when you're a legendary Starfleet Captain, you really don't need a flashy personal quarters or a personal holodeck to demonstrate power and prestige. The whole ship is that for you. Any room you're in is pretty much yours...!

[@SuppressedOfficial]

Yeah, I like that take. "This is my room, captain!" "Yeah, but this is my ship."

[@Scripture-Man]

She gets it.

[@matthewbarabas3052]

while that may be true, theres probably some rules and regulations that states that the captain cant just enter any room, especially quarters, without permission. its his ship, but he still has to respect the crew.

[@shep9231]

She's not wrong...

[@timmy-the-ute2725]

I was on a Spruance class destroyer in the Navy. Captain's quarters was 2 decks from the bridge. He had a small ready room off the bridge he could retreat to also.

[@indetigersscifireview4360]

I served on a Knox class frigate. The Captain's quarters were on deck below the bridge. We had our chart room just behind the bridge where, if he wanted too, the Captain could have a cot but that's about it.

[@RichardHansbury]

That's the way it was in the Coast Guard. Most of the small vessels used hot-swap bunking. The C.O. and X.O. shared the cabin off watch and had a tiny room with a cot for naps. About the middle of the Eight to Midnight or Midnight to Four duty we got lunch break where half the watch got to eat and nap back to back conditions permitting. Even back in the 1970s I knew that was what Shatner was aiming for. The Captain that knows his departments and petty officers like an orchestra and a conductor, not a remote figure barking orders.

[@falconwind00]

On the USS Midway, the executive quarters are huge, with a full size desk, couches, coffee table, a queen size bed with wardrobes, and a private bathroom. Imagine one of the larger and more expensive cabins on a cruise ship minus a balcony. In contrast, the CO’s cabin on a Virginia-class submarine is the size of a closet and the bunk and table flip down out of the wall.

[@CaptainCaveman1170]

On the carrier I served on, CV-64 Constellation, the COs quarters were basically a hotel suite, quite luxurious in space but still spartan (nothing too "fancy"). However, one day walking through officer country the door to the Air Boss's quarters was open and there was a wooden four-poster king size bed in there. Seeing that a carrier exists FOR the air wing, it can be argued that the CO of the wing was actually more important than the Skipper himself. Now, I wouldn't argue that, but it can be argued!

[@johns8364]

You were looking at the in-port cabin. It is designed so that the Captain can host visitors while in-port, so it's a little more impressive. Kirk's cabin looks like an at-sea cabin which is smaller and more utilitarian, but it provides easy access to the bridge. I'm pretty sure Midway would have had both.

[@CaptainCaveman1170]

@@johns8364 An in-port cabin make sense for a Navy ship that spends a great deal of time moored but in my opinion it makes much less sense on a ship designed for exploration, and on a "five year mission". I think we can assume Kirk had a nice office/ready room of some type but anything more elaborate seems unlikely to me. There seems to have been other provisions for hosting dignitaries.

[@falconwind00]

@@johns8364 I’m not an expert, so you may very well be correct. There’s a video of it on YT. Looking at it now, I now believe it’s actually the flag officer’s quarters. The thing that doesn’t quite line up with your assertion, in my opinion, is the very large bedroom, and the dedicated radio room just past the head. Neither are necessary for hosting guests, but would be useful for an admiral.

[@johns8364]

@@falconwind00 yep. If an Admiral comes aboard, they would use the in-port cabin. That's another reason for the captain to have multiple cabins. Battleship NJ has a few videos comparing them. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hXTHeqeIh6-KnrM

[@barkingmonkee]

Absurdity: Someone using a late 18th century sailing ship from societies that used class and wealth to establish heirarchy as a template for what a 23rd century spaceship's layout in a meritocratic system should look like. A better question than why Kirk's quarters are so small is why are subsequent Federation captains (and crews) quarters so vast.

[@katherineberger6329]

Anson Mount explains the size of Pike's quarters as the idea that every captain on a deep-space mission, because of the importance of the captain's position, gets one unusual "ask" granted (as long as it's not too out-there). Pike's for the relaunched post-refit Enterprise was to be given a cabin that he could use as a crew gathering space. My hunch is that Pike, who then knew when and how he would become severely, permanently disabled, wanted to be able to leave behind those memories in his crew mates, so he wouldn't be forgotten.

[@barkingmonkee]

@@katherineberger6329 Fair enough, and I guess he had to rationalize it somehow, but there would seem to be at least two problems with this: 1: He's not the only crewmember with a ginormous room, we''ve seen both the Doctor's quarters and Singh's space, and they both have rooms that are larger than any bedroom I've had in my life. 2: We`ve seen the captains quarters on the Enterprise at a later date during TOS and they are much more compact.

[@Eisen_Jaeger]

Pike's quarters always seemed wrong to me...

[@Dennis-vh8tz]

The internal volume the Enterprise D was vast, so there was plenty of room for large quarters; furthermore, the ship was designed to spend years far from Federation space with the intent that the crew could travel with their families. Probably because the planned mission called for experienced crew, who would be older and mostly have families, not kids straight out of the academy. Such crew would either refuse or become demoralized if separated from their families for many years without any home leave so the ship was made larger to accommodate the long term psychological and emmotional needs and comfort of the crew.

[@thomasheyart7033]

Most larger ships in the navy, the captain has several cabins. The ship I was on, they actually had 4 different cabins. The 2as the In port, formal cabin, the At Sea cabin, and then the 2 bridge cabins, one off the main bridge and one off the auxiliary bridge. It's possible the cabin seen in TOS was his auxiliary bridge cabin

[@brentoutashape9141]

I worked as a deckhand, and crew quarters were below the waterline, even for the Captain. His quarters were nice, but not much nicer than ours, and there was always the 1st or second mate in charge, so unless there was an immediate emergency, like an iceberg (which happened), we didn't bother him. The Captain had the final say, but he was still crew. Space is everything on a ship, and probably more so in outer space. Also, the opulence of Louis XIV is why Louis XVI "lost his head."

[@raven4k998]

which happened😱😱

[@brentoutashape9141]

@ yes, the second mate was on the bridge, as it was mid-day, 3 eight-hour shifts. We stuck a glacial rock, which the ship got hung up on. The tide started to go out, we developed a port side list, took on water and began to sink. We were able to evacuate everyone safely with the help of the coast guard, Forrest rangers, and a lot of private citizens on pleasure boats.

