In the expansive universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s, the Star Trek franchise has created hundreds of life-threatening situations, and shown the untimely deaths of many a Starfleet officer. Most of these deaths were via nefarious forces, while some were simply by accident, but it is always the captains' duty to try and protect as many people as possible, no matter the cost. Despite this, however, they can not always pull it off. Sometimes, not everyone can make it. Of all the captains over the last 60 odd years, who lost the most crew?
There are three distinct angles by which to explore this. One possible angle is to determine what captain lost the moves lives, another looks at what captain was willing to lose the most lives, but for whatever reason, didn’t have to at the last minute. Finally, we consider which captain lost the largest percentage of their crew members.
Lost The Most Lives: Benjamin Sisko
Of all the captains in the Star Trek universe, few have had to face as much trauma as Captain Benjamin Sisko. His entire life is a rolling wheel of problems, starting with the death of his wife at the hands of the Borg, and ending in him commanding a large armada in the Dominion war. Deep Space 9 was always intended to be a more realistic, grittier exploration of the Federation, looking closer at those on the outskirts of their controlled space who are often overlooked or forgotten. Sisko is repeatably thrown impossible situations that have no clear good answer, constantly balancing the thin line between morally good and bad (but for good reasons). Some of these actions would even technically class him as a war criminal.
For Sisko, it’s hard to specifically count the deaths under his command, but during the Dominion war there was a staggering number of deaths. The final death toll once the dust settled after two years of conflict was just over 1 million Starfleet officers, 90 million (yes, 90 million) Federation citizens, and 400,000 Klingon and Romulan warriors.
During the war Captain Sisko acted as a commander, ordering countless ships and lives into battle never to be seen again. While it’s not quite accurate to say that he was responsible for all the aforementioned deaths (although, in a roundabout way, as Sisko was part of the reason the conflict started), he will undoubtedly be responsible for a number far greater than any other main protagonist Captain.
Most Willing To Sacrifice: Jean-Luc Picard
While it might not equate to losing ship after ship trying to stop an unrelenting force in the Dominion war, there have been plenty of times when a Starfleet captain has resigned themselves to lose everything in order to save the lives of countless others. Picard takes the crown for this, as he is no stranger to the famed auto-destruct sequence. It has almost become a trope for the poor captain, who attempts to do it once more in the newest season of Picard. However, in The Next Generation, he also did it on multiple occasions, such as the episodes “Where Silence Has Lease,” and “11001001.”
On both occasions, the deployment of the auto-destruct sequence was for the perceived greater good, sacrificing the ship and the crew in order to save countless others. However, it's important to note just how many people were aboard his ship. The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D was a galaxy class starship and could accommodate roughly 6,000 crewmembers, although it’s unclear how many specifically there were aboard on these self-destruct occasions. Not all of these crew members were Starfleet officers either. The Enterprise also homed various families and citizens too, blood that would have been on Picard's hands if he hadn't been saved at the last minute. The one occasion where he wasn’t saved was in the film Nemesis, where he lobs the entire Enterprise into the Scimitar without even ordering an evacuation.
Highest Percentage: Jonathan Archer
This one a bit of an interesting way of looking at the amount of crew a captain lost, and it really put into light the differences between the amount of active officers aboard. The unwanted prize here goes to Captain Archer from Enterprise, who lost 67% percent of his crew. For comparison. Kirk lost 22%, Janeway 37%, and Picard only 7%.
It’s not all bad for poor Captain Archer, however. While the percentages look rather drastic, it’s important to remember that his crew aboard the first Enterprise comprised merely of 83 people: 67% of 83 is around 56 people dead where Picard’s 7% is a potential 420 deaths.
An honorable (or not so honorable) mention goes to Commodore Matt Decker from the Original Series episode “The Doomsday Machine,” who attempted to save his crew from their untimely demise aboard his ship, beaming them all down to a nearby planet. He then was forced to watch, unable to do anything, as the doomsday device destroyed the entire planet, killing all of his crew instantly. In one action, Decker inadvertently sent his entire crew to their deaths.
This list is not a compilation showing how bad these captains and commanders are, or how incompetent they are with the lives of those they are supposed to care for. Instead, it shows more the consequences of the risks that Starfleet captains are required to make each and every day for the greater good of not only the Federation, but all life in the universe. They never threw away lives, but instead, lives were either taken from them or a result of some accident or sacrifice.