James T. Kirk

James Tiberius Kirk was arguably the most famous Starfleet captain in Federation history. He is best known for commanding the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A.

Early history
Early history Born in the town of Riverside, Iowa in 2233, Kirk was the youngest son of George Kirk and Winona Kirk, and had an elder brother, George Samuel Kirk, who was born in 2230. Kirk was born a month prematurely due to a minor accident (his mother tripped over a pig). Kirk was named for his maternal grandfather James and his paternal grandfather Tiberius.

As a child, Kirk believed that his middle initial "T" stood for "Tank," which he told to all his classmates. George promised to tell him what the "T" stood for on his 10th birthday, but never did so.

In 2238, James learned Morse code while staying at his grandparents' house in Vermont. Kirk and his brother spent a month playing cowboys and Indians with the local McLaughlin boys. In August of that year, on Federation Day, Kirk's family visited the Starfleet War Memorial in San Francisco. Later that same year, 5-year-old James decided he wanted to go into space, while he sat in his father's arms watching the stars.

Throughout his early years, George was rarely at home as he was assigned to Starbase 2 as chief of security, but by 2246, the family had moved from Earth to Tarsus IV. In October 2246, a deadly famine gripped the colony and there was only enough food for half the colonists. In order to save one half of the population, Governor Kodos gave the order to kill the other half, including Kirk. Kirk rescued young Kevin Riley, and managed to escape. Running for his life, Kirk was rescued by Ambassador Sarek. Sarek melded with Kirk and erased his memory of the encounter, because Sarek also rescued Kodos and gave him his new identity. By the 2260s, Kirk was one of a few living witnesses to Kodos' atrocities.

After departing Tarsus IV, the Kirk family moved to Grex following the Orion withdrawal from the planet in 2247. However, they were forced to leave aboard the transport Eliza Mae after warfare broke out between the two factions on the planet, the Kozhu and Vragax. James was nearly killed on the planet's surface, but was rescued by his father and a Captain Forester.

In 2249, at the age of 16, Kirk attempted to lead a group of friends on a trek from Iowa to Oregon, but only got as far as the dynacarrier Christopher Cockerell before being detained by his father. Realizing that his son was yearning for adventure, George took emergency leave and they both boarded the USS Enterprise en route to the newly-discovered archaeological site on Faramond. En route, the Enterprise was diverted to Vega IX, but the Kirks boarded a liaison cutter to complete the journey. Shortly after, the cutter was hijacked by the pirate Roy John Moss and the crew of the Shark. After fighting for control of the ship, the Enterprise came to their rescue and Moss was taken into custody. After returning to Earth, George pulled some strings, and James was assigned to an industrial freighter to learn what space duty is all about.

Starfleet Academy
Kirk entered Starfleet Academy in 2250, aged 17. He was sponsored for entry by Captain Robert April and Admirals R. Mallory and La Forge. Because of the important backing he received, Kirk felt pressured to achieve excellent grades in his first year at the Academy, out of fear that he would let down those who had sponsored him. As a result, he earned the reputation of being a hard-nosed cadet who was slightly reviled by his fellow cadets.

During his first two years at the Academy, Kirk's bunkmate was Thomas Clayton, but after he dropped out in 2252, Robert Jordan became his new roommate. His early days at the Academy were both enjoyable and harrowing for Kirk, because he had a romance with Ruth Bonne, an assistant professor, and was constantly bullied by upperclassman Sean Finnegan. Kirk was on the Academy fencing team. As an Academy cadet, Kirk flew a shuttle under the Golden Gate Bridge in a storm.