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

The constitution class starship had a crew of around 400 or more people. Most of which lived in the saucer section. The warp core took up a very large part of the engineering section and along with cargo storage, workshops, shuttle bay and shuttle maintenance, there was very little room for crew quarters in the engineering section. Only the captain and several of the command crew had quarters the size of the captains cabin and junior officers had to share similar sized cabins. And the regular crew had more than six people using the same cabin and had to do what they called HOT BUNKING where they shared a bunk with multiple other crew members and only got to sleep in the bunk when it was their turn. The captain's cabin on a constitution class starship was considered to be a luxury at the time. And it was deep enough inside the ship to offer protection in case of an unexpected attack or accident and yet close enough to get to the bridge in just a minute or so. And I am certain that the competency of the captain earned them far more respect than how they dressed when off duty.

[@draygosmith]

Now I can't help but picture Kirk rushing up to the bridge during a midnight red alert, dressed like Arthur Dent.

[@kitsunisan]

As long as the frood remembered his towel, it would be alright.

[@phydeux]

Complete with an aspirin and some pocket fluff in his robe.

[@benre]

I never realized that the room in the motion picture is supposed to be kirks cabin haha...I always thought its some kind of briefing room!

[@qdllc]

It was a lounge for the bridge. Making it a cabin seems contrary as it’s too exposed.

[@benre]

@@qdllc I meant the smaller one with the transparent doors

[@princecharon]

I didn't really think it was his quarters either, but mainly, I thought that the red area was a large couch, not a bed.

[@garywells751]

Kirk says "...Mr Decker - I would like to see you in my quarters..." or similar after the wormhole incident.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Same, same as all of you. Some kind of off-bridge meeting room or private cabin, even if it wasn't called a ready room.

[@PenneySounds]

It's a very outdated idea to suggest that the captain living in luxury compared to the crew would earn him their respect. In reality it would earn resentment.

[@colinmontgomery1956]

​@@mac11380, spot on.

[@napasada]

Royal Navy back in the days of Lord Horatio Nelson. All that Imperial splendour!

[@oldman9642]

Not true in a military organization, which the Federation was in reality. As a veteran, the only time when this was different, as far as I am aware, is in submarines, where space is at premium, and under combat conditions. Even then there is a difference just not as extreme. The larger/more “elegant” the higher the rank and thus more deserving of respect.

[@PenneySounds]

@@oldman9642 "Starfleet is not a military organization, its purpose is exploration." -Jean-Luc Picard Like I said, that's a very outdated attitude that wouldn't exist in Starfleet.

[@reserva120]

That’s so very stupid- you never served have you ??

[@claudemckenzie2398]

I purposely take the equipment with the most hours on it, as a landscaper foreman. I want my guys under me to have the best equipment. That's also why Kirk took smaller quarters.

[@JohnMinehan-lx9ts]

Also, Kirk was a bachelor who did not know (at that time that he had kids). He would not need a lot od space for pictures and mementoes from the family.

[@reganpylman5491]

Having served on one of the smallest ships in the turn-of-the-century Navy (crew of 76), and one of the largest (crew of about 5,000), I can say that the Captain's cabin on a small ship (such as the TOS Enterprise is implied to be) would not be especially large. On USS Papago (ATF-160), while the skipper's cabin was larger than that of the other officers, and private instead of shared, I could still touch both walls with my arms outstretched. Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, CVN-72, the Captain actually had two cabins. One was his sea cabin, which was directly aft of the bridge, and was a tiny little room in which he slept while the ship was at sea, so as to be easily available in case of emergency. This would be equivalent to Picard's ready room, and was actually probably smaller than the set for that space. The second was his in-port cabin, which was large and magnificent, in keeping with the diplomatic grandeur of someone who might be representing the United States of America in any port call. We don't see that sort of cabin in Star Trek, though at least Picard's quarters aboard the D were larger, a four-bay room instead of the two-bay Kirk had. Oh, as for the officer thing... Roddenberry's original vision was for the crew to be made up of officers, with no enlisted. Astronauts were all highly educated, and all of them were officers, so Roddenberry figured that this trend would carry forward into Starfleet. (As an aside, we don't have aristocracy and gentry per se in America; our officers are required to be college educated, which approached the same sort of class divide up until about the 1970s). Some people have interpreted the crewmembers who wore coveralls in TOS as being enlisted, but that wasn't actually the original intent.

[@DrGeorgePBurdell-USN-1701]

Former USN Officer here. This, this is the answer, both historically and Trek "in-world".

[@Dennis-vh8tz]

The TOS Enterprise was not a small ship. It was intended to be cruiser sized, and thus one of the largest ships in a fleet with few, if any, battleships. Published dimensions for the TOS Enterprise put it at 289m (950 foot) long, which would make it significantly larger than any WWII cruiser, and about the midway between the size of an Iowa-class battleship and Nimitz-class carrier, yet with a much smaller crew.

[@daveb1930]

Hey Mr Night, really enjoying your content, but I've been struggling a little with the audio of your narration recently, to the point where closed captions have been needed. Sounds very muffled. Visuals are great, though!

[@numberyellow]

I've noted this too... let's hope he notices this time.

[@SeventhSwell]

Yeah, I had to turn it up and it still sounded muffled. I hope it gets better, they're really good videos otherwise.

[@entropy11]

Sounds a little more underwater than usual

[@oldtimefarmboy617]

Sounded okay to me. Even electronics wear out over time so it may be the speakers or, if someone else has access to your computer, they may have changed your settings.

[@numberyellow]

@@oldtimefarmboy617 can't speak for the others, but given multiple people are reporting the same issue, and everything OTHER than his videos sounds just fine, that kinda indicates the problem is on his end.

[@radishdalek]

My head canon is that there was a large cabin for the captain, but Kirk rejected it in favour of the smaller as he did not want to be elevated above his crewmen. Perhaps the larger cabin was instead turned into a crew social room. Alternatively the larger cabin was deemed unsuitable as the glow from the Bussard collectors kept him awake

[@TheMoneypresident]

He went to use whichever hot guest was on board.

[@goaway152]

@@TheMoneypresident incel?

[@entropy11]

We have Pike's cabin in SNW (with plenty of room for entertaining) which Kirk probably repurposed into a conference room or such.

