- For the mirror universe counterpart, see Robert D'Amato (mirror).
- See D'Amato for other articles with titles that contain, either by relationship or by coincidence, this character's surname.
Lieutenant Robert D'Amato (also known as Arthur D'Amato) served aboard the USS Enterprise for four years as chief geologist, whose career was tragically cut short on the Kalandan outpost.
History[]
D'Amato was married to fellow Starfleet officer, Oriana D'Amato, who served as a helmsman aboard the USS Bombay. Because they were both career officers, they spent little time together, with conversations taking place over subspace. When Robert departed aboard the Enterprise in 2264, the couple did not see each other until the Enterprise docked at Starbase 47 in 2265. Their time together on Vanguard was brief because the Bombay was called away, on what turned out to be its final mission, and resulted in the death of Oriana. Captain James T. Kirk delivered the news to D'Amato directly shortly before the main announcement to the rest of the ship, musing that this was the first time he'd had to deliver a death notice in person to a member of his crew rather than over a transmission to a relative of the deceased. (VAN novel: Harbinger)
Despite the death of his wife, D'Amato continued to serve aboard the Enterprise as chief geologist, his initial transfer now pointless as he wouldn't get the chance to be with his wife. In 2266, he accompanied a fifteen-man survey team to Tlaoli IV. (TOS - The Janus Gate novel: Present Tense)
In 2268, D'Amato was part of Kirk's landing party to the Kalandan outpost, where he was killed by the Kalandan hologram Losira. The landing party buried D'Amato in a tomb of rocks after Kirk was unable to dig a grave in the resilient bedrock with his phaser. (TOS episode: "That Which Survives")
