Captain's log

The captain's log is a form of log entry record keeping that has been around since the first captains sailed Earth's seas in ancient history.

The log is used to inform the captain's superiors of what is happening on a mission and to record historical facts for future generations.

In the 22nd century, the day, month and year were used to record dates in logs. By the 23rd century, stardates were used. The Captain's log was known in this period as the Captain's starlog. (ENT: "Broken Bow")

Benjamin Sisko recorded his first Captain's log on stardate 48959.1. (DS9: "The Adversary")

• Captain's Log is also the name of a magazine published by Amarillo Design Bureau relating to the Star Fleet Battles series of games.

Notable Logs

• USS Constellation
• Deep Space 9
• USS Defiant (NX-74205)
• Delta Flyer
• Enterprise (NX-01) (variably referred to as a log and a starlog)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E)
• USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
• USS Excelsior (NCC-2000)
• USS Lantree
• USS Voyager

Background

"Captain's log," spoken by William Shatner, were the first two words viewers heard on the first Star Trek broadcast, "The Man Trap," on September 8, 1966.

Obviously, the "real" purpose of the log is to inform the audience about key plot points; it should be noted that in some of the first episodes of the original series, Kirk's log sometimes broke the fourth wall and described information that neither he nor the crew could be aware of. For example, in "The Naked Time", Kirk describes "...but unknown to us..."

See also

• Combat log
• Military log
• Medical log
• Personal log
• Permanent documentation file
• Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account of the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

External links

• Star Trek Captain's Logs - a database of stardates and logs that includes full log entries from Star Trek: The Original Series, the Star Trek Movies, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise