USS Prometheus (Prometheus class)

USS Prometheus (Prometheus class)
Owner:	United Federation of Planets
Operator:	Starfleet

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 and at least the second starship to bear the name, a long-range starship designed for tactical purposes and equipped with multi-vector assault mode, regenerative shields, and ablative armor. It was the fastest ship in Starfleet when it 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.

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 its 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 EMH of the Prometheus itself, and also claiming that, as a doctor, he was neutral. Assisted by the Prometheus 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 it 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")

It is unclear if the Prometheus had superior firepower to a Template:ShipClass Warbird. The Warbird that Prometheus destroyed was already damaged by the other three Starfleet ships engaged in the conflict.

Prometheus personnel

• USS Prometheus personnel

Background

↑ There was some confusion during the production of "Message in a Bottle" concerning the registry of the Prometheus. According to Michael Okuda, he had used the number NX-74913 on all the internal displays and the ship's dedication plaque. However, the Foundation Imaging FX artists did not get the memo and used the number 59650 instead. Although Okuda's number did appear on screen, the Foundation number was much more visible.

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 .