[@ryancox4498]

I completely agree. To "yes, and" you a bit, I like to think the entirety of B Deck is comprised of two extravagant cabins wrapping around the front and sides, with a private dining room in the back. These are technically built to be the Captain's and XO's cabins and dining room, but more so out of Naval tradition than anything else. Since that kind of lording over of the crew is pretty distasteful to Federation ideals it has become customary, almost an unwritten rule, for Captains and XOs to choose to forego those cabins in favor of senior officers staterooms in the main habitation area, where they can mingle with the crew a bit. As such, the back is repurposed as an officer's lounge (but can easily be refurnished as a dining area for important functions like we see in ST:6), and the two cabins are reserved as VIP guest quarters (which lines up nicely with the Romulan Commander being taken to Deck 2 at the end of TOS: "The Enterprise Incident").

[@chandlerwhite8302]

Those cabins would probably be reserved for visiting flag officers (Admirals) or VIP diplomats.

[@GartheKnightReturns]

I always thought that area below the back of the Enterprise bridge was rear observation lounge as seen TMP. But by the time of the Enterprise-A it had be reworked into the (I know it was a redress of TNG's Officer's Conference/briefing room.) Officer's mess hall as seen in The Undiscovered Country dinner scene. Never thought of it as Kirk's quarters.

[@kerryblanchard9425]

That mess hall's not at the rear of the bridge, as seen when it gets blown the hell out by Chang's final torpedo strike.

[@GartheKnightReturns]

@@kerryblanchard9425 Not to argue with you, but that scene never made sense. Because the dinner scene it’s shown that there’s stars outside through the windows, yet when the Enterprise takes the torpedo hit on the saucer section it’s an inner area where no windows would be. It’s a minor nitpick. Which is why I always assumed the officers’ mess was on the back of the lower bridge area where those curved windows would be.

[@SchardtCinematic]

The mess hall in Star Trek 6 was a redress of 10 Forward on the Enterprise-D

[@shop99er]

In the US Navy, ships' Captains generally have an in-port cabin that is some distance from the Bridge. They also have what is referred to as the Sea Cabin, where they live while underway. This secondary cabin is very close to the Bridge.

[@douglasnieblas74]

In the original pilot The Cage. Captain Pike’s quarters were obviously located on the A/B deck blister atop the saucer. You can tell by the shape of the wall and window by his bunk. That would place him very close to the bridge. By the time of the original series Kirk’s quarters were windowless and claustrophobic by comparison.

[@patrickstewart3446]

When I was in the Navy, I had to enter the Captain’s Cabin a few times to wake him up. It basically opened directly into his sleeping area (actually just a single room smaller than Kirk’s cabins). It’s really not that big of an issue. (Though his cabin was one level below the bridge).

[@michaelkovacic2608]

May I ask what rank and position you occupied that gave you direct access to the CO?

[@DrGeorgePBurdell-USN-1701]

​@@michaelkovacic2608probably Messenger of the Watch, or something similar.

[@midriffzero]

​@@michaelkovacic2608 He could have been any rank, If an officer orders you to go wake the captain, you go wake the captain. Either that officer was given orders to wake him for something (like arriving at port) or its an emergency and the captain is needed on the bridge.

[@yewtoob2007]

Three of four sister ships disappearing mysteriously strongly suggests a fatal design flaw shared by all the ships of that class.

[@fuzzwork]

especially since the only one that didn't disappear was also the only one that was extensively rebuilt

[@falconwind00]

They were built as colliers for transporting coal but all three that disappeared were carrying heavier metallic ore, something they were not designed to do and poorly suited for.

[@JordonBeal]

@@falconwind00This. Nothing mysterious about it.

[@numberyellow]

The reasons are simple.. typically, space on a starship is at a premium...as in actual naval vessels. Check out the captain's cabin on an aircraft carrier, or a submarine. Kirk's quarters are the same size as other officers.. anyone not an officer would have been in shared bunk rooms....because, again, space on a starship is at a premium. It's following real-life examples. Only in Next Gen do you see really large quarters for senior officers, and smaller individual quarters for junior officers, and enlisted....because the Galaxy class was a massive ship, with space to spare.

[@richardcutts196]

That's one problem I have with all the post TOS Star Trek's, except for Enterprise, the quarters are too big and so are the corridors. Also they have too many things hidden by beauty covers, you need to be able to see what's broken if you're going to fix it quickly.

[@michaelmartin9022]

The TOS Enterprise is comparable to a large modern aircraft carrier, but the crew of one of those is in the thousands. Even TOS-era connies have plenty of crew space! Maybe not personal cabins, but cabins shared between two, with a seperate bunk for each.

[@MrBottlecapBill]

@@michaelmartin9022 Even with a larger ship........it's still wasted space. I mean you sleep there, have a meal maybe catch up on some paperwork. The rec areas are where you spend most of your free time.

[@IntergalacticDustBunny]

​@@richardcutts196 I just look at the interiors of the Galaxy class as a reflection of the way the Federation was thinking at the time she was built. There were no Borg or Dominion yet, peace had been established with the Klingons decades ago, The Romulans had been quiet for decades as well. The next biggest threat was the Cardassians, who were not a technological match for the Federation, nor were the Talarians. And truces had been established with them. So the Federation probably believed that large scale conflicts were a thing of the past, because there was nobody that could realistically threaten them. Starfleet believed that a permanent golden age of exploration was upon them. So why not build ships that had the amenities of a Starbase, why not put schools, promenades, yoga studios and Barber shops in them? Why not let children live on them? This was the federation getting a little too high on it's own greatness.

[@noppornwongrassamee8941]

The Enterprise D also carried families remember. I imagine the Officer's palatial quarters were standard for nuclear families. But since every officer was single, they got entire family sized quarters to themselves. Except for Crusher until Wesley moved out of course.

[@itzalion]

What a perfectly British analysis.

[@cowpercoles1194]

The captain's cabin would be on deck five to keep it away from the surface edge of the hull. By being more centered in the saucer section, it protects him from weapons fire, and being swept out into space due to a hull breach.

[@Dracounguis]

The music in this video is way too loud when compared to the dialogue.

[@AtomicAgePictures]

In tos Kirk's cabin IS among the largest cabins available to crew on the ship. In most cases lower ranked officers would be sharing a cabin of that size with one or two additional officers. How Lieutenant Uhura ended up with a cabin that size to herself is something of a question. However typically only upper ranked officers would have that cabin to themselves. Enlisted crew would likely be in something more like a bunk room that had 5 or 10 people all in one space.

