Captain

**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 admiralin 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*)

## Positions and lists

###### 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