Fleet admiral (Star Trek)

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For versions of this rank in other science fiction genres, see Fleet Admiral (science fiction).

Starfleet ranks and insignia Fleet Admiral
Enterprise:
Enterprise (mirror):
TOS:	Conjectured
TMP:	Conjectured
TOS films:
TNG 1^st season:
*TNG, DS9, VOY*:

Fleet admiral is the highest commissioned Starfleet officer rank in the fictional Star Trek universe. This flag rank is analogous to the actual rank of fleet admiral, the highest military rank in many navies, including the United States Navy, on which the Starfleet rank system is based.

"Fleet Admiral" is used as early as Star Trek: The Original Series as a generic title to describe any Starfleet admiral. The title is first mentioned in "Space Seed" when Doctor Leonard McCoy, observing a dinner set for Khan Noonian Singh, comments that the ship must be "expecting a fleet admiral for dinner." However, no actual fleet admiral appears in TOS. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, James Kirk refers to Fleet Admiral Nogura, but this character never appears.

Fleet Admiral Morrow

It is not until Star Trek III: The Search for Spock that an actual fleet admiral appears on camera: Fleet Admiral Morrow played by Robert Hooks. Several other TOS-era fleet admirals appear in subsequent motion pictures:

Fleet Admiral Cartwright in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Fleet Admiral Robert Bennett¹ in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Starfleet commander-in-chief Fleet Admiral Bill -?-² in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Additional unnamed fleet admiral in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Unnamed fleet admiral in Star Trek: Generations

At least two characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation are referred to as fleet admirals: Fleet Admiral Shanthi approves Picard's plan to blockade the Klingon-Romulan border during the Klingon Civil War ("Redemption") and Fleet Admiral Brackett informs Captain Jean-Luc Picard of Spock's disappearance ("Unification"). However, both of these characters wear the three-pipped insignia later associated with the rank of vice admiral.

Fan literature has speculated about the existence of even higher ranks than fleet admiral, including "sector admiral" and "flag admiral"^[1]. None of these ranks has ever been declared official by the producers of Star Trek; fleet admiral remains the highest canon Starfleet rank.

Starfleet ranks and insignia

Lieutenant junior grade

Fleet admiral

[edit] Footnotes

Note 1: "Bennett" is a conjectured name, as Captain Kirk identifies him only as "Bob". However, the role is played by longtime Star Trek producer Harve Bennett, and the surname is generally accepted
Note 2: Addressed as "Bill" at the briefing at movie's beginning, but otherwise only addressed as "Admiral." Although non-canon, the novelization of the movie, by J.M. Dillard, gives Bill the last name "Smillie."