Nightingale The Nightingale was the name given by Ensign Harry Kim to the Kraylor starship Medical Transport 136 , previously under the command of Captain Brell . The " Nightingale " differed from other Kraylor medical transport s in that it was used on a secret mission by a research team to transport a cloaking device developed for their fleet . The crew of the first came across this vessel in early 2377 when the " Delta Flyer II " responded to a distress call from the commander of the Kraylor vessel . Responding to the signal , Kim discovered the Kraylor were at war with the Annari Empire , and were under attack by s . Kim tried to negotiate with the Annari , but was forced to disable their vessels when he found himself under attack . After beaming onto the Medical Transport 136 , Kim and Neelix found the vessel in complete disarray – about half the crew were dead , including all but one of the bridge officer s . Kim offered to help with repairs of the vessel , along with Neelix and Seven of Nine . After the vessel had been repaired , Loken , head of the research team , begged Kim to captain the vessel back to their homeworld , telling him that the vaccine they have been working to develop must reach there . Kim was reluctant , not wanting to violate the Prime Directive , but finding out that the planet where " Voyager " had landed was en route , agreed to take them that far at least . Captain Janeway was eventually convinced to take the Kraylor ' s side in the matter , and permitted Kim to take command of the medical transport , which he promptly renamed the " Nightingale " . As Kim himself admitted , he named this vessel for Florence Nightingale , whom he described as being known for aiding wounded soldiers on the battlefield – an appropriate name for this vessel , which he believed was delivering vaccines to their homeworld . However , Janeway asked Seven of Nine to go along on the journey . Kim was excited at the chance of having his " first real command . " The cloak began to fail a short time into the journey due to a fluctuation in the propulsion power systems . Repairs were made , yet Kim dismissed Seven ' s recommendations to run a full diagnostic , reminding her Janeway wanted them back before " Voyager " finished repairs . A short time later , as predicted , the primary generator failed , as did the cloak . Half a dozen Annari vessels moved into attack range , and a Kraylor researcher named Dayla volunteered to try and bring the cloak back online , receiving instructions from Kim , and she and Loken together figured out how to bring the cloak back online by taking the warp core off - line . Unfortunately for Dayla , life support failed in the engineering area , and she died . Confronting Loken , Kim discovered the " Nightingale " s cloak was actually a prototype , what Loken ' s team , including Dayla , had really been working on at a secret base . The Annari knew about the prototype , and didn ' t want it to arrive at the Kraylor homeworld . Kim realized that he was in the middle of a breach of the Prime Directive , and ordered the " Nightingale " to reverse course , but was relieved of command . Seven of Nine pointed out to Kim that if he truly cared about the crew , he needed to help the Kraylor home , or they may not survive . At the Kraylor homeworld , a new series of scanning pulses illuminated cloaked vessels . Having been detected , surrounded and outgunned by Annari vessels , Kim took command , promising to help them , to which Loken agreed . Realizing the situation , Kim appeared to offer a conditional surrender with the Annari ; however , if they didn ' t allow the scientist s to safely evacuate to the planet , Kim threatened to destroy the " Nightingale " . Loken was furious about Kim ' s apparent betrayal , but was assured he had a plan to save the vessel , but if he failed , " . . . at least the scientist who designed the cloak will be alive to create another one . " Once under the grip of the Annari tractor beam , Kim reversed the " Nightingale " s shield polarity , and used the momentum to outrun their pursuers to the defense perimeter . Harry Kim ' s final entry in the " Nightingale " s log noted that his actions have led to cloaking mechanisms being added to the Kraylor fleet . ( )