4. Captain Jack Aubrey
Patrick O'Brian's Lucky Jack Aubrey is another one of those dynamic captains who loves his ship as he does his own life. He served on the HMS Surprise when he was only a boy midshipman and rose through the ranks to be its captain. The crew know this and revere him for it, pointing out his initials carved into the bowsprit to younger members of the crew in Master and Commander. When Aubrey gives a command, he knows how much the ship can take, as it's remarked that there's as much of the captain's blood in the ship as there is in his body. Though Kirk never served on board the Enterprise as a boy, he is as bound to her as Aubrey. It's a relationship that comes out in the episode "The Naked Time", when instead of a beautiful young yeoman to love and hold, he remarks about the cold, relationship between him and his ship: "This vessel, I give, she takes. She won't permit me my life. I've got to live hers." Kirk knows the breaking point of the Enterprise as well as Aubrey knows the Surprise's. When Aubrey takes his ship around the Cape in pursuit of the French Privateer Acheron, he strains the ship's mast, nearly breaking it. Eventually, he is forced to break off the pursuit, recognizing that his ship can't take the strain. In "Balance of Terror", Kirk accelerates the Enterprise past its safety point to escape the Romulan warbird's plasma torpedo. He too, realizes that his ship won't be able to escape the weapon but luckily, he discovers that the warhead's energy level dissipates with distance. Luck is another trait that Kirk shares with "Lucky" Jack Aubrey.