Mutiny

Mutiny is defined as a group of people – mutineers – rebelling against an authority that the group is legally obligated to obey. It is most often used to refer to members of a military organization rebelling against their superiors, and illegally seizing control of a vessel.

Legal aspect

In the United Federation of Planets Starfleet, mutiny is a particularly severe and heinous crime. Even though outside General Order 7 the death penalty is nonexistent, the punishment for mutiny is quite severe. In Starfleet history, the act of mutiny has been quite rare. The Federation does provide legal methods to remove a commanding officer from his or her post by subordinate officers - such as the first officer or chief medical officer - in the event that the commanding officer becomes physically or mentally disabled, endangers the crew without good cause, or otherwise violates the law or regulations. If upheld by Starfleet, this is not considered mutiny.

Notable mutinies

Bounty incident(s)

One of the most infamous mutinies in Earth history took place on April 28, 1789, when the British Royal Navy vessel HMS Bounty was seized by a number of members of her crew led by Fletcher Christian against William Bligh. Nearly 500 years later, Doctor Leonard McCoy used this as an inspiration when naming the Klingon Bird of Prey the crew of the late USS Enterprise had captured the HMS Bounty. (TOS movie: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

Xindi incident

During their expedition into the Delphic Expanse, the crew of the SS Enterprise chanced upon the derelict ruins of Xindi-Insectoid starship on an uninhabited world. While exploring this wreckage, Captain Jonathan Archer was infected with a neurotoxin which caused his subconscious to "reverse-imprint" on a clutch of Insectoid eggs and began to exhibit symptoms, including an all-consuming fixation on the welfare of the eggs and intolerance for dissidence from his officers. Instead, he would become more reliant on a detachment from the Military Assault Command Organization assigned to the starship, utilising the strong obedience which Major Joss Hayes and his people had for the chain-of-command. Moreover, at the same time, Archer also alienated himself from the senior crew with his adamant protectiveness towards the eggs, even at the cost of their mission to intercept the Xindi before their people could destroy Earth. When T'Pol and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed voiced their separate objections, Archer ordered the former relieved of her duties as first officer, then did the same with tactical after he ordered the Enterprise to eliminate an Insectoid starship which had attacked them in order to prevent the Xindi from relaying their location to the Council. Even though this was self-defence, the state that Archer was in caused him to accuse Reed of trying to sabotage their mission and declared that, from now on, he would report to Hayes. To ensure that further orders were carried out, the captain spread MACO officers across the vessel. Concerned that her superior was imperiling their mission, T'Pol spoke with Charles Tucker III and tried to convince him to persuade Archer to undergo a medical examination to determine whether the crew might have grounds to relieve him of his command for medical reasons. Though at first hesitant, when Hoshi Sato received orders to broadcast a homing signal to nearby Xindi starships, even though this could throw the Enterprise into a space battle against overwhelming numbers, Tucker decided to "throw the rule book out the window" and he made preparations to instigate a mutiny alongside T'Pol.

With assistance from Reed and Doctor Phlox, Trip freed T'Pol from her quarters, where D. Hideaki Chang was holding the Vulcan under guard. After incapacitating the soldier, the four made plans to seize key locations across the starship, focusing on the bridge and armoury. In quick succession, the mutineers were able to capture the latter with assistance from two crewmen, then wrestled the bridge from Hayes and his subordinates, who were disarmed with assistance from Sato and Travis Mayweather. The MACO personnel were then briefly relieved of command. (ENT episode: "Hatchery")

Shenzhou incident

"A year ago, I stood alone. I believed that our survival was more important than our principles. I was wrong. Do we need a mutiny today to prove who we are?"

