General quarters

General quarters was a command that dated back to early naval tradition to prepare for battle.

By the 23rd century, the term had been adopted by Starfleet for use aboard Federation starships as a stage of red alert to describe a ship's condition of maximum readiness. The general quarters order was typically issued as a call for all hands to man their battle stations, but could also vary in state by a number of conditions. By the late-24th century, usage of this alert was phased out in favor of more specific alerts for various situations, such as yellow alert, red alert, security alert, and intruder alert.

Conditions of general quarters

 * Security Condition Three indicated that ship's security had been compromised and an intruder was aboard the ship. This was otherwise known as "security alert three" or "intruder alert". General quarters was sounded under this security condition in 2366 on the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D).


 * Security Condition Four ordered all halls to be sealed off and all weapons to be accounted for and locked away on all levels of the ship.


 * Alert Condition Baker Two was an alert used on Starfleet vessels when confrontations among the crewmembers on a starship increased to the point where security became involved. In 2266, the crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) were under the influence of polywater intoxication. Security reported to Lieutenant Uhura that incidents among crew members of the Enterprise were growing. First Officer Commander Spock had Uhura declare Alert Condition Baker Two over the ship's intercom.