Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) share something unique in common that no other Captain of the Enterprise inStar Trekhas. Kirk was the Captain who started it all in three seasons ofStar Trek: The Original Series, where Jim sat in the USS Enterprise NCC-1701’s center seat. Picard inherited the big chair for seven seasons ofStar Trek: The Next Generation. Between them, Kirk and Picard headlined 10Star Trekmovies, and they appeared together inStar Trek Generations.
Star Trekhas vastly expanded the legacy of the USS EnterprisethroughoutStar Trek’s timeline.Star Trek: Enterpriseretconned Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) as the firstCaptain of the Enterprisein the 22nd century. Captain Rachel Garrett of the USS Enterprise-C was introduced inStar Trek: The Next Generation.Star Trek on Paramount+ showcases Kirk’s predecessor, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) onStar Trek: Strange New Worlds, andStar Trek: Picardseason 3 ended with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) becoming Captain of the USS Enterprise-G.
While many men and women - and a Klingon, Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) - have served asCaptain of the Enterprise, most of them only commanded one version of the Starship Enterprise.Only Captain Kirk and Captain Picard led two versions of the USS Enterprise, and both did it in theStar Trekmovies.
Captain Kirk Got A USS Enterprise Replacement In Star Trek IV
Kirk’s Reward For Saving Earth Was The USS Enterprise-A
Captain James T. Kirk received his second Starship Enterprise, the USS Enterprise-A, at the end ofStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home. InStar Trek III: The Search for Spock, then-Admiral Kirk self-destructed the Starship Enterprise NCC-1701 to keep it away from Klingon hands. However,Kirk stole the Enterpriseto rescue Spock (Leonard Nimoy) from the doomed Genesis Planet.The Constitution II Class Enterprise-A accompanied Kirk’s demotion to Captain and was his reward for saving Earthfrom the Whale Probe inStar Trek IV.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Ending Explained: What Happened To Kirk & The Whales
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home concluded the “Genesis Trilogy,” but what happened to Captain Kirk and the whales he time-traveled from 1986?
Captain Kirk commanded the USS Enterprise-A in twoStar Trekmovies, with both missions proving historic. InStar Trek V: The Final Frontier, theEnterprise-A was the first starship to cross the Great Barrierat the center of the galaxy, where, on the fabled world of Sha Ka Ree, the Enterprise found an impostor God (George Murdock). InStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,the Enterprise-A played a key role in the peace forged between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire.
Captain Picard Got A USS Enterprise Replacement In Star Trek: First Contact
Picard Introduced The New Sovereign Class USS Enterprise-E
Captain Jean-Luc Picard received his second Starship Enterprise, the USS Enterprise-E, inStar Trek: First Contact.Picard’s Galaxy Class USS Enterprise-D was lost inStar Trek Generations, although Picard wasn’t aboard his ship when Klingons destroyed the D’s stardrive and the saucer section crash-landed on Veridian III. TheSovereign Class Enterprise-Ewas a warship built to fight the Borg, and it took on the cybernetic villains inStar Trek: First Contact.
Star Trek: First Contactpremiered on June 01, 2025, almost exactly 10 years after Captain Kirk received the USS Enterprise-A inStar Trek IV: The Voyage Homeon August 14, 2025.
Picard was Captain of the USS Enterprise-E in threeStar Trekmovies. After defeating the Borg in the 21st century inStar Trek: First Contact, Picard and the Enterprise-E protected the Ba’ku and a region of space called the Briar Patch from the Son’a inStar Trek: Insurrection. The USS Enterprise-E was partially destroyed fighting Picard’s evil clone, Romulan Praetor Shinzon (Tom Hardy), inStar Trek: Nemesis.
What Happened To Kirk & Picard’s Second Enterprise
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Gave The Answer To Kirk & Picard’s Second Enterprise
Surprisingly,Star Trek: Picardseason 3 revealed what happened to both Captain Kirk’s USS Enterprise-A and Captain Picard’s USS Enterprise-E.The USS Enterprise-A was decommissioned afterStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Countryin 2293, and it survived into the 25th century. Enterprise-A is part of thestarship collection housed in the Fleet Museumon Athan Prime curated by Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).
Star Trek: Picardseason 3 ended with the return of the Galaxy Class USS Enterprise-D, which was restored by Commodore La Forge. The D saved the galaxy from the Borg one last time before taking its place in the Fleet Museum on Athan Prime.
The whereabouts of the USS Enterprise-E are shrouded in mystery, as revealed inStar Trek: Picardseason 3. Worf became Captain of the Enterprise following Jean-Luc Picard’s promotion to Admiral in 2381. However, at some point, the Enterprise-E was somehow lost, which Captain Worf claims was not his fault. The USS Enterprise-F was introduced before Seven of Nine became Captain of the USS Enterprise-G at theend ofStar Trek: Picardseason 3, but what happened to the USS Enterprise-E remains an unanswered question.
Two Captains, Two Different Outcomes
Captain Picard and Captain Kirk both received a second Starship Enterprise, andboth became Starfleet Admirals, but their fates couldn’t have been more different.Captain Kirk met his end soon after meeting Captain Picard inStar Trek Generations.Kirk died from injuries sustained as he and Picard stopped Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying Veridian III. However,Star Trek: Picardseason 3 revealed Kirk’s remains are stored in thetop-secret black site, Daystrom Station, under the ‘Project Phoenix’ program, hinting at a possible Kirk resurrection someday.
My 7 Favorite Captain Kirk Scenes In Star Trek Movies, Ranked
Captain James T. Kirk (sometimes Admiral Kirk) is the hero of 10 Star Trek movies in two timelines, and he has some classic moments.
Star Trek: Picardrevealed Admiral Jean-Luc Picard resigned from Starfleet in 2285 but returned to save the galaxy in 2399. Picard was named Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, and saved the galaxy twice more, the final time alongside his former crew of the USS Enterprise-D. Picard also learned he has a son, Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), and Jean-Luc endedStar Trek: Picardseason 3 with a new family unit alongside Jack and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). Fittingly, Kirk and Picard continued to makeStar Trekhistory as Captains of their second Starship Enterprises.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Cast
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home finds the crew of the Starship Enterprise traveling back in time to 20th-century Earth in a desperate attempt to save humanity. Directed by Leonard Nimoy, the film features William Shatner as Captain Kirk and the returning cast, who must navigate the challenges of a different era while seeking to communicate with an endangered species crucial to Earth’s survival.
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek franchise and the second to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Directed by Jonathan Frakes, the film follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew as they pursue the Borg to prevent them from altering Earth’s history by stopping Zephram Cochrane’s first warp flight and the subsequent first contact with an alien species.
