Dimensions
Length: 415m
Beam: 163m
Height: 64m
Decks: 15
Mass: 950,000 tons
Crew: 175
Armament
12 x Type XII Phaser arrays, total output 69,000 TeraWatts
2 x Pulse fire quantum torpedo tubes with 290 rounds
Defense Systems
Regenerative shield system, total capacity 3,915,000 TeraJoules
Heavy Duranium/Tritanium Double hull plus 18 cm Ablative armour
High level Structural Integrity Field
Warp Speeds (TNG Scale)
Normal Cruise: Warp Factor 8
Maximum Cruise: Warp Factor 9.9
Maximum Rated : Untested
Expected Hull Life: 94 years
Refit Cycle
Minor: 1 year
Standard: 3 years
Major: 15 years
Notes
After the first major encounter between the Dominion and the Federation at the end of 2370 Starfleet responded to the new threat by reactivating the Defiant project and continuing development of the Sovereign project. However, it was felt that further action was needed; the Sovereign class ships were relatively resource intensive, and while the Defiants were easy to build they were also rather limited on range and endurance. It was decided to combine various technologies into the new ship. The ablative armour and quantum torpedoes which equipped the Defiant and Sovereign classes were included, as were the advanced hull geometry and warp field technology of the Sovereign and Intrepid classes.
Starfleet also decided to incorporate the separation concept into the new vessel. Many Starfleet ships have had the ability to separate their primary hull from the rest of the ship, but this has historically been an emergency measure intended to allow the engineering hull to be abandoned in the event that a warp core breach is imminent. Reconnection has generally required the services of a starbase of drydock in a process which takes several days.
With the Galaxy class, Starfleet took the separation process a step further. The primary and engineering hulls both had impulse engine systems, allowing them to operate as fully equipped STL spacecraft in their own right. The engineering hull was able to use its warp drive whilst separated, not simply as an emergency measure for a few seconds or minutes but as a viable interstellar drive system. The intent was to allow the primary hull to escape a combat area with the civilians and family members whilst the engineering hull kept the enemy occupied.
However, this concept was never really as successful as Starfleet wanted. The primary hull was essentially stationary by warp drive standards, making it an easy target for an enemy which defeated the engineering hull in battle. What was needed was a ship which could split into multiple sections, each capable of independent warp speed travel. This is the technology Starfleet decided to incorporate into the new Prometheus class.
The ship which emerged from the drawing boards was capable of separating into three sections - the upper and lower engineering hulls and the saucer section. Both parts of the engineering hull had two nacelles whilst the saucer section had a small auxiliary unit which would deploy once separated.
The warp core arrangement was also unique. The efficiency of a warp core is in part dependant on its height -the longer a core is, the more accurately the matter and antimatter streams can be controlled. Starfleet had initially wanted to equip each section of the Prometheus design with a Defiant-style warp core. This is very compact at only three decks tall, but suffers from inefficiency as a result. It overcomes this by using multiple matter and antimatter streams, so achieving high fuel throughput and so high power output. This gives the core a very high fuel consumption, something considered acceptable for the short range Defiant but not for the Prometheus.
To solve the problem the designers came up with a unique core design for the engineering hull. The warp core has no less than three reaction chambers along its height. During normal operation matter is fed in at the top of the core and antimatter at the bottom, as in any normal warp core. The fuel streams pass directly through the upper and lower reaction chambers and continue down to their meeting point in the central chamber. The core thus operates in a manner similar to any standard model, achieving high efficiency through the long core design.
The central reaction chamber lies on the separation plane, and once the ship splits it is shut down. In the lower engineering section a secondary matter feed just under the central chamber comes into operation, feeding deuterium down to the lower reaction core. This process is mirrored in the upper engineering section, with an antimatter feed sending fuel up to the upper core. As a result, the combined engineering sections can operate at an efficiency level comparable to any contemporary starship, while the separated sections loose a measure of efficiency because of the shorter warp cores. The primary hull operates on a separate Defiant-style warp core when separated.
The original intent was to have the saucer serve to evacuate civilians as in the Galaxy class, but at warp speed. The idea of carrying civilians was quickly abandoned, however, and the saucer section up-gunned to match the remainder of the vessel. In separated mode the ship is thus able to attack on enemy from three different directions simultaneously, a tactic known as "multi-vector assault mode."
Deck by Deck Layout
Saucer Section
1 Main Bridge, Captain's Ready Room, Observation Lounge, First Officers Ready Room
2 Captain's Quarters,Senior Officer's Quarters, Saucer Upper Warp Nacelle, Life Support, Environmental Controls, Engineering Support Labs
3 Saucer Warp Core Jettison Hatch, Deuterium Fuel Pumps and Fill Ports, Deuterium Fuel Storage, Deuterium Injector, EPS Support, Antimatter Fuel Pumps and Fill Ports, Antimatter Injector, Antimatter Storage Pods, Saucer Engineering, Maintenance, Life Support, Waste Management, Docking Latches, Library, Main Shuttle Bay
4 Cargo Bays 1-2, Industrial Transporters, Upper Computer Core, Forward Torpedo Launcher, Torpedo Control Room, Waverider Shuttlebay
5 Junior Officers Quarters, Transporter Room 1, Holodecks 1-2, Docking Latches
6 Lower Warp Nacelle, Upper Computer Core
7 Guest Quarters, Ambassadorial Suits, Docking Latches
Upper Engineering Section
3 Antimatter Storage Pods, Docking Latches, Forward Torpedo Launcher
4 Stellar Cartography, Environmental Support, Life Support, Emergency Batteries, Waste Management, Phaser Batteries, Antimatter Injector Reactors
5 Battle Bridge, Science Labs, Quantum Magazine, Weapons Locker, Docking Latches, Residential Apartments, Environmental Support, Life Support, Emergency Batteries
6 Brig, Security Chief's Office, Security Office, Armory
7 Impulse Reactors,Deuterium Fuel Pumps and Fill Ports, Deuterium Fuel Storage, Cargo Bays 3-4, Lower Shuttle Bay, Shuttle Bay Support, Living Quarters, Deuterium Injector Reactors, Warp Core Jettison Hatch, Warp Core Docking Hatch
8 Maintenance, Environmental Support,Docking Latches, Transporter Room 2
Lower Engineering Section
7 Chief Science Officer's Office, Science Laboratories, Lower Computer Core, Maintenance, Support Labs
8 Sickbay, Chief Medical Officer's Office, Surgery Ward, De-Con Area, Counselor's office
9 Battle Bridge, Secondary Observation Loungue, Secondary Command Office
10 Ten Forward, Astrometrics Lab, Cargo Bays 5-6, Transporter Room 3, Shuttle Bay 3
11 Photon and Quantum Magazine, High Energy Plasma Emitter, Deflector Control, Deflector signal processing, Navigational Control, Main deflector dish, Main deflector field emitter, Deflector Control Room, Forward Torpedo Launcher, Aft Torpedo launcher
12 Antimatter Storage Pods, Antimatter Fuel Pumps and Fill Ports, Phaser Batteries
13 Main Engineering, Main Impulse Engines, Primary and Secondary Shield Generators, Armoury, Cloaking Device, Warp Core
14 Main Engineering, Chief Engineer's office, Warp Core, Warp Core Jettison Hatch, Main Tractor Beam, Tractor Control Room, Antimatter Injector
15 Main Engineering,Warp Core, Landing Legs
