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This article is about the Tau'ri battlecruiser. For other uses, see Prometheus (disambiguation).
This is a canon article. Click here for more information.


"It's a Greek tragedy, who wants that?"
Jack O'Neill, who disapproved of the name[src]

Prometheus was the first interstellar battlecruiser developed by the Tau'ri. Completed in 2002, it was later brought into service, serving as the Tau'ri's primary planetary defense and exploration vessel in the Milky Way, becoming the Tau'ri's first ever starship.

The ship was operated by the United States Air Force and crewed by Air Force personnel. Operationally, however, Prometheus fell under the purview of the Office of Homeworld Security. Prometheus initially relied heavily on reverse-engineered Goa'uld technology in a number of key systems. However, in return for Earth's help in fighting the Replicators, the Asgard retrofitted Prometheus with several highly advanced Asgard systems, most notably an Asgard hyperdrive and shield.

In 2005, having served as a means of transport and defending Earth from the Goa'uld for three years, the Prometheus was ultimately destroyed in battle.

Following the Prometheus's destruction, it was succeeded in this role by the BC-304 Odyssey.

Despite plans to construct more BC-303 class-ships, the BC-303 was later rendered obsolete by the more powerful and advanced BC-304 which also means that the Prometheus itself remains the sole member of the entire BC-303 class.

Crew[]

Commanding officers[]

Known crew[]

History[]

Introduction[]

Prometheus hanger

Prometheus in its underground hangar.[3]

Prometheus was originally the code name for the experimental X-303, which was developed and constructed in Nevada by Area 51 R&D, with a great deal of work subcontracted to civilian companies without revealing the true nature of the project.

Unfortunately, the X-303 was hijacked while still incomplete by rogue NID agents with the agents themselves demanding the release of Colonel Frank Simmons and the Goa'uld infested Adrian Conrad which eventually happened with Major Samantha Carter and Jonas Quinn, two members of SG-1, the SGC's flagship team becoming hostages in the process.

Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c of Chulak secretly crept onto the ship via a Death Glider and were able to reclaim control of the ship and stop the NID agents, although both Conrad and the Goa'uld-controlled Simmons were both killed while the remaining NID agents were captured.

Thor of the Asgard later towed the Prometheus to the Ida Galaxy where the Replicators had been captured on the planet Hala. SG-1's mission was to reverse the effects of a time dilation device which the Asgard had created to slow down the Replicators's progression until a method of ridding the universe of them was found. The Replicators turned the device in the opposite direction and evolved into human form. SG-1 successfully reversed the bubble and caught the human form Replicators in it. This was the first time that the Prometheus landed on an alien planet's surface. (SG1: "Prometheus", "Unnatural Selection")

The Asgard later outfitted the ship with advanced shields as a show of gratitude. They refused to outfit the ship with Asgard weaponry. (SG1: "Disclosure")

As the ship had not yet been commissioned at the time of this mission, she had no name. Prometheus was first suggested by Major Samantha Carter, but O'Neill who commanded the mission to the Ida Galaxy rejected it as a "Greek tragedy." (He preferred the name Enterprise.)

Nonetheless, the ship was officially named Prometheