The helmsman (or helm officer) was the Starfleet crewperson who operated the helm console on 22nd and 23rd century Federation starships.
The helmsman of those vessels worked in concert with the navigator, who plotted the ship's course. On the USS Enterprise, the helmsman controlled both the speed and attitude of the ship, as well as the ship's weapon and shield systems. Other spacefaring services use the term helmsman also, the 22nd century Earth Starfleet for one, but it isn't clear if there is the same relationship with a navigation console, since vessels like Enterprise NX-01 had a single helm station.
By the 24th century, the helm and navigation stations became combined as the flight controller position. Also, control of weapons and defenses is usually handled by the tactical station or the operations officer, rather than their 23rd century equivalents, under the control of the helmsman.
In 2364, Jean-Luc Picard described his execution of what would later be named the Picard Maneuver as being "what any good helmsman would have done." (TNG: "The Battle")
In 2375, after hearing how Hector Ilario had piloted the USS Defiant into a crowd of half a dozen Jem'hadar attack ships and was the sole survivor of the melee, Miles O'Brien described him as a born helmsman, to shouts of agreement from all around them. (DS9: "Field of Fire")
List of helmsmen
- NX Beta
- Jonathan Archer (NX-Beta)
- A.G. Robinson (NX-Beta)
- Enterprise NX-01
- Travis Mayweather (Enterprise NX-01)
- Hutchison (Enterprise NX-01)
- USS Enterprise NCC-1701/A/B/C/D/E/(alternate reality)
- Number One (USS Enterprise)
- Gary Mitchell (USS Enterprise)
- Hikaru Sulu (USS Enterprise, USS Enterprise-A)
- Hikaru Sulu (USS Enterprise (alternate reality), USS Franklin, USS Enterprise-A (alternate reality))
- Jana Haines (USS Enterprise)
- Kyle (USS Enterprise)
- Valeris (USS Enterprise-A)
- Leslie (USS Enterprise)
- Pavel Chekov (USS Enterprise-A)
- Demora Sulu (USS Enterprise-B)
- Richard Castillo (USS Enterprise-C)
Unnamed helmsmen
These articles have entries about unnamed crewpeople who have occupied the helm or conn station.
- USS Excelsior personnel - USS Excelsior's executive officer was at the helm
- USS Stargazer personnel - USS Stargazer's sciences division helm crewwoman
External link
- Helmsman at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works