USS Prometheus ( Prometheus class ) The USS " Prometheus " ( NX - 59650 / NX - 74913 ) was a 24th century Federation starship operated by Starfleet . " Prometheus " was an experimental prototype designed for deep space tactical assignments and equipped with regenerative shield s , ablative hull armor , and multi - vector assault mode . She was the fastest ship in Starfleet with a warp factor of 9 . 99 when she was launched from the Beta Antares Ship Yards on stardate 50749 . 5 in late 2373 . The vessel was also equipped with holographic projector s 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 . Some time shortly after stardate 51462 in 2374 , the " Prometheus " was hijacked by Romulan s . During their escape aboard the ship , the " Prometheus " easily disabled the 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 , which was stranded in the Delta Quadrant over 60 , 000 light year s away . This transmission contained " Voyager " s Emergency Medical Hologram , who initially escaped detection by claiming to be the " Prometheus " EMH , 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 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 . ( ) Appendices . Background information . ↑ 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 prominent . According to , 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 , the Titan that stole fire from the gods to benefit man in Greek mythology . Apocrypha . In the " " novel " Fire with Fire " , Lieutenant Commander Sarita Carson serves as ops officer on the USS " Prometheus " in 2385 .