—Michael Burnham to Katrina Cornwell, 2257

In the year 2256, the USS Shenzhou's XO, Commander Michael Burnham urged her Captain, Philippa Georgiou, to open fire first on the Klingon forces under T'Kuvma to earn their respect. When Georgiou refused to do so, Burnham knocked her out with a Vulcan nerve pinch and proceeded to target T'Kuvma's flagship, the Sarcophagus. However, her brief mutiny came to an end when Georgiou arrested her. Following the disastrous Battle of the Binary Stars, Burnham was charged with mutiny in addition to the other charges of dereliction of duty and assaulting a fellow officer. Burnham then pleaded guilty at her court martial, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and stripped of her rank. (DSC episodes: "The Vulcan Hello", "Battle at the Binary Stars")

Crewmembers on the USS Discovery support Michael Burnham when she threatens the admiralty with mutiny against their order to render Qo'noS uninhabitable.

For the next six months, Burnham was known as "Starfleet's first mutineer". In 2257, Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery then threatened to mutiny against Starfleet when they allowed Captain Georgiou's mirror counterpart to set a hydrogen bomb on Qo'noS, with Acting Captain Saru, Keyla Detmer, Ronald A. Bryce, Joann Owosekun, Gen Rhys and Airiam rising to demonstrate their support for her. They were successful in preventing Georgiou from setting off the bombs and were able to end the war. (DSC episodes: "Context Is for Kings", "Will You Take My Hand?")

Slayton incident

In 2159, the Slayton under Captain Bran Hendricks became stranded in the Wagner-219 system. On the 47th day of being stranded, the Chief Engineer Jack Somers and other members of the crew then mutinied against the captain. Starfleet and Admiral Somers believed from the distress signal that the Slayton and the crew had died as a result of the mutiny. (SA - Starfleet Academy comic: "Issue 3")

However, in truth, the Slayton was actually trapped in a "time quicksand" temporal anomaly. They remained stuck until 2261 of the Kelvin timeline when Starfleet Academy cadet ship A-317 entered the system and discovered it. When the cadets boarded the Slayton, Somers and Hendricks ended the mutiny and worked togetther to leave the anomaly. They were successful and returned to Earth. (SA - Starfleet Academy comics: "Issue 4", "Issue 5")

Pegasus incident

In 2358, the crew of the USS Pegasus under Captain Erik Pressman was testing a prototype phasing cloaking device when there was an explosion in Main engineering. The Pegasus's first officer, chief engineer and most crew then mutinied against Pressman, believing he was comprising their safety and breaking the Treaty of Algeron. However, Ensign William T. Riker and several others then defended Pressman's actions. However, they were unable to stop the mutiny and were forced to abandon the ship. The crew that remained aboard tried to terminate the experiment, but were killed in explosion and the Pegasus was phased into a asteroid. The mutiny was then hidden from the public following the inquiry into the Pegasus's fate until 2370. (TNG episode: "The Pegasus")

The "Cute-iny"

In 2382, D'Vana Tendi, her sister D'Erika Tendi and their crew participated in a solar sail competition for the fate of House Tendi against House Azure after their civil war inflicted significant damage to the profit margins of the Orion Syndicate. However, Tendi learned that her sister was pregnant with a child and awkwardly tried to prevent D'Erika from overexerting herself without revealing that she knew. Panicking, Tendi convinced her crew to perform a non-violent mutiny, referring to it as a "cute-iny", asserting her authority as Mistress of the Winter Constellations. The plan briefly worked until the Azures damaged their ship, allowing D'Erika to escape and, in the process of Tendi trying to stop her, allowed the ship to crash. (LD episode: "Shades of Green")

Kelvin timeline

In 2258 of the Kelvin timeline, cadet and acting first officer, James T. Kirk attempted to mutiny against Commander Spock when he disagreed with his order to rendezvous with Starfleet in the Laurentian system instead of pursuing Nero and the Narada to Earth. However, Kirk was then subdued by Spock and was then marooned on Delta Vega. However, with help from Ambassador Spock and Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, Kirk was able to return to the USS Enterprise. There, Kirk was able to prove and convince Spock that he was compromised and forced him to relinquish command. Kirk, as first officer was able to take command of the Enterprise and pursued Nero. Spock was then allowed to serve under Kirk as his first and science officer. No charges were file against Kirk for his mutiny. (TOS movie, novelization & comic adaptation: Star Trek)

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External links

• Mutiny article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
• Mutiny article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.