The USS Prometheus (NX-59650/NX-74913) was a Federation Template:ShipClass starship that was in service with Starfleet in the late 24th century. Prometheus was an experimental prototype designed for deep space tactical assignments and equipped with regenerative shields, ablative hull armor, and multi-vector assault mode. She was the fastest ship in Starfleet when she was launched from the Beta Antares Ship Yards on stardate 50749.5 in late 2374. The vessel was also equipped with holographic projectors on every deck, allowing its EMH Mark II free range of movement throughout the ship. The Prometheus was, at least, the second starship to bear the name.
USS Prometheus in multi-vector assault mode
Some time shortly after stardate 51462 in 2374, the Prometheus was hijacked by Romulans. During their escape aboard the ship, the Prometheus easily disabled the USS Bonchune when the Romulans decided to enable the multi-vector assault mode, for the first time, proving her potency as a combat vessel.
Coincidentally, during the hijacking the Prometheus received a subspace transmission from the USS Voyager, which was stranded in the Delta Quadrant over 60,000 light years away. This transmission contained Voyager's Emergency Medical Hologram, who initially escaped detection by claiming to be the Prometheus's EMH, and also claiming that, as a doctor, he was neutral. Assisted by the Prometheus's EMH, The Doctor was able to regain control of the ship by knocking the Romulans out using neurozine gas (that, naturally, didn't affect the two holograms) and stop her from entering Romulan space. Despite their initial lack of understanding of the controls of the Prometheus, the two EMHs subsequently managed to destroy an opposing Romulan ship before the Prometheus was recovered by Starfleet. Following this, The Doctor spoke directly to Starfleet Headquarters about the fate of Voyager, before returning to his ship to assure them that they were no longer alone. (VOY: "Message in a Bottle")
Design History:
The Prometheus is the culmination of multiple research projects, which have been combined into one prototype testbed. Starfleet has long recognized that, all other factors being even, vessels with high maneuverability can gain a significant combat advantage. The physics of warp drive dictate that for a given engine capacity the least massive vessel will have the greatest maneuverability- but minimizing vessel size was at odds with the large number of scientific and diplomatic functions which a Starship must be able to perform. One obvious solution to this problem was to design ships that are able to configure themselves for the mission at hand, but the non-military nature of Starfleet gave research in this area a relatively low priority.
In 2359 Starfleet initiated a research project intended to explore the possibility of a true multi-section vessel. The requirement called for a vessel able to separate into at least two independent sections, each with a fully functional warp drive of its own. One would be capable of launching an attack with almost the full ships weaponry, at high speed and maneuverability. The other, comprising the scientific, diplomatic and accommodation sections, would clear the area at high warp carrying the civilian complement. Much of the early design and technology was being developed for the Intrepid class project was included, with the result that the theoretical model finalized in 2363 bore a close resemblance to the Intrepid herself.
In 2364 Starfleet was considering moving to a production basis with the multi-section Starship. However, during this year contact with the Romulans was re-established when the USS Enterprise-D encountered a Warbird at the Neutral Zone. Since the Warbird appeared to outgun the Enterprise, then Starfleet's most powerful ship by a considerable margin Starfleet was confronted with what appeared to be a powerful and aggressive enemy. As part of their response Starfleet requested a complete re-design of the multi-section starship. The new requirement called for an almost totally re-designed of the vessel; the ship would be in three sections, each of which would have an independent warp core and drive system. The majority of the scientific sections were removed, along with the entire diplomatic sections in favor of increased armament and power for the weapons, thus providing more space for other areas abaord the ship.
During the development Starfleet also encountered both the Borg and the Dominion, both hostile and powerful enemies. This led to an over-accelerating effort to turn the new ship into a pure combat vessel; technology (weapons, propolusion, etc.) from other projects as well as from other species (Borg, Romulans ect.) was included and put into the what was now dubbed the "multi-vector attack Starship", but most of the ship was designed with the most advanced/lastes technology.
