10 Worst Admirals In Star Trek
2. James T. Kirk - Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
Admiral James T. Kirk remains the only admiral that is shown, on-screen, being demoted in the history of Star Trek. While there are others who have lost their commission entirely, Kirk is actually a fine example of someone who never suited the role of admiral, thus the reduction in rank served him better.
An admiral is responsible for the many. Kirk was unable to relinquish his responsibility to the one. His decision to steal the Enterprise, fly to the forbidden Genesis Planet, and try to save Spock were noble and admirable decisions. They also led directly to the destruction of the ship, sabotage of another ship, and assault on Starfleet personnel. Almost all of this is happily canceled with the return of Spock, and Earth is saved from the Cetacean Probe.
However, it was the command of a starship that suited Kirk. Ascending to the admiralty, as he would later say to Captain Picard while in the Nexus, was a terrible decision. In fact, one of the first acts that we saw him committing as an admiral was to reassign himself to the Enterprise during the V'ger incident, much to the chagrin of Captain Decker.
As a captain, Kirk was one of the best the fleet had ever known. As an admiral, he couldn't break the rules fast enough.