Richard Patterson

Richard Cornelius "Dick" Patterson (?-2268) was a human male who served in the United Federation of Planets Starfleet. During the 2260s he was the Captain of the USS Republic (NCC-1371).

During the brief Federation-Klingon war of 2267, Captain Patterson engaged Klingon forces, and following the end of the war was recognized for his tactics in these engagements. In addition to being an expert in tactics, Captain Patterson was also considered an expert in the field of diplomacy.

In 2268 Captain Patterson and Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) agreed to participate in war games - pitting their respective vessels against each other. Captain Kirk and the Enterprise were able to quickly defeat the Republic, and Captain Patterson sent his congragulations to Captain Kirk before the two ships departed for their assignments.

Later in 2268 the Republic encountered another Constitution class starship, and were shocked when this ship proceeded to attack them. Captain Patterson and almost his entire crew were killed in this attack, and the Republic was left a derelict in the process. Captain Kirk and the original Enterprise soon arrived to investigate, and soon discovered that the Vardaine had commissioned their own Constitution class ship which they had called Enterprise - which they had used to attack the Republic. After the original Enterprise destroyed the Vardaine duplicate, it was noted for the record that Captain Patterson died in combat against the Vardaine.