[@edwardmeer95]

I love someone with no military experience trying to say what would be happening

[@MrSheckstr]

And add onto that a healthy dose of class envy into the equation…. I can dispel their misconception by relating the Three weeks my squad had to share our barracks room with out company first SGT while on deployment in Grafenwoehr Germany…. Barracks building was a long narrow building with a single load bearing wall running down the middle of the building , gaps in the wall allowed furnaces to be installed to send heat into both rooms…. The first night there we has simple canvas cots but the from day two we dragged in metal framed bunks and mattresses (still had to sleep in our field sleeping bags , we were never issued bedding) …. By our own volition no one wanted to bunk with 1st Sgt…. And we also moved the rest of the bunks to the far end of the room, creating a meeting area between us and Top using the cots as benches …. Might as well be that geek that gets stuck riding next to teacher on a field trip….

[@edwardmeer95]

@@MrSheckstr I'm sure you never heard of the Blue Deck or Blue Floor.

[@JamesA1102]

Tell me you don’t understand Star Trek without saying you don’t understand Star Trek.

[@r0bw00d]

A great leader doesn't need to brag. Kirk viewed himself as an equal to his crew, hence why he went on so many away missions: he showed that he was willing to place himself in the same dangers as those he ordered into them.

[@dennissmith6783]

i agree Kirk didnt care about stuff like that.

[@SiXiam]

@@dennissmith6783 Yes Kirk I'm sure purposely didn't want anything big.

[@mahatmarandy5977]

If you’ve ever been on an actual war ship, or even a working freighter, The captains quarters are usually not particularly large. They usually fulfill a dual function as sleeping quarters and as an office. He would not be entertaining guests very often, and if and when he did, the wardroom would be a better place for that. Generally speaking a captain would have two or three rooms to himself. The other senior officers Would have one room per person, usually considerably smaller than the captains quarters. Junior officers would usually be two or four to a room using bunkbeds. Enlisted crew would sleep in room consisting of nothing but bunkbeds. There is a concept in the American military called RHIP, “Rank Has It’s Privileges,” But these privileges are seldom carried to the point of ostentatiousness. That would be seen as an abuse of power, and well, most people would agree that the captain of a ship does need more privacy and space than a barnacle scraper third class, and also agree that the captain does not need excessive space. As an example of this, in the 2004 Christmas Indian ocean earthquake, the US dispatched several aircraft carriers to aid in rescue and supply efforts. The Nimitz class aircraft carriers we sent were the largest warships in the world at that time and yet Former Presidents, George Bush,Bush the first and Bill Clinton had to share a cabin. And two of the officers had to give up that cabin and bunk with the crew to make room for them. There are no VIP quarters on a war ship. So despite how huge an aircraft carrier is, and how massive its crew is, there’s still was not enough space to give two former presidents their own private rooms. When the original Star Trek was on the air, it was only 20 years after the end of World War II, and it was during the Vietnam War. There were literally millions of Americans, who knew how warships worked and exactly what privileges rank brought. So giving a huge cabin would have simply been unbelievable to most of the audience. Of course there’s budgetary concerns as well as you pointed out, but they were trying to get across the concept of a military vessel in space and needed to remain fairly grounded in order to get that idea across to the audience. Hence the small cabin, which by the way appears to be probably double the size of a standard non-officer cabin. Never see one of those so it’s not sure, but the design implies that it’s two rooms with a wall cut out between them.

[@qdllc]

Also consider that lower decks are more shielded. Sick bay is basically in the middle deck of the saucer section.

[@Kreylem1]

Kirks Quarters are more like those on a submarine where his cabin is his office. I always thought that in the Cage Pikes Quarters were immediately below the bridge and that was why the module was bigger and they lost that space when the bridge was changed. So Kirk had to go in a cabin on a lower deck

[@kenwynn3871]

The show that seems to equalise officer's cabins is DS9, which is ironic considering the people who built the station, but you could argue there's a huge surplus of officer grade cabins so they had a wide choice. Voyager mostly does very well showing a more equitable cabin design. Kirk era stuff comes down to budget mostly. Aside from the ready room its TNG that does the worst in this respect, the D is enormous everyone should get a window and a huge suite yet we see senior officers and department heads like Worf and Geordi (chief engineer!) with tiny one or two room inside cabins which is nonesense. The most realistic and logical in universe design would be a standard cabin module then additional rooms tacked on to it depending on your rank and position (like an office, dining, briefing room, etc.)

[@tyranusfan]

I'd argue that the turbolifts on the Enterprise are a great deal faster than walking/climbing ladders like on a naval vessel. Plus, we saw several times that more than one lift car use the same tubes. There are several episodes where a lift would arrive, depositing the captain and several crew on the bridge, followed seconds later by a second car which deposited other main characters.

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

Some excellent points raised and the revised TMP was clearly meant to be! As for TOS, given how readily shirtless Kirk strode through the corridor in purple slippers (in The Corbomite Manoeuvre) I always assumed he'd be happy with an "equal room" policy.

[@mr.k4918]

no no see everyone else had a bunk bed. remember how crowded the ship was. people probly slept in shifts. so you never saw your 'roomate' the captain didnt share.

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

@@mr.k4918 It would have been great if we'd seen some bunks in TOS

[@robertelder164]

@@mr.k4918 No, everyone had a cabin, in some places double There are blueprints

[@tarascholfield5887]

@@MatthewCaunsfield in star trek 6 we see the bunks on the enterprise when she gets hit from Kronos 1 and i think some of the bunks on Sulu's Excelsior. And on enterprise when looking for the magnetic boots they show the bunk beds. i always thought it was sad we didn't get to see the bunks in tos too but $; maybe in the animated series; check there.

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

@@robertelder164 According to Franz Joseph's deck plans that is correct. However, those are not canon to the show and feature some very odd design choices in places!

[@ADHJkvsNgsMBbTQe]

Star Fleet is a meritocracy. Kirk commanded respect without need for pretense. Speaking of merit, great video. Please keep up the great work!

