Andrea Memmo

Andrea Memmo is captain of the USS Kongo. She was assigned command of the ship on 1 February 2270.

Biography

Andrea Memmo was born in the Terran calendar year 2230 on Alpha Centauri, the youngest daughter of renowned diplomat Cassiopeia Memmo. Andrea has three older sisters who serve in the Federation Diplomatic Corps.

Memmo graduated from Starfleet Academy in 2246 at the age of sixteen. She pursued advanced studies in astrophysics and warp theory and is known for her work on asymmetrical linear warp clusters. Upon receiving her doctorate in astrophysics in 2251, Andrea requested assignment as an engineer aboard the USS Enterprise, then under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. Her academic honors and influential mother served to aid her in gaining this choice assignment. She was commissioned with the rank of lieutenant and served aboard the Enterprise for nearly four years, taking a temporary leave of absence from Starfleet in 2254. She was awarded the Starfleet Commendations for Rescue and for Valor due to her actions during the Rigel VII incident.

She returned to Alpha Centauri that same year and took a professorship at the Centauran Science Institute. While teaching, she published pioneering work on the interaction of verteron particles with quantum singularities.

In 2260 she returned to Starfleet service at the request of her former commander Christopher Pike, who had been promoted to Fleet Captain. Andrea was assigned to the USS Yorktown as Assistant Chief of Operations with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. As the the ninth officer in the chain of command, Memmo assumed command of the ship in 2263 when the senior staff officers were killed during an away mission to Algon IV. The senior staff had transported to the surface in order to attend a diplomatic reception. Due to a severe breakdown in communication, the intentions of the away team were misread and the Algonians unexpectedly attacked them. Algonian space vessels then attempted to engage the Yorktown in combat. Knowing the Algonian ships were hopelessly outgunned and hoping to prevent further casualties, Memmo confidently defended the Yorktown through a clever series of maneuvers and bluffs. Memmo offered to surrender the Yorktown and the Algonians ships ceased their attack. Peaceful diplomatic relations were soon restored.

Memmo's actions at Algon IV were quite controversial and resulted in a lengthy Starfleet investigation and several Federation Council hearings. Due to political pressure, Starfleet Command was forced to court-martial Memmo in 2263. At her trial, she defended herself admirably. The officers and crew of the Yorktown had nearly one hundred statements of support placed in the trial record. Additional testimony from representatives of the Algonian Council resulted in Memmo being cleared of any wrongdoing.

In 2264 she was promoted to the rank of Commander and placed in supervisory command of Starfleet Operations at Utopia Planitia Shipyards. Under her leadership the shipyard expanded to nearly double its size as a result of Memmo negotiating an end to a four-year stalemate in negotiations with nearby colonists. Technical operations were also improved significantly and it was during her tenure that the theoretical divisions of Starfleet Engineering were permanently relocated to the shipyards. This move is widely regarded as the most significant non-technical factor in the increasingly rapid development and deployment of Federation warp technology.

Beginning in 2266, Memmo personally supervised the refit of several Constitution-class starships. She chose a select staff of highly talented engineers to work on the project. Many of the systems on these aging vessels had not been upgraded for over two decades. The success of the refit program allowed Memmo to select her next assignment.

In 2270 Memmo was promoted to the rank of Captain and assumed command of the USS Kongo.