Captain/History

The naval rank of captain was common in Earth militaries and was used by the United States Navy branch of the United States military and was comparable to the infantry rank of colonel. In the Earth Starfleet, and later the Federation, it was represented by four collar pips. 
By the mid-22nd century, captain was a senior line officer rank of most space services and usually given to the commanding officers of starships. This naval rank was equivalent to the Romulan Star Empire's commander grade, the Cardassian Union's title of gul and the Ferengi Alliance's quasi-military DaiMon title.
A senior captain given a large degree of responsibility or administrative assignment was sometimes given the title of fleet captain.
The rank of captain could also be held by non-command personnel, especially on ships with a number of veteran and senior officers whose experience had warranted advancement to the rank of captain but without command of a starship. Such was the case on the , where the senior staff consisted of no less than three captains: the commanding officer (James T. Kirk), the first officer (Spock), and the chief engineer (Montgomery Scott). () Captain Scott had previously held his rank of captain while chief engineer of the , where he was known as the "captain of engineering". ()
The rank of captain could also be held by staff officers, such as Phillipa Louvois, a Judge Advocate General sector officer in 2365. () Although most Starfleet Captains were in the command division, the rank was obtainable in both the sciences and operations division, as the rank was held by Captain Krasnovsky in 2267 and Captain Worf in 2401. (; )
Tryla Scott was said to have achieved the rank of captain faster than anyone in Starfleet history as of 2364. ()
In the 2360s, K'Vada, Kargan, Korris, Kurn, , and Tel-Peh were captains in the Klingon Defense Force. (; ) In the 2150s, Vorok was a captain in the Klingon Imperial Fleet. ()
Captain was a title typically held by commanders of merchant vessels and sometimes service craft. In 2367, Wesley Crusher remarked in a bemused manner that Dirgo was claiming to hold the rank of captain while serving as the master of the mining shuttle Nenebek. To this, Dirgo sternly told Crusher that yes, indeed, his rank was that of captain in comparison to Crusher's rank of ensign. ()
When Lieutenant Commander Data was asked in 2368 by why he wasn't captain of the Enterprise-D, Data explained that "My service experience does not yet warrant such a position." ()
Some known Starfleet captains included:
* Captain Jonathan Archer of 
* Captain Balthazar Edison of 
* Captain Richard Robau of the 
* Captain Robert April of the 
* Captain Philippa Georgiou of the 
* Captain Christopher Pike of the and 
* Captain Gabriel Lorca of the 
* Captain James T. Kirk of the and 
* Captain Hikaru Sulu of the 
* Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the , , and 
* Captain Phillipa Louvois of the Judge Advocate General's office
* Captain Benjamin Sisko of Deep Space 9 
* Captain Kathryn Janeway of the 
* Captain William T. Riker of the and 
* Captain Carol Freeman of the 
* Captain Saru of the 
* Captain Michael Burnham of the USS Discovery
* Captain Chakotay of the 
* Captain Worf
* Captain Cristóbal Rios of the 
* Captain Liam Shaw of the 
* Captain Tuvok
* Captain Seven of Nine of the 
The Starfleet of the alternate reality established in 2233 by the temporal incursion of the Romulan Nero had the following noteworthy captains:
* Captain Frank Abbott of the 
* Captain of the 
* Captain of the and