[@Shipwright1918]

One big issue with a great cabin is they tend to get shot to pieces with alarming regularity if the enemy can possibly help it, as it's a weakness in the structure of the ship and a perfect place to land devastating raking shots through the length and breadth of the ship. Same issue here, even with shields/blast doors all it would take is one lucky shot angled upwards to blow the bridge clean off the top of the saucer section. One thing this essay fails to take into account is the character of the captains of the Nautilus and the Enterprise with respect to their design. Captain Nemo, or more properly Prince Dakkar, built the Nautilus as essentially his private yacht with a side of vengeance machine so it's little wonder so much of it was devoted to his use and his lordly ways. The Enterprise was not Jim Kirk's yacht. She was the property of the UFP and Kirk was assigned to her much like a present day naval officer is assigned to a warship. Furthermore Jim Kirk did not lead by asserting his authority like a lord or being showy with his digs. He led through charisma and charm, and being one sneaky and clever S.O.B. when all that failed him. Even Pike in his latest iteration with decidedly luxurious quarters, still invited his crew in for waffles during morning briefings as he loved to cook and was good at it. Jammies hell, if your skipper is making you waffles to die for, he's gone a pretty long way to gaining some respect instead of losing any.

[@rwill156]

The taking shots bit reminds me of how someone was saying as a military vessel they would not have the sliding doors. As they take up too much space and add weight and such, and thus would only have something like curtains over doorways. I thought that would be a good way to have a single hull breach decompress a large section of the ship and loose a good part of the crew.

[@Shipwright1918]

Any door is better than curtains, provided it's airtight. If I recall there was a Voyager episode where transverse bulkheads based on maritime use were reintroduced to limit the effects of a hull breach to small compartments, but as the timeline was reset these changes weren't kept. Forcefields can run out of power, but you bang an airtight door shut it's going to stay shut regardless if you have any power, can even be operated manually in an emergency.

[@lancebaylis3169]

In Star Trek The Animated Series, a second door was added to what is visually still the bridge from TOS. While the creator said they intended this to be an extra turbolift (something incorporated into the Motion Picture refit), I'd long theorized this door instead goes to a small airlock off the bridge with access to bathroom facilities and perhaps an office/mini-quarters for Kirk. Indeed, Kirk is the only person we ever see enter the bridge through this door in the cartoon. The designers of Discovery and Strange New Worlds also retroactively added an office/ready room for Captain Pike off to the side of the original Enterprise bridge, which is logical. It should have been there all along. Speaking of Pike, some have suggested his radically different Captain's Quarters in the original The Cage pilot episode were some kind of secondary Quarters located on a deck closer to the bridge, but in practice we still see him going to them via the Turbolift, so whether it's one deck down from the bridge or 5 decks down it doesn't really solve the problem of him being away from the command centre in an emergency.

[@christheghostwriter]

fans are retconning the much larger Captain's quarters in Strange New Worlds by noting that Pike had a crew of 200+, while Kirk had double that. So, the retcon goes that the ship was modified between Pike and Kirk to make room for so many new crewmembers

[@tvdan1043]

Realizing that SNW is itself a retcon, it's worth noting that in "The Cage", Pike's quarters are as small as TOS Kirk's quarters. Owing to both the budget of the original show and the space available at Desilu.

[@zombieshoot4318]

@@tvdan1043 Plus it was the same ship. So Kirk got Pike's quarters when he took command.

[@thecaptain6730]

D. C. Fontana in her novel “Vulcan’s Glory” mentioned that Captain Pike could have had larger quarters, but he refused due to his humility (I'll check the exact quotation from the novel soon, but it was something to that effect), so he took quarters the same size as the rest of the officers.

[@thethirdchimpanzee]

Interesting, because the Enterprise in Strange New World is actually LARGER than the TOS Enterprise.

[@Owen-mt4si]

The great cabin you propose sounds right, in case of ships like Victory most of the large glass windows area would be like the TNG conference room / officers mess. The side wings on classic tall ships are fancy outhouses and off to sides are actual bunking cabins which are not a shared space if your captain, and shared if your lower ranking.

[@CaptainSeato]

Kirk's cabin was where he slept (or slept around in, as the case may be). ...but the bridge is where he LIVED.

[@promacpic]

For a starship, Kirk’s quarters are pretty large. All he needs is a bed, a comfortable chair, a desk & chair, a cloths & linen cabinet & a bathroom. If you really think about it, it’s much like a bedroom with en-suite in a home. All you do is sleep, poop, pee, shower & get dressed there in privacy.

[@isidroramos1073]

I read somewhere, I wish I remembered where, that actually the captain in a big ship (battleships, battlecruisers and aircraft carriers) had THREE cabins: the 'emergency' one (small, just a bed and a head next to the bridge), the 'ordinary' one (which wasn't specially big but usually he was the only man aboard with a private cabin all for himself), and the... shall we say 'magnificent' one, meant to be used when receiving important guests and giving feasts in a semi-diplomatic role (and with that came a private pantry, a separate kitchen, etc).

[@matthewbarabas3052]

so, essentially, the ready room, the usual captains quarters, and the captains VIP room.

[@isidroramos1073]

@@matthewbarabas3052 Yes

[@midriffzero]

They are the In-port Cabin which was a small apartment with space to entertain VIP Guests that may visit , And two at sea Cabins one by the primary bridge and one by the secondary bridge which are basically the size of a closet with a twin sized bed and very small desk.

[@DeconvertedMan]

Answers to questions I never asked but I welcome the answers. :D well done!

[@brianstiles1701]

One theory making the rounds in light of Pike's Enterprise quarters being much more comfortable, is that Jim is just kind of Spartan in his Starfleet captaincy, and has elected to occupy normal officer's quarters.

[@prion42]

Also worth noting they run with a much smaller crew, so they have the space.

[@QalOrt]

Wonderful video! I thought about how on the SSV-2 Normandy from Mass Effect, Commander Shepard's cabin has a whole deck devoted to it and it is massive and the projection of power and magnificence.

[@dataportdoll]

There's something about captain's cabins on wooden ships not really addressed: They weren't exclusively used by the Captain, but they enforced the autocratic nature of the ship that everyone who dined or relaxed in the captain's rooms was doing so at the pleasure of the captain. Such a thing would have definitely been against Gene's vision, so it's probably a function where budget and philosophy just happened to line up. I would truly believe Picard's ready room only exists as a concession to the way TV was shot in the 80s and multiple stage exits had become the preferred method of storytelling since the 60s, but it's hard to know what Gene really thought about stuff like that cuz he was constantly changing his mind about details like that.

