Captain is a rank of officer in many naval services and space forces, most notably Earth Starfleet and its Federation counterpart. The title of captain is also used in a more general sense to refer to any individual, civilian or otherwise, who is the commanding officer of a ship. However, there are times when a captain may not be the commanding officer of a ship, serving as a department head, first officer or adjutant to an admiral or a more senior captain. 3 cases include Spock, who served as first officer under James T. Kirk onboard the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A in spite of holding the rank of captain; Montgomery Scott, who served as captain of engineering on board several ships; and Geordi La Forge, who briefly served as captain of engineering onboard the USS Enterprise-E before returning to his previous rank.

Starfleet captains are sometimes referred to as "Skippers". (DS9 episode: "In the Pale Moonlight", DS9 - Mission Gamma novel: Lesser Evil)

Naval captains

Captain is the most senior officer rank, a grade higher than a commander and a grade below either commodore or rear admiral in most rank structures, although some organizations will refer to a captain as a commodore in title only, to show the said captain's seniority over other captains. The Federation also once had a rank of vice commodore, falling below commodore but above captain, and a title of fleet captain that is considered to outrank a captain. The captain rank is roughly equivalent with the authority of a colonel of military forces, although some militaries have an unrelated rank of captain that is equivalent to a naval lieutenant.

Equivalent ranks

• The Blood Many has a strict rank code which places an avedon at the head of their ships, the so-called Blood savages. When Shucorion joined the crew of UFPF Challenger, he took somewhat of a demotion to first officer status, as he had previously been a captain-equivalent avedon. (TOS - New Earth novels: Wagon Train to the Stars, Challenger; CHA - Gateways novel: Chainmail)
• The Breen have a sort of rank or title that places a thot in control of their ships.
• In the Cardassian language, gul is a Cardassian officer rank title which, in translation to Federation Standard, is approximately equivalent to a captain. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, et al.)
• The Ferengi rank/title most similar to captain is DaiMon, although like much of Ferengi culture the title is distinct and different in that it carries a mercenary ethic and prices to match. (Star Trek: The Next Generation, et al.)
• In Klingonese, a ship's captain is referred to as HoD. (ST reference: Klingon for the Galactic Traveler)
• The Romulan Star Empire has two ranks, commander (rh'iov in the Romulan language) and legate, that are analogous to a captain's standing. (TOS - TLE novel: The Lost Years; NF novels: After the Fall, Missing in Action)
• Rigger is the Skeen's designation of a ship's captain. (VOY novel: Acts of Contrition)
• Vulcan ships refer to their commanding officer as captain as well, although they sometimes use the terminology "commander", a type of reference shared with their offshoot cousins, the Romulans. (Star Trek: Enterprise, et al.)

Insignia

22nd century

In the Earth Starfleet uniforms of the 22nd century, captains wore pin insignia of four rectangular pips. Their service uniforms also had sleeve insignia of a two white bands with a division color-coded stripe between. (ENT episode: "These Are the Voyages...")

23rd century

By the era of the 23rd century, Federation Starfleet, captains' uniforms had a sleeve insignia of a two gold braids with a broken braid in between. A captain's dress uniform was similar to a commander's, with thick gold braid at the neck and closure, with added thin gold piping along the shoulder seam. (TOS episode: "Court Martial")

In the early 2270s, captain's uniforms had the same sleeve insignia, and an epaulet that also bore two solid stripes and a broken stripe. (TOS comic: "Domain of the Dragon God!")

In the uniforms of the 2280s, captains wore pin insignia with a three central bars attached to two command officer flag devices, above and below. (ST reference: The Star Trek Encyclopedia)

24th century

In the uniform insignia introduced in the mid-24th century, a captain wears four circular pips as their rank insignia. (FASA RPG module: Star Trek: The Next Generation Officer's Manual)

Captain insignia

Starfleet captain insignia
era	general wear	command division				operations division				sciences division
		command	tactical/military		flight-engineering (admin, pilot, engineer)		security	special services	sci-ops (ops, sci & tac ops)		medical
Earth Starfleet ranks
Federation Starfleet ranks (2160s)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2230s)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2240s)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s) (Built to Lieutenant)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2270s-2350s)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2350s-2366)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2366-2373)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2373-2386)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2386-2410)
Federation Starfleet ranks (2800s)

Alternate captain insignia

Starfleet alternate captain insignia
era	command division				operations division				sciences division
Federation Starfleet ranks (2250s) alt
Federation Starfleet ranks (2386-2410) alt

Positions and lists

Earth & Federation Starfleet

See: Starfleet captains

Klingon Defense Force

• Bek'Ta
• B'Tak
• Cha'DIch, son of hiJaK
• Ch'Targh
• Dorrek, son of M'Raq
• Gatrell
• Grannk
• G'Zar
• H'Ta, son of Kahmar
• Kaaj, son of Torg
• Kalan
• Kang, son of K'naiah
• Kargan, son of Talak
• Kasak sutai-Khornezh
• Kaul
• K'Draq, daughter of Sangra
• Kert sutai Restok
• Kevas
• Klaa
• Klag, son of M'Raq
• K'mpec
• Koloth
• Konet sutai Cultuic
• Korris
• K'retok
• Krenn
• Krill sutai Limur
• K'Tar
• K'Temoc
• K'Vada
• Qurag
• R'taga
• Sotugh

Romulan Mining Guild

• Nero

Others

• Angel
• Breytik (Maligonq Familial Consideration)
• David Meyerson (Red Path; formerly Starfleet)
• Vrandu (Red Path)
• Ko In Lah Pili Leb (Xahean Ministry of Trade)

Appendices

Connections

	Enlisted ranks				Commissioned ranks							Flag ranks
Klingon Defense Force naval & marine	ENL (bekk)	PO/LDR (DevwI') CPO/TROOP LDR (QaS-DevwI')			ENS (lagh)	LT JG	LT (Sogh)	LT CMDR	CMDR (la')	CAPT (HoD)		CDORE (totlh)	ADM ('aj)			FADM
	ENL (mang) 2C ENL (mang) 1C LCPL	CPL (Da')	SGT (bu') SGT MAJ		LT JG	LT (Sogh)	CAPT	MAJ	LT COL	COL		BRIG ('ech)	MAJ GEN	GEN (Sa')
Earth SF	CREW	PO2 PO1		CPO SCPO MCPO	ENS	LT		CMDR		CAPT FCAPT VICE CDORE		CDORE	RADM / 2ADM	VADM / 3ADM	4ADM	FADM / 5ADM GADM
Starfleet & SFMC					ENS JG ENS ENS 1C	LT JG	LT	LT CMDR	CDR			CDORE 1ADM
	PVT	CPL	SGT MASTER SGT		SUBLT 2ND LT	1ST LT	CAPT	MAJOR	LT COL	COL		BRIG	GEN
US military (& US Navy)	PVT	CPL	SGT MASTER SGT		2ND LT	1ST LT	CAPT	MAJ	LT COL	COL		BRIG GEN	MAJ GEN	LT GEN	GEN
	CREW	PO		CPO SCPO MCPO	ENS	LT JG	LT	LT CMDR	CMDR	CAPT		RADM LH	RADM UH	VADM	ADM	FADM
Vulcan				Subaltern	Altern	SLt		Lt	Maj	SCdr		Cpt Cmdr	Min		Admin
Andorian				Lt			Cdr			Cpt	Gen

External links

• Captain article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
• Captain article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
• Captain article at Star Trek Expanded Universe wiki, the wiki for fan-authored Star Trek.