History

Twelve years ago, Ensign Mal Avatar was assigned as the H/C/O officer to the USS Kodiak-A. Avatar, the first PC of Starbase 118’s resident historian, Glenn, rose up through the ranks to become a captain and captain-at-large to the Executive Council back in 2005. Nowadays, you’re more likely to recognize him as his newer PC, Ra-Uleyra, or via his ongoing history projects, including the Fleet Timeline and the Family Tree. In his capacity as historian, I was able to ask him several questions about the group’s history, the lineage of captains, and plenty more about the 20-year-plus timeline of StarBase 118.

You can also find part 1 here.

A: The number one reason why a ship disappears not long after creation is because the CO left the group and the crew disbanded. The longevity of a ship is often based directly on the longevity of the commanding officer. There are also cases where a particular ship may stick around because of the name or also because of nostalgia. When a captain selects a ship and chooses to pick a historical ship, he/she might choose one simply because of the name or the class.

Read more

Twelve years ago, Ensign Mal Avatar was assigned as the H/C/O officer to the USS Kodiak-A. Avatar, the first PC of StarBase 118’s resident historian, Glenn, rose up through the ranks to become a captain and captain-at-large to the Executive Council back in 2005. Nowadays, you’re more likely to recognize him as his newer PC, Ra-Uleyra, or via his ongoing history projects, including the Fleet Timeline and the Family Tree. In his capacity as historian, I was able to ask him several questions about the group’s history, the lineage of captains, and plenty more about the 20-year-plus timeline of StarBase 118.

Q: Just about a year ago, 118’s roster of COs had been stable for some time. Now, five of those nine COs have retired, another has become a CO and taken a LOA, and we have four new COs. In your experience, are such turnovers common?

A: They tend to come in bunches it would seem and for a variety of different reasons. Most common reason for departing is real life. In my experience as a former commanding officer, the duties of the CO are far more time consuming than the life of your typical simmer. After awhile, this can be a drain, which is why often former commanding officers continue to write with the group as part of the rank and file.

Read more