[Allan Hood]

I just learned that Scotty was ordered to the USS Excelsior as the "captain of engineering" in The Search for Spock. Does that mean Spock held the rank of "captain of science?" Did Spock have his own command?

Would that mean there's also a "captain of security?" Are these questions ever addressed in the non-canon novels?

[AgentZeus]

Putting aside Trek for a sec there are documented historical cases of Surgeon-Captains and Engineering Captains in various navies. As science was not seen as important (in it's infancy I suppose) I don't think 'Captain of Science' was used (or at least i don't recall seeing it mentioned anywhere!).

Engineering Captains (Captains of Engineering) are also usually referred to as Chief Engineers. This is how it is in Trek novels.

Thinking about TOS in particular I think at one point the crew were nearly all Captains (I am sure someone here will know for definite).

I should also mention that there is a difference between being a Captain (in terms of rank) and being The Captain (the honorific title used to describe someone in command). In this way anyone can be a Captain and yet never have had a command.

Hope that makes some sense!

[Allan Hood]

I know that Spock held the rank of captain in the films, so did he have the title "captain of science?" If not, did Spock have his own command? What was it? Are these questions ever addressed in the non-canon novels?

[Alandrel]

I know that Spock held the rank of captain in the films, so did he have the title "captain of science?" If not, did Spock have his own command? What was it? Are these questions ever addressed in the non-canon novels?

Spock was originally assigned as captain of the Enterprise when Kirk was promoted to admiral. Spock surrenders the captaincy to the higher ranked officer due to regulations (and respect) however unlike Decker, he does not take a reduction in rank. Spock had been offered promotion numerous times (as referred to in episodes of TOS and the TOS novels) and emphatically stated that he did not wish a command of his own. The title of "Captain of Engineering" as used by Admiral Morrow was his way to entice Scotty to work on the Excelsior project. Nearly all of the TOS crew had been promoted by this time, so Scotty was logically going to be promoted to Captain anyway.

The title of Captain of Engineering should be considered an honorific according to rank as well as experience. The Chief Engineer can be any rank (as seen numerous times on TNG with Argyle being only a LT, and Geordi being an LT to start...O'Brien was a CPO on DS9, so...)

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Ca...of_engineering

[Allan Hood]

Spock was originally assigned as captain of the Enterprise when Kirk was promoted to admiral. Spock surrenders the captaincy to the higher ranked officer due to regulations (and respect) however unlike Decker, he does not take a reduction in rank. Spock had been offered promotion numerous times (as referred to in episodes of TOS and the TOS novels) and emphatically stated that he did not wish a command of his own. The title of "Captain of Engineering" as used by Admiral Morrow was his way to entice Scotty to work on the Excelsior project. Nearly all of the TOS crew had been promoted by this time, so Scotty was logically going to be promoted to Captain anyway.

The title of Captain of Engineering should be considered an honorific according to rank as well as experience. The Chief Engineer can be any rank (as seen numerous times on TNG with Argyle being only a LT, and Geordi being an LT to start...O'Brien was a CPO on DS9, so...)

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Ca...of_engineering

Right, okay, so in Spock's case, he had to switch to the command division to be captain?

Right, Scotty was still wearing commander's insignia in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, when he was called "Captain of Engineering," too.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Captain

Yeah, Chief Engineer isn't in question, got that part down.

Would that mean there's also a "captain of security" and "captain of science?" Are these questions ever addressed in the non-canon novels?

[Alandrel]

Right, okay, so in Spock's case, he had to switch to the command division to be captain?

Technically speaking, Spock was command division by nature of his being first officer. When the transition was made to the "Monster Maroon" uniforms, Spock wore white to denote command.

Right, Scotty was still wearing commander's insignia in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, when he was called "Captain of Engineering," too.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Captain

No, he wasn't.

Would that mean there's also a "captain of security" and "captain of science?" Are these questions ever addressed in the non-canon novels?

To the best of my knowledge and research, the answer would be no. Chief Security Officer or Chief of Security have both been used. Chief Science Officer or just plain Science Officer have been used. If there were to be a "Captain of Science" title used, one would think essentially it would be the CO of a science vessel (ex. Capt. JT Esteban, USS Grissom [ST:TSFS])

[Allan Hood]

No, he wasn't.

Yeah, he was. This is from TSFS


And he was seen wearing both captain and commander insignias in TVH.

[Alandrel]

Looks like a continuity issue, then. He's Captain Scott during the entire remainder of the series, including Generations and when he was found in the transporter when the Jenolan crashed into the Dyson Sphere. Another one of those moments when us fans find fault with the movie folks.

[Allan Hood]

Looks like a continuity issue, then. He's Captain Scott during the entire remainder of the series, including Generations and when he was found in the transporter when the Jenolan crashed into the Dyson Sphere. Another one of those moments when us fans find fault with the movie folks.

Okay, cool. I thought there was some canon reason for that, besides making an oops haha

[Strathkin]

Putting aside Trek for a sec there are documented historical cases of Surgeon-Captains and Engineering Captains in various navies. As science was not seen as important (in it's infancy I suppose) I don't think 'Captain of Science' was used (or at least i don't recall seeing it mentioned anywhere!).

Engineering Captains (Captains of Engineering) are also usually referred to as Chief Engineers. This is how it is in Trek novels.

Thinking about TOS in particular I think at one point the crew were nearly all Captains (I am sure someone here will know for definite).

I should also mention that there is a difference between being a Captain (in terms of rank) and being The Captain (the honorific title used to describe someone in command). In this way anyone can be a Captain and yet never have had a command.

Hope that makes some sense!

Yea I agree with your statement above. Captain of Engineering was Scotty's unique way of expressing "Chief Engineer" or the one in Command of Engineering.

[Allan Hood]

Yea I agree with your statement above. Captain of Engineering was Scotty's unique way of expressing "Chief Engineer" or the one in Command of Engineering.

That's what I thought, too, but, I've since learned that "Captain of Engineering" is the title given to chief engineers who hold the rank of captain in the US Navy.