[@noppornwongrassamee8941]

Picard's ready room was basically a glorified office where he could do paperwork without having random crewmen accidentally looking over his shoulder at possibly classified information. That last reason alone is justification enough to give him a private office. Now if the narrator had his way, Picard's sleeping quarters would also adjoin the Ready Room, but it doesn't. Not enough room left in the bridge bump I guess for the palatial quarters that the regular crew gets. Although I'll bet Picard's quarters is a standard room meant for entire nuclear families. But perks of rank and all that. Data despite being 2nd officer gets noticeably smaller quarters than the rest of the officers. A quirk of him being an android who doesn't need much space I would guess.

[@roachymart2318]

@@noppornwongrassamee8941 I'd think part that and part Data wanted quarters where they could set up direct computer access for his terminals in his quarters and that room had some sort of primary computer access conduit or main ODN access that could be tapped for higher bandwidth for his consoles. I dunno.

[@themocaw]

@@noppornwongrassamee8941 Picard's rooms were somewhat larger than the other officers' rooms we've seen: IIRC, they had one set for all rooms (aside from Data's, which I think was a redress of a portion of Engineering), but they'd move the walls around to make Picard's rooms look bigger and everyone else's room look smaller. My headcanon regarding Picard's Ready Room is that the couch unfolds into a bunk if necessary.

[@noppornwongrassamee8941]

@@roachymart2318 If so, I don't think it's ever said in the show proper.

[@roachymart2318]

@@noppornwongrassamee8941 Knowing Paramount, they probably cut it. It was just a guess or a theory seeing how different Data's quarters are from everyone else's

[@wuushew]

Does being close to the bridge actually save time in an emergency though? The lift could be conceivably any anywhere in the tube network. We see ladders being used in Wrath of Khan, but I don't know where that is supposedly occurring. Spock said they were inoperative below C deck.

[@Triplitz]

Keep in mind that rank distinction in the old days was not just a product of birth. Most solders in those days couldn't even read and write. The Enterprise of Star Trek is not a sail boat, nor is it a nuclear submarine (although that is a closer analog). The Enterprise is a SPACE SHIP. The education, training and quality of the personnel on a space ship has a far higher floor in quality required than any other potential military force. With such recruiting standards for even the most junior of personnel it makes no sense to preserve most of the historical rank distinctions.

[@linz8291]

Yeah, in particular motherships would carries more crew members during year-long space mission. There are enough space for research, training, education, fitness, gardening...

[@Allegheny500]

It should be noted that on the original ship only decks 4, 5, 6, and 7 had crew quarters on them, deck 6 had most of the full saucer width, while deck 7 only had them around the outer edge as the inner areas had equipment, transporters, computer core and the medical bay, also a part of those two decks was taken up by main engineering, two fusion reactors and the impulse drives at the back. This does not leave a lot of berthing room for 430 crew and 20 some officers. Kirk's quarters were spacious.

[@thetruth45678]

Kirk: "Small? I prefer... intimate."

[@franzhaas5597]

It's been a while, but when I was in the Navy, the first ship I was on the Captain's Quarters was just a few doors away. The captain had a personal office right on the same level as the bridge. It kind of reminds me of Picard's Quarters on Generations.

[@williampeek7943]

You're ignoring the message Roddenberry was trying to convey that there was equality for everyone in the future.

[@MarcPiery]

It’s an old Utopian Socialist view of complete egalitarianism shared by many Victorian Age futurists (Verne, Wells, etc.). Though it actually has absolutely nothing to do with Marxism or any of the modern era Communist or Socialist ideologies. It was actually based on the ultimate evolution of Free Market Economics, where everything is in infinite supply, causing everything to have zero value. Currency would lose its value and meaning. Everyone would be housed, fed, and clothed, as everything would be affordable by everyone. Utopian Socialism also has the assumption of the total erasure of Feudalistic thinking. People would be satisfied with enough to live a comfortable lifestyle without the need to take anything away from anyone else. Of course, it’s nearly impossible, as greed, sociopathy, and mental illness can never be completely eliminated. But it WAS an idea during Victorian times. Eugenics was considered. Keeping the mentally ill and habitual criminals from procreating was openly debated, and even experimented with. It was similar to how farmers and ranchers engage in selective breeding to eliminate unwanted traits. Anyway. The idea was that if everyone had equal opportunity and equal access to necessary resources, then the impulse for crime and the drive for political power would just go away without much effort. An easy idea to follow if you are a typical middle class or working class person who is not interested in opulence or power. It’s easy to see the appeal of such an idea. But. The power hungry and materialists are still with us and working to create chaos and misery, and headaches for the rest of the population.

[@KenoshiAkai]

He mentions that around 11:00

[@ultrasometimes8908]

Half of the planet isnt capable of understanding equality equity and inclusion

[@seannemo8076]

@@KenoshiAkai And then completely ignores it in the following pontification on the need for Projecting Authority through Opulence.

[@87Kyrosan]

​@@seannemo8076 Yes, but that is kind of the point. The fact that they have ranks aboard the enterprise shows that eveyone is not equal. And as long as there is a hierarchy with a captain on top, than that captains needs authority.

[@jefferypardue7509]

You forget to mention anything about the original Captain's cabin from the original star trek pilot that had Jeffrey Hunter. His was a large round room and I believe it was on deck 1. Of course other ship sets were extra large too like the conference room. Maybe Kirk didn't like pike's enterprise cabin or wasn't available because Pike left some stuff behind after he was put into the wheelchair. I remember that Pike and his doctor talked in the room and drank.

[@oldatarigamer]

Especially since in SNW Pike has the ultimate bachelor pad that easily three time bigger.

[@aldunlop4622]

SNW gets Star Trek wrong on most levels, including the size of the ship.

[@speeta]

In case it hasn't yet been mentioned, The 1978 Kirk's quarters set was dressed up to be a bit more homey for The Wrath Of Khan, and redressed to be Data's quarters for the duration of TNG series.

[@danielroesner2342]

Music too loud,voice too silent,hard to understand

[@carbondragon]

It's pretty much how military ships (even big ships, and remember this is only a heavy cruiser) work. Space is at a premium. The captain gets a little more space but not that much, not even on a bigger ship. It feels palatial from what they are used to from service as junior officers but it's not a cruise ship. Regarding a 'ready room' it's a good idea (especially for star ships I guess) but captains have been roused from sleeping in their quarters to the bridge since there were ships. That's why there is someone with the con. You're just spoiled from the comically ridiculous captains quarters in Strange New Worlds which is large enough and luxurious enough to be the palace level of a 5 star hotel.

