Red alert Red alert , also known as condition red or code red , was the highest alert signal status on Starfleet vessel s and starbase s . Usage . One stage above a yellow alert , this status had weapon s systems and shields brought to full power , essentially preparing the ship for combat . ( ) The Klingon equivalent of this status was defense condition one . ( ) Red alert could also be ordered during various other emergency situations , such as a ship being boarded , radiation exposure , a security alert , massive systems failure , an imminent warp core breach , and an evacuation order , among others . ( ; ; ; ; ) A red alert could either be activated manually by the commanding officer or the officer in charge , or automatically , as when a ship was attacked , or entered a dangerous area , etc . ( ) The raising of shields automatically triggered a red alert . ( ) The ability to activate red alert could apparently also be granted even to non - ranking crewmen at discretion , as Seven of Nine had clearance to place the on red alert . ( ) Engaging Self - destruct automatically triggers Red Alert and can only be deactivated by the captain using command codes . ( TOS : " Let That Be Your Last Battlefield " ; ; TNG : " 11001001 " ; " Where Silence Has No Lease " ; DS9 : " The Adversary " ; VOY : " Deadlock " ; " Dreadnought " ; ) Sections of a starship could be placed on red alert while other sections remained at a lower alert status . ( ) Notable uses . In 2152 , " condition red " was among several possible names that Lieutenant Malcolm Reed considered for a security protocol that was eventually dubbed " tactical alert " . Because of Reed having an obsession with the security protocol , suggested " Reed Alert " , which was also rejected by Reed . ( ) In 2266 , upon discovering a phaser on overload hidden somewhere in his quarters on the , Captain Kirk announced a " double red alert " . ( ) In 2293 , while the was returning from Rura Penthe , an intercom message by Commander Uhura informed the crew that only certain decks should remain on red alert while in Klingon space . ( ) In 2369 , Commander Benjamin Sisko ordered red alert for Deep Space 9 when an alien ship from the Gamma Quadrant fired a radiation burst onto the shields , which depolarized them . ( ) The same year , Sisko ordered red alert when a pulse wave torpedo was fired into a subspace rupture . ( ) In 2372 , Captain Sisko ordered red alert on the , shortly before the cloaking device was deactivated and the shields raised , to prepare for battle with three Klingon Birds - of - Prey . ( ) In 2374 , Chakotay mentioned that the would remain on " full " red alert . ( ) Later that year , the went to red alert when it was attacked , and subsequently destroyed , by a Cardassian destroyer unit . ( ) Alarm sounds . In addition to dimming of the lights and computer terminals displaying red graphics , an audible alarm would sound . Appendices . Background information . " Red alert " comes from the naval tradition of general quarters , and , in fact , the command " general quarters " may be used interchangeably to bring the ship into red alert . In , red alert is referred to as both " condition alert " and " general alert " . In , Captain Jean - Luc Picard issues both commands . The uses of red alert were preceded by double red alert being mentioned in . The first produced episode to mention red alert was , which , in airing order , was preceded by a reference to it in . In the final draft script of " Court Martial " , double red alert was used extensively instead of red alert , indicating that double red alert developed into this alert status . Scripted references to red alert in the same final draft teleplay were evidently later changed to yellow alert . In , the red alert lights change during the show ' s run . The first time red alert is heard is in , but the lights aren ' t flashing red . The first time the lights are seen flashing red is in , which have only the top and bottom part of the lights flashing . However , beginning in , the whole part of the lights flash . The next change the lights have is seen in , where there is a longer period between when it flashes and when the sound is heard .