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Prometheus Class Tactical Cruiser
History, Design Philosophy & Purpose

Since the early 2300’s, Starfleet has changed the focus of its force structure to reflect a far more defensive posture. While the Fleet has never been intended as an instrument to impose Federation policy, the decommissioning of battleship and dreadnought class vessels has significantly altered the combat capabilities of the Fleet.

In many ways, this was understandable. With the disappearance of the Romulans in 2311 after the Tomed Incident, and the alliance with the Klingon Empire in the mid 2300’s after the Battle of Narendra III, Starfleet no longer needed heavily armed warships. This time of Galactic Peace allowed the Federation to concentrate on exploration, and Starfleet adapted to reflect this.

But times have changed. Two deep incursions by the Borg Collective, the war with the Dominion, hostilities with the Romulans, and instability within the Klingon Empire have made the galaxy a much more dangerous place. A raft of new designs have been developed to address this issue, but none as radical as the Prometheus concept.

The Prometheus introduces the concept of “Multi-Vectored Attack Mode” to starship design. The Prometheus can actually split into three separate warp-capable tactical platforms which can then attack a target from three separate angles. Though the two classes look similar, the Prometheus and Intrepid classes share little similarities beyond looks. Classified as a “Deep Space Tactical Cruiser”, she is expected to be used on missions deep into Cardassian and Dominion territory.

SHIPS SYSTEMS

The Prometheus class is the first since the Peacekeeper class to mount four nacelles, and unique amongst vessels in mounting four separate warp cores. In normal flight mode, only the two directly feeding the upper and lower nacelle pairs are in operation. Only when the ship splits into MVAM does the third and fourth core, mounted between the two impulse engines, come on-line.

Balancing the output of two cores into four nacelles is a highly complicated procedure. The Prometheus boasts the most powerful shipboard computer system, the M-16, which is also used on the Galaxy (II), Intrepid, and Sovereign classes. The two cores and four nacelles result in the fastest speed ever attained by a Federation starship — a stupendous Warp 9.999975. However, such speed requires massive amounts of consumables, resulting in a range of some one year. However, for emergency situations the ships on board engine systems can transfer to "Quantum Slipstream drive" a very highly experimental drive. Allowing the ship to travel at Transwarp 1.

As a warship, the Prometheus mounts the latest in Federation weaponry. She literally bristles with eighteen Type XII phaser strips and an assortment of torpedo launchers. This makes her the most powerful vessel in known space.

Shielding is provided by the FSS system though, remarkably, the FCE-2 cloak system has not yet been fitted. Considering this class’s role, it is expected to be fitted in the future. In addition to standard shielding, the ships hull is fitted with a 21 cm thick ablative armor and has the ability to deploy a third "classified material" armor, known to be resistant of borg weapons.

SHIPS FACILITIES

 The vessel incorporates a very small medical staff, assisted by a new Mk II version of the Emergency Medical Hologram first deployed on the Intrepid and Sovereign classes. Facilities aboard allow for the embarkation and training of Marines and other ground forces, as such a vessel is a natural for assault and interdiction duties.

The bridge of the Prometheus class has the same layout as most other Federation vessels, with the captain's chair in the center and a large viewscreen at the front; however, as the ship is primarily designed for battle, the design has been simplified.

As usual, a number of stations run around the outside of the bridge. Engineering is on the captain's extreme right; the environmental station is next to this. The master systems control station is directly behind the captain's chair and the tactical station is on his extreme left.

All of these stations, as well as the captain's chair, are on a raised level; three sets of steps lead down to a lower area, where the curved conn station is located. Two officers sit at this station, which also controls communications. Four doors lead off the bridge; the one behind the captain and to his left leads to a turbolift. If necessary, the entire bridge can be crewed by four people. Only the conn, engineering, and tactical stations are provided with seating.

The Prometheus class has a state of the art sickbay with all the latest equipment. Entry is straight into the main diagnostic and surgical areas. There are several desks around the room, which is dominated by a surgical biobed.  Like most Federation vessels the ship has it's own EMH/ECH/

This version of the EMH is programmed specifically for each crewmember on board it’s vessel and can identify the crew on sight.  When it encounters any other Starfleet officers, it will automatically request their rank and security clearance. 

The Prometheus class makes much greater use of holographic systems than earlier vessels. The entire ship is fitted with holographic projectors, allowing the EMH to move outside sickbay. This enables him to treat injuries sustained during battle as quickly as possible.

NORMAL CRUISE MODE
 

Top View

Bottom View

Front View

Back View

MULTI-VECTOR ASSAULT MODE

Separation System - Prometheus Class

The separation system on the Prometheus Class is designed to allow the ship to separate and attack a target from three vectors, giving it an advantage over its target. This is the newest separation system design by Starfleet.

Originally, the concept of starship separation was for emergency evacuation. The saucer was equipped only with impulse engines so it could escape a warp core breach of the engineering hull. This system was used on the New Orleans and Akira Classes.

During the design of the Cheyenne Class, a newer separation system was planned.  This system would allow the ship to separate into two independent units and then reconnect again. With the success of this system on the Cheyenne Class, it was used on the Galaxy Class. But separation was still seen as a last alternative for the safety of the crew. For example, when the USS Enterprise D was attacked by an alien weapons module in orbit of the planet Minos, the ship was separated so that the civilians on the saucer was put out of danger while the Star Drive section turned back to fight the probe (ST: TNG - "The Arsenal of Freedom").

The first time separation was used as a multi-vector assault ability was when the Enterprise D fought the Borg cube after Wolf 359 (ST: TNG - "The Best of Both Worlds part II". The Star Drive section was able to distract the cube long enough so that a shuttle launched from the saucer was able to reach the cube and retrieve Locutus (Captain Jean-Luc Picard). Although the saucer's impulse engines were damaged, this incedent showed that multi-vector assault could be succesfully accomplished.

With the success of the first multi-vector assault, Starfleet investigated the possibility of a true multi-vector assault vessel. The result was the Prometheus Class. The separation system on this vessel is the most advanced ever built by Starfleet. It allows the ship to separate into three parts and attack a single target.  All three sections are heavily armed and capable of warp speeds. The seperation and assault process is completely computer automated and be controled by voice command from the main bridge.

But the system had not been tested until Romulans commandeered the ship when the ship was running some trials near the neutral zone. When a Nebula Class ship intercepted the Prometheus, the Romulans on board used the multi-vector assault mode to disable the Federation starships. The separation system was used again when the medical holograms re-took the ship and used it to attack the Romulan ships, which had been sent to escort the Prometheus back to Romulan space. This accidental trial of the multi-vector assault proved to be very successful.

The three sections of the USS Prometheus (saucer - mid right, top engineering section - top left, bottom engineering section - bottom left) attacking the Romulan Warbirds
 

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