[@supremegodemperorpalpatine4872]

A possible design solution for getting Kirk to the bridge in emergencies: 1) A ready room adjacent to the bridge. 2) A private express lift that goes from the captain's cabin to the ready room and vice versa. At least, that's what I'd do if I were designing the ship.

[@bentonmarcum8924]

Did this guy actually watch STOS.? Kirk's cabin doesn't look like he depicted. From the POV inside the cabin the bed is to the left of the door in a recessed area partially isolated by a waist high retaining wall. In front of that the captains desk and a large living room area.

[@The31stcenturyfox]

Kirks quarters were so small because he spent so much time in others beds.

[@richparsons4205]

🙄

[@toddkurzbard]

We have a winner.

[@daveware4117]

Extreamly under rated comment

[@darthmeow1370]

Because he's a starship captain, he barely spends any time in there that isn't sleeping or maybe doing administrative work but there's a good chance he has a dedicated office for that. There are lounge and recreational facilities for other downtime activities, the cabin is for sleeping and that's pretty much it. It doesn't need to be big nor is there space to spare for it on a starship where interior volume is limited.

[@dibdias1]

Suggestion: choose other music, the music that you use is too ghostly and was good to help me to sleep, but not to watch the episode...

[@jamesnabors3643]

In Nimitz Class US Aircraft Carriers, there is a small duty cabin for the captain just aft of the bridge. There is a much larger captain's cabin beneath the flight deck that is used when in port and for meeting with VIP's. It includes an office space.

[@antonnym214]

good video. Audio, not so much. Your audio is unforgiveably muddy, and on top of that you have that horrible twinkling noise in the background the whole time! It must sound like background to you, but to an autistic person like myself, it is foreground, and very distracting.

[@x4700]

Why is the background music louder than the narration?

[@mxg75]

Kirk gets a relatively small cabin with attached office, while Pike had a full sized kitchen, a bedroom, and a fireplace, in addition to a ready room off of the bridge. (Though Pike's SNW ready room seems to double as a conference room, and other officers seem to use it for paperwork while the captain isn't present.)

[@richardched6085]

Not necessarily. Pike's quarters were rather sparse in "The Cage" and "The Menagerie". SNW features a much larger Enterprise that is incompatible with the TOS version. Though it is officially canon.

[@ryancox4498]

Yeah, modern Trek doesn't have ships with crews, it has luxury yachts being ran by petulant yuppies.

[@MirandaWheeler79]

Is it possible that during the refit between Pike & Kirks time that certain spaces were sacrificed in order to maximise crew capacity when it when from 203 to 400, such as Captains Quarters, Medical Bay, Mess hall & the Ready room in order to accommodate the extra crew.

[@richardcutts196]

@@MirandaWheeler79 That's what I've been thinking. The only way they could double the crew would be to refit the interior. If you consider that they keep saying 'five year mission' at the opening I would expect that by the end, unless there's a war, Enterprise will be due for an extensive refit just to properly integrate new systems as well as repair any patched parts that are staying. That would mean that the crew would be reassigned and would explain why many of Pike's crew would not be part of Kirk's.

[@richardched6085]

@@MirandaWheeler79 a refit that shrinks the Connie from 442 meters to 289.... And altering all the dimensions.... Make that make sense.

[@martykarr7058]

The "windows" were to the Senior Officer's Lounge, where McCoy and Kirk had their little talk with Spock shortly after he gets there in STMP. It was also used as such in STV, where at the end, they hold the big reception.

[@christheghostwriter]

Because TV budgets in the 1960s. There, I just saved you 15 minutes

[@ebinrock]

True, but I still like these 3D animation videos. I feel like I'm walking through the Enterprise!

[@christheghostwriter]

@@ebinrock I'm just being snarky, I watched the entire video and enjoyed it.

[@christopherrobin4619]

Fantastic video.. I absolutely Loved the cutaways of the TOS enterprise. More of these in the future please? Also watching them it becomes very noticeable the windows/viewports on the TOS ship and the A seem very misplaced or impractical. Why does kirks cabin not have a window? and what sort of room deserves a window if the captain doesn't ?

[@Penfolduk001]

Unfortunately, I think you've made the mistake of judging Star Trek based on historical scarcity economics and hierarchies. For example, you pointed out that most Royal Navy officers were historically from the aristocracy. So needed to literally Lord it over the normal ratings. In the Star Trek future, authority is mainly merit-based. So there is no need to rub the ratings noses in it to maintain authority. Also, the RN officers needed the space so they could barricade themselves in if there was a mutiny. You're trying to have your cake and eat it with the bunk placements. You complain about the quarters bring so far from the bridge, then about the bunks being so close to the cabin doors. Which is presumably to allow fastest physical communication with the Captain and their exit from the cabin. As for Archer era. The production team expressed their desire for it to feel more like a submarine. And the Captain's cabin is normally quite small due to space constraints. Although bigger than a normal ratings bunk space.

[@calvinmasters6159]

In original series, the space vessel was more akin to a submarine, a space-faring pressure vessel, frugal with its allocation of habitable volume. Only later, with Next Generation, could they adopt cruise ship extravagances, like 10 foot ceilings, potted ferns and holo-decks.

[@LancetFencing]

kirk said he’ll eat when the crew eats he’s not one of you Brits

[@white-dragon4424]

I expect by the 23rd Century we "Brits" will be exactly the same as everyone else in Star Trek's moneyless universe.

[@danielhenderson8316]

Pretty sure that it was Bones who said that in "Corbomite Maneuver."

[@weirdkitty07]

The larger lounge is seen in the TMP refit as a spacious area overlooking the nacelles. It would be in the saucer but it's not that deck two lounge, that is the briefing room. The TMP lounge has a projection screen to show the 'windows' as the impulse deck is in front of it. Sure, bad idea if it ever got attacked.

[@krislangley6226]

I'm reminded of the lyrics to the show Mystery Science Theater 3000... "If you're wondering where Kirk works and sleeps and other science facts, you should remember it's just a show - you should really just relax..."

[@kennethbrooks8505]

Although I like the concept, when were the combadges ever used to signify rank?

[@MarvelX42]

Also, how do we square this with the difference between Strange New Worlds Pikes quarters?

