Ship captains and marriages

[Mr. Laser Beam]

We have seen a lot of Trek captains perform marriage ceremonies for their crews. Kirk did it (Balance of Terror), so did Picard (Data's Day), and I think Admiral Ross did it in DS9 (for Sisko and Kasidy).

However, IMDB's entry for Balance Of Terror (and the movie The African Queen) says that in real life, ship captains are specifically *forbidden* from doing this, and any ceremonies so performed would not be legal marriages. Is this true?

 

[estrea]

Okay, color me a stupid newbie, but what the hell is "IMDB"?

The only 'real life' ship's captain performed marriage I can recall was, sheesh,...Charlie Chaplin, I think...oh, it's been so long since I read the story. And the ship was under a foreign flag, not a US flag, so when the couple filed for divorce the court in California declared the marriage null and void.

 

[EnsignRicky]

estrea said:
Okay, color me a stupid newbie, but what the hell is "IMDB"?

Internet Movie Data Base. Typing IMDB in any search engine should take you right to it.

 

[Furlong]

1st, IMDB is the Internet Movie Database, a collection of information regarding pretty much every film made, plus trivia, quotes, etc.

Second, while I am unsure of weather or not real life ship captains may preform marriages, who's to say that Starship Captains cannot. The Federation may allow for this.

 

[Nebusj]

Babaganoosh said:
However, IMDB's entry for Balance Of Terror (and the movie The African Queen) says that in real life, ship captains are specifically *forbidden* from doing this, and any ceremonies so performed would not be legal marriages. Is this true?

According to Cecil Adams, of The Straight Dope, current-as-of-1987 (when he looked at the question) specify that ship's captains are not empowered to perform marriage ceremonies by virtue of being captains of ships:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_329.html

It's a long-established bit of maritime folklore that ship's captains can perform marriages, but that doesn't appear to have ever actually been the practice in the United States or the Royal Navies or Merchant Marines.

Complicating factors: a person who happens to be a ship's captain might be entitled to perform marriages because of something outside his captainly duties, for example by being a minister in a religion popular enough that the local governments approve of its existence. And it can hold that a marriage performed by someone not actually empowered to solemnize a wedding may be accepted provided the parties involved believed the officiant to be legitimate at the time. But just having rank doesn't do it alone.

 

[estrea]

Nebusj said:
According to Cecil Adams, of The Straight Dope, current-as-of-1987 (when he looked at the question) specify that ship's captains are not empowered to perform marriage ceremonies by virtue of being captains of ships:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_329.html

It's a long-established bit of maritime folklore that ship's captains can perform marriages, but that doesn't appear to have ever actually been the practice in the United States or the Royal Navies or Merchant Marines.

Complicating factors: a person who happens to be a ship's captain might be entitled to perform marriages because of something outside his captainly duties, for example by being a minister in a religion popular enough that the local governments approve of its existence. And it can hold that a marriage performed by someone not actually empowered to solemnize a wedding may be accepted provided the parties involved believed the officiant to be legitimate at the time. But just having rank doesn't do it alone.

Now that makes sense to me, here on Earth/Terra. Where the ship's captain might open the ceremony or something symbolic, while an actual 'certified by whatever government' the couple is from performs the actual ceremony -- be it religious or civil. In Trekverse, the practice of religion had fallen into disuse, and, yes, I realize in TOS they were in "a chapel" -- but being a LOOOONNNGGG way from any Starbase or Star Fleet facility proper, I can understand why the Federation might confer the powers of marital officiation on a Star Fleet Captain. IMMHO.

 

[Timo]

Looking at this from the other end of things, captains of yore had broad powers de facto even if not de jure, by virtue of being the only prominent representatives of their government at the distant neck of woods in question. It just wouldn't have been cost-efficient to send in both a captain who has the blessings of the government as a commander of the military, and an ambassador who has separate blessings as a formulator and applicator of policy - especially when "application of policy" would almost invariably involve the military anyway.

Now, Starfleet could afford to place an Ambassador or six, plus a few dozen clergymen of various creeds, aboard a Galaxy class vessel. But why bother, when there is this long precedent of giving near-ambassadorial powers to starship captains from the good old days when starships could not accommodate such extra staff?

For all we know, Kirk and Picard might automatically hold the credentials of Justice of Peace by their Starfleet training. They could thus perform at least half the marital officiation, with religious elements provided by appropriate specialists, perhaps via telepresence.

As for why Kirk and Picard would begin their speeches by saying that marriage has been the privilege of ship captains since time immemoriam, perhaps they are referring to the long tradition of Bermuda law wherein any sea captain can indeed legalize the wedding while in Bermudan waters, or the Japanese law wherein captains can legalize the wedding if the bride and groom hold Japanese passports. Or to the ever-more-common 20th-21st century practice of temporarily accrediting a cruise ship captain with the right to notarize a marriage, so that all those couples who thought their skipper could do that would not be disappointed.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[bluedana]

Marriage can be and often is a civil ceremony. All you need, legally, is a bride and groom (or, here in Massachusetts, "two parties"), a license, and an officiant. You don't even need vows, only an agreement. If captains in deep space can perform funerals (committing bodies to space), adjudicate civil matters, mete out punishments for disciplinary infractions, and generally represent their governments, why not preside over a marriage ceremony, which is essentially form over substance?

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

As Timo said above, I wouldn't be surprised if Starfleet gives Starship Captains the power of "Justice of the Peace" to have the power to resolve legal disputes that may occur on federation ships, colonies and outposts. Perhaps not every Federation outpost has a resident JOTP, therefore Starship Captains essentially must be "At-Large Judges".

 

[hot4_horsfall]

My ex suggested once when we were thinking of getting married he said " it would be like love boat" so I looked into it that was about 2 years ago now but you have to get all the papers and everything signed before you go so your technically already married when you have your ceremony but that's the only way it's legal.