Star Trek: How EVERY Captain Became Captain
5. Captain Rachel Garrett
Rachel Garrett is, to date, the only female captain of the starship Enterprise, in this case being the Ambassador Class NCC-1701-C.
She was born in Madison, Indiana in 2294. She would then go on to enter the academy in 2311, around the time of the Tomed Incident. Not long after this, she was assigned to the USS Endeavour, patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone. By 2316, she was already a Lieutenant Junior Grade aboard the USS Argo.
She became a lieutenant by 2321 and a Lieutenant Commander by 2324, at which time she was assigned to the USS Ghandi and back out patrolling the Neutral Zone.
During her time aboard the Ghandi, they came under attack by Cardassian forces. She was forced to take command of the ship when the captain was killed, and in command she was able to repel the attack.
By 2327, having proven her capability, she was assigned as first officer on board the USS Carthage. While serving aboard the Carthage, she is part of the diplomatic attempt at negotiations between the Klingons and Cardassians over control of the planet Raknal V. This ends in a stalemate, though eventually the Klingons would cede full control to the Cardassians.
With her wealth of experience, and after already having been offered command of the USS Stargazer, Garrett is promoted to captain in 2332, taking command of the Enterprise.