[@fishwhistle4661]

When talking about age of sail vessels, one important factor to keep in mind is that even on the biggest ships, every space was multipurpose. When expecting a battle, the captain's cabin would be literally taken apart (with modular walls) and packed up so that the space could be used to set up cannons. And outside of battles, the great cabin doubled as a space for all the officers, as luxury for them, but also so that the rest of the crew could have some privacy from the officers for pragmatic social reasons.

[@robdyck1187]

Two reasons: 1) The Original Series had a set with only one crew quarters. It was dressed up to be the captain's quarters, or dressed to be Spock's quarters, or dressed to be Uhura's quarters, etc. 2) But there was a difference. If you look at floor plans by Franz Joseph, captain's quarters included a bedroom, office with desk, private bathroom, and a meeting room with table and 3 chairs. 3 more chairs were shown in corners, but could be moved to the table. First officer (Spock) had bedroom, office, private bathroom, but no meeting room. Chief engineer (Scotty) and chief medical officer (McCoy) had bedroom, office, but shared a single bathroom. Junior officers had a bedroom of the same size but with 2 beds, one office between two bedrooms, and one shared bathroom between two bedrooms. So visual a circle on deck 4 alternating: bedroom, bathroom, bedroom, office, repeat. This meant 4 junior officers shared one office, and 4 junior officers shared one bathroom. Crew on deck 6 were different again. One shared bathroom in the centre, one bedroom with 2 beds on either side, and one "office" on either side of that but the "office" just had a table and chairs instead of a desk with a personal computer. I find this odd because that meant one office for 2 crew, while junior officers shared one office for 4.

[@Unknown13x]

There was a Captain’s quarters near the bridge, in the OST. But Kirk moved them to the crew’s deck, so he could have better access to all the women and vice versa.

[@holgerschrenk8827]

2:34 Yes, Kirk really had quite a way to the bridge. Two years ago I was on a cruise ship, and during a Q&A with the captain he was asked how long it would take him to get from his cabin to the bridge in case of emergency. He said: "On a bad day 30 seconds."

[@the-scamp]

Really enjoyed this video, great work

[@Zarcondeegrissom]

6:37 In oceangoing navy at night it is the responsibility of the Messenger of the Watch to wake up the next watch rotation, and that includes waking up the command officers if needed or requested. So for people standing watch on the bridge seeing your commanding officer sleeping wasn't uncommon, and often that was the last thing on your mind when waking up the captain or XO anyway (the fire, flooding, enemy spotted, or other emergency was).

[@BrianTaylor-AlwaysInTao]

Developed a full scale ship model in the game space engineers. The quarters were large enough to be "officer's quarters" consisting of 4 rooms and a hallway. This was to accurate enough scale that my only qualm was whether or not to use a ramp or a turbolift to access that hallway.

[@cascadesouthernmodeltrains7547]

I was stationed onboard a NImitz class carrier when I served in the US Navy. My division was responsible for the damage control fittings in and near the Captain's Quarters. The quarters were about the size of a 3 room hotel suite in your average 4 star hotel. They were located 5 decks below the bridge, and there was no Turbolift to get him to the bridge. Nearby the bridge on the other hand was a small office that the Captain could use at his discretion, think ready room.

[@luiszuluaga6575]

I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. 😃🛸

[@carter358]

@3:05 the distance to the bridge isn't a big issue because if it's a real emergency, he can be beamed to the bridge if necessary. I get the impression Kirk, being the no- frills, utilitarian type, likely rejected the idea of having a huge luxurious quarters and chose accommodations equal to the crew. He was not the type to put himself above his people. This was good or morale and created the impression that he was "one of us" among the crew.

[@Brandis13]

When he talked about Executive mansions, I thought about how this works in Switzerland, the federal palace, which is a pretty lavish building is the seat of parliament, while the 7 members of the federal council who head different departments have pretty bland offices in nearby nondescript office buildings.

[@TK199999]

It has been stated many times in Trek that the Constitution class had such limited space available for its crew. Because of the necessity of supply/equipping a ship for 5 year missions away from friendly ports in uncharted and possibly hostile space. So an in universe answer could be that both the Constitution and later Excelsior class (which was basically a next gen Connie) for space saving and morale reasons (have the captain live as his crew to show he would endure any hardship they did) the Captain's quarters were small and out of the way (as being on deck 5). As for such direct access of the captain's bedding to the door, it could be argued he would be unconscious when a sleep and the least alert to trouble. So having quick access to the exit or for juniors to sleeping captain case of possible emergency was seen as preferable. By TNG we see this is no longer the case, at least for ready rooms. But of all the Starfleet captains only Picard gave off that 18/19 century Officer and Gentlemen air about him (though he never seemed arrogant or distant from his crew). Though on SNW Pikes cabin is giant, but its already been shown that DISC/SNW Trek is new timeline.

[@davidkerr4137]

Just out of interst but how close are Kirks quarters to the emergency bridge? Surely a cabin midway to both bridges would have been desirable?

[@kaitlyn__L]

I honestly didn't even register the bed in TMP _as_ a bed, with the way they arranged/shot it. I thought that was a couch that he could maybe sleep on just like in Picard's ready room. I wasn't even sure if they _were_ his quarters, or a separate detached ready room.

[@David_B_Dornburg]

It's entirely possible that Captain Kirk specifically chose to have a smaller cabin to show that he didn't think of himself as being better than his crew. He could have had one of the Jr Officer's quarters on deck 4 converted if he so choose. Also, during an emergency, the computer system of the Enterprise most likely knew exactly where the Captain was onboard and directed the turbolifts specifically to his location for quick transport to the bridge. Even though it wasn't shown till TMP, it's very obvious that the ships computer was capable of performing that function.

[@pi.actual]

The main question is that of gravity. What makes it and how do you reconcile it's existence when someone drops a tool and causes damage or falls down and breaks their arm? Would things not be better without it? Wouldn't it be better to overcome the physiological effects of zero G rather than reproduce it and have to deal with all of its hinderances?

[@leondillon8723]

4:28) In real life, a ready Room is where pilots get the mission briefings. it is near the flight line/deck.The pilots wait there for the green light or hear that the mission was called off.The "E" had an office, behind the bridge, combined with the captains' quarters. Like Capt. Church, or Kirk. German name. 13:46)Other plans show the "Great Cabin" as guest quarters for admirals and other civilian Big Wigs.