In place of the Type VIII phaser arrays that the original ship had shared with the Intrepid class, the Type XII phaser arrays from the Sovereign project were included. This technology combined to make the new Starship one of the most massively armed and armored vessels of its size ever contemplated, let alone built. The small size combined with incredible speed and maneuverability when in multi-vector assult mode; when the prototype USS Prometheus was launched in late 2373 she was thought to have a combat capacity an amazing nine times that of the equally-sized Intrepid class, while her Type XII phasers made her a formidable foe for any vessel in the alpha quadrant.
The shield system was massively upgraded, and in light of the subsequent Borg attack, and closely based on the auto-modulating shields technology. The advanced warp engine design also included much of Starfleets latest technolgy, while the ablative armor, high capacity structural integrity fields, and the newly designed Rapid Burst Fire torpedeo tubes were also included.
The power of the Prometheus was graphically demonstrated when the ship was stolen by rogue operatives of the Romulan Tal'shiar in 2374. Although the prototype was still in the test phase, she was able to inflict devastating damage on a Nebula class ship and withstand a combined attack by two Defiant class Escort vessels, an Akira class cruiser and two Romulan D'Deridex Class Warbirds. In the same battle she used multi-vector assault mode to destroy one of the two Romulan Warbirds with ease. The performance of the Prometheus during this accidental live-fire trial exceeded all expectations for the ship.
The ability to pack firepower little short of a Sovereign class (later greatly surpassing the fire power of the Sovereign class) into a ship the size of an Intrepid class offers the prospect of a huge increase in Starfleet's potential combat capability. With Starfleet loosing ground against the Dominion, this proved to be of vital importance. Starfleet decided to complete the evaluation as rapidly as possible, and press ahead with full series production.
2375: On May 3rd 2375 the USS Prometheus NX-59650 is officially commissioned by Starfleet during a brief Ceremony. During which the Ships Plaque is put in pride of place and Captain Brian Bladestorm takes command of the ship and takes the USS Prometheus to the Dominion lines.
Later in a major overhaul, technology aquire/encountered by Voyager in the Delta Quadrant was added to the Prometheus (weapons, propolusion, ect.). The 3 original Warpcores were also removed and replaced by a Custom Borg Enhanced Quantite Fusion Warp Core (which can split into three functional warp cores), which is 80% plus times more powerful than the originals and allows the Prometheus to sustain it's top warp speed for longer than 48 hours and it's maximum top rated warp speed for longer than 24 hours which more than triples her original capabilities. The new warpcore also gives the Prometheus 80% plus times the power for other things such as Impulse Engines, Shields and Weapons giving the Prometheus the battle capabilities that more than triple that of the standard Prometheus and Sovereign class ship.
In early 2380 the Multi-Layered Shielding System(M.L.S.S.) was developed and added to the USS Prometheus and the Prometheus class, the M.L.S.S. itself consists of 3 Layers which absorb the impact from Phaser fire or Torpedoes, and works in conjunction with the Ablative hull armor and acts as the first line of defense for the ship when the shields are either compromised or have failed due to excessive damage.
In late 2380 the old Type XII Phaser Arrays were removed and replaced by the new more powerful Quantum Phaser Array [1] along with the Type XXII Phaser Banks, and Paratrinic Shielding.
Prometheus personnel
Background
According to Star Trek: Communicator issue 152, the Prometheus was redesignated NX-74913 after stardate 51461, right before the date the Prometheus was hijacked by Romulans. This was probably stated to alleviate the registry confusion mentioned above. If this statement was correct, it would suggest that the crew of the Prometheus modified the interior of the ship to reflect the new registry number before the old one was changed on the hull. It would also suggest that the ship had the old registry removed completely by "Endgame". The Prometheus having such a low registry number was meant to show that the ship had been in development for a long time.
This ship is named after Prometheus, the Titan that stole Fire from the Gods to benefit Man in Greek mythology.
External Link
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