Fleet captain is a historic military title that was bestowed upon a naval officer who served as

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

to a

flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countr ...

Historical background

In the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, during the 18th and 19th centuries, an admiral's flagship might have a "

captain of the fleet In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries a captain of the fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command. The equivalent post was called fleet captain in the U.S. Navy of the 18th and 19th ...

", who would be ranked between the admiral and the ship's captain (or "

flag captain In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First ...

"). The "captain of the fleet" would be listed as the ship's "first captain" and would serve as the admiral's chief-of staff. The "flag captain" would be listed as the ship's "second captain" and retain actual command of the vessel. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

had a similar position in the 19th century, but used the title "fleet captain" instead of "captain of the fleet." The fleet captain was not always actually a captain in rank, for instance Henry H. Bell was a commander when he served as

David G. Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. ...

's fleet captain in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In 1869 the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

ordered that the title of fleet captain be changed to "chief of staff."

Science fiction

Fleet captain has appeared in several science fiction sources, the most notable of which is ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

''. As a Starfleet officer rank, there have only been two fleet captains shown in the entirety of ''Star Trek'', both from ''

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

'': Garth of Izar and Christopher Pike. It seems to be used as an honorary rank for achievement or valor rather than a higher command rank. The Imperial Navy of ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' maintains an equivalent senior captain rank of ''line captain'', or captain of the line. Line captains command either a line of battle made up of several smaller ships or a lone, larger ship. The fictional Royal Manticoran Navy of the ''

Honor Harrington The Honorverse is a military science fiction book series, its two subseries, two prequel series, and anthologies created by David Weber and published by Baen Books. They are centered on the space navy career of the principal protagonist H ...

'' series maintains an equivalent rank of "Captain of the List." Captains of the List are typically given more prestigious commands than Captains not yet on the List, such as battlecruisers and superdreadnoughts, and are considered sufficiently "safe" in career terms that their promotion to flag rank is seen as an eventuality of accumulating sufficient seniority. This is equivalent to the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...

term

post-captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

. Captains of the List use a different style of rank pip than Captains: The lesser title shares the four diamond rank pips with the lower rank of Commander (being distinct from a Commander in having four rank rings at their cuffs instead of three), while the greater has a distinctive disc-shaped rank insignia.

References

{{reflist Naval ranks Military appointments

Historical background

Science fiction

See also

References