What determines starship power in theStar Trekuniverse? While the size, manpower, and stealth technology do matter, speed is a huge factor to consider. The faster a ship can move, the farther it can go to seek out new worlds and new forms of life in the galaxy.
There has only been one ship that is the fastest among all the other Starfleet crafts: the USS Prometheus. It makes its debut inthe seriesStar Trek: Voyager(season 4, episode 14, “Message in a Bottle”). Despite its brief appearance, it is regarded to this day as one of the most innovative vessels in the galaxy. Here’s what fans should know about it.
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What Is the Fastest Ship in Starfleet?
The second ship to bear the name, the USS Prometheus (NX-59650) is a Prometheus-class starship that is constructed in Beta Antares Shipyards andlaunched on stardate 50749.5(sometime in late 2373). It is 415 meters long, 170 meters wide, and 113 meters high, with a total of 15 decks and a capacity of approximately 141 crew members.
Warp factors of 10 and above are generally considered as unsafe, even though many Starfleet ships (such as the Enterprise-D) attempt to operate at higher levels — and prove to be unsuccessful. On the other hand, the Prometheus can maintain a velocity of Warp 9 and a maximum speed of warp 9.9, making it the fastest vessel that Starfleet has operated.
It is an experimental prototype been designed for deep space, tactical missions. In fact, the Prometheus was primarily developed in response to thethreat of the Dominion. Hence, it is heavily equipped, making it one of the most advanced ships during the late 24th and early 25th centuries. Even in an alternate timeline, at the Battle of Procyon V in the 26th century, it is seen that the Prometheus is still active.
Prometheus' Features
The long-range starship was highly classified at the time it was introduced. Only four people in all of Starfleet are trained to operate it. There is limited access to most systems onboard, including the ship’s communication system, which requires at least level four clearance. The high security is due to the fact that it is outfitted with several sophisticated, state-of-the-art systems. These include regenerative and metaphasic shields, as well as ablative hull armor (an outer layer that vaporizes when fired upon, thus protecting the interior of the ship). In addition, holo-emitters have been installed throughout the Prometheus so that its holographic doctor, the EMH Mark II (a prototype) is not just confined to the sickbay (which also uses the latest medical technology).
The ship’s most impressive feature, however, is the multi-vector assault mode. By using advanced compartmentalization and automation systems, this allows the Prometheus to split into three autonomous spacecrafts.Each of these have phaser arrays, torpedo launchers, along with other devices and weapons so that they can launch full-fledged attacks together during combat situations. The main ship’s tactical computer can control all parts remotely. Depending on the distance between them, they can also be integrated back together quite quickly.
As shown inVoyagerseason 7, episode 25, “Endgame,” the Prometheus is one of the Starfleet vessels that are sent in 2378 to respond toan expected Borg attack. The long-lost USS Voyager is trapped inside the Borg sphere, butsucceeds in destroying itfrom the inside. Afterward, the Prometheus escorts it back to Earth.
Hijacked by Romulans & Used To Save Voyager
Sometime after stardate 51462 (in 2374), the Romulans (a humanoid race from the planet Romulus) were able to breach the Prometheus’ security systems during a test flight and hijack it. The enemy ship managed to disable the USS Bonchune, which was sent to pursue the Prometheus after the attack. Even though the Romulan agents were the first to activate the multi-vector assault mode, the Prometheus proved its capabilities during conflict.
Coincidentally though, the Voyager, which wasstuck in the Delta Quadrantover 60,000 light years away, sent a subspace transmission that was received by the Prometheus during its capture. It contained EMH Mark I (or The Doctor), who asked the wounded chief petty officer of the operations division about what had happened. The officer died immediately, just like the rest of the crew of the Prometheus, before telling him about the Romulans. None of those on board were officially named, as the information related to the ship’s mission was classified before the attack.
The Doctor pretended that he was actually the Prometheus’ EMH and, thus, a neutral figure, in order to avoid any confrontation with the attackers. He then activated the EMH Mark II, and both of them teamed up to release neurozine gas in the ventilation system, knocking out all 27 Romulans on the ship. They also overpowered the Romulan warbird of the D’deridex-class using the multi-vector assault mode, while also dodging the Starfleet ships on their trail (two Defiant-class and one Akira-class starships), which were unaware that the Prometheus was not under the control of the Romulans anymore.
When the Federation regained possession of the ship, the Doctor told the Starfleet Headquarters about the Voyager, which was believed to have been lost forever. As a result, Starfleet concentrated its efforts towards locating the Voyager from then onwards, and the Doctor returned to his ship to inform the others that they will be rescued.
