# Did the Enterprise have marines on board? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-have-marines-on-board/400059 "2007-04-14T03:59:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-have-marines-on-board/400059/41 "2007-04-16T13:22:12Z")
[Here is a very large website dedicated to the evergreen, undying question: Could the Empire destroy the Federation?](http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/) It is made interesting by the fact the author apparently has some brains and some knowledge of engineering and physics. Star Trek does _not_ get off easily. Anyway, his site verifies something I noticed: Star Trek never did the “military” thing very well, the Federation would be wiped out totally within months if not weeks of coming across a real enemy, and the tactics used by Federation forces would be grounds for a drumhead tribunal followed by summary execution if any real-world CO dared emulate them. In particular relative to this thread, the Federation doesn’t have a credible array of firearms, no grenades (other than the highly unpredictable failure mode of the phaser), no artillery, no good troop transports, and certainly no infantry tactics or doctrine. (“Suppressing fire” and “cover” must be outlawed concepts.) ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-have-marines-on-board/400059/42 "2007-04-16T14:18:11Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] no grenades [/QUOTE] Eh, strictly speaking, [that’s not true.](http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Photon_grenade) However, by said cite, they sound like a LOUSY battle weapon, and we’ve only rarely even seen it _used_…I suppose it all evens out. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-have-marines-on-board/400059/43 "2007-04-16T14:28:05Z")
And they do have artillery, ridiculously overpowered artillery in the form of the Photon Mortar, which might be why we never see it used except in one episode of TOS. Too damned dangerous for everyone involved. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-have-marines-on-board/400059/44 "2007-04-16T14:32:54Z")
The Photon Mortar is a perfect indirect-fire weapon. Check the cite…_variable yield_. That means anything from a standard hand grenade up to a serious bunker-buster. Handy thing to have around. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2007, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-have-marines-on-board/400059/45 "2007-04-16T15:13:02Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] The Photon Mortar is a perfect indirect-fire weapon. Check the cite…_variable yield_. That means anything from a standard hand grenade up to a serious bunker-buster. Handy thing to have around. [/QUOTE] Well, the variable part must have changed some time after Kirk and company used it, cause back then, the yield had one setting: Chuck Norris [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-enterprise-have-marines-on-board/400059.md?page=2)