Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Original Enterprise You Need To Know
3. Kirk Repeatedly Stole The Enterprise From Other Captains
Kirk may not have been the first captain of the Enterprise, but he was dead set on being the last one. Through the latter half of Kirk’s career, several officers took command of the Enterprise. Each one of these officers ended up relinquishing command to Kirk.
Captain Zarlo was the first officer set to replace Kirk as captain of the Enterprise. Kirk was reassigned to a covert, anti-Klingon mission. However, Starfleet lost contact with Kirk during the mission. When the crew learned this they threatened to mutiny unless Zarlo agreed to rescue Kirk.
Kirk recommended the next captain, Will Decker, to command the refitted Enterprise. But, as soon as the ship left dry-dock, Kirk convinced Starfleet to let him command of the ship, over Decker. To add insult to injury, Kirk demoted Decker to the rank of commander. Then, he forced Decker to serve as his first officer.
Eventually, Starfleet retired the Enterprise from service. During this time, the Enterprise served as a training vessel, and Spock commanded the ship. You can probably see where this is going...
Per usual, as soon as there was some action, Kirk came knocking. Spock ceded command of the ship during a mission to go after the stolen Genesis Device. What's worse, Spock freaking died on the mission!
Finally, Kirk just straight-up stole the Enterprise after it was decommissioned. This time he was going after the Genesis planet in a bid to bring Spock back from the dead.
It’s the least he could do really. After all, he did steal Spock’s ship and get the Vulcan killed.
So yeah, Kirk's kind of a jackass.