Starfleet captains

Multiple realities
(covers information from several alternate timelines)

"Starfleet captains are like children. They want everything right now and they want it their way, but the secret is to give them only what they need, not what they want."

– Montgomery Scott, 2369 ("Relics")

In the history of Starfleet, many officers held the rank of captain or held the title of captain while commanding starships.

According to Travis Mayweather, Matthew Ryan spent more time in space than most Starfleet Captains. (ENT: "Fortunate Son")

List of prime reality captains

Senior captains

Starfleet flag officers sometimes retained or took command of a vessel. Most often, these officers held the rank of commodore, but there were instances of admirals operating as starship captains.

Rear Admiral Kirk, James T. (USS Enterprise)
Commodore Decker, Matthew (USS Constellation)
Commodore Wesley, Bob (USS Lexington)
Fleet Captain Garth (Garth's starship)

Captains

The substantive rank of captain was typically held by officers captaining starships. Officers of this rank also sometimes served in other capacities, such as in command of starbases or divisions of support personnel (such as JAG officers or members of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers), or as members of experimental engineering programs.

22nd century

32nd century

Junior captains

According to the rules of naval parlance, a person of any officer rank could be addressed as captain if they were assigned as sole commanding officer of any starship. Captains could also have been awarded provisional (brevet) ranks or field promotions to be accorded the title of captain.

Commander Riker, William T. (USS Hathaway, USS Excalibur, and USS Enterprise-D)
Lieutenant Commander Data (USS Sutherland and USS Enterprise-D)
Lieutenant Commander Dax, Jadzia (USS Defiant)
Lieutenant Commander Piersall (USS Prometheus)
Cadet Watters, Tim (USS Valiant)

Unnamed captains

Chakotay's first captain
USS Enterprise-B launch spectator, 2293 (Star Trek Generations)
USS Defiant captain (TOS: "The Tholian Web"; ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly")
USS Jenolan captain (TNG: "Relics")
USS Lalo captain (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris")
USS Saratoga captain (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
USS Saratoga captain (DS9: "Emissary")
Starfleet Command aide-de-camp (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Starfleet Command briefing attendee (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Transport captain commanded the starship that transported Benjamin and Jake Sisko to Deep Space 9 in 2369. (DS9: "Emissary")
USS Venture captain (DS9: "The Way of the Warrior")
Yar's commanding officer (TNG: "Legacy")
32nd century captains

List of alternate reality captains

Alternate Reality
(split 2233)

Senior captain

Starfleet flag officers sometimes retained or took command of a vessel.

Admiral Pike, Christopher (USS Enterprise)
Admiral Marcus, Alexander (USS Vengeance)

Captains

The substantive rank of captain was typically held by officers captaining starships. Officers of this rank also sometimes served in other capacities, such as members of experimental engineering programs.

Junior captains

According to the rules of naval parlance, a person of any officer rank could be addressed as captain if they were assigned as sole commanding officer of any starship. Captains may have also been awarded field promotions to be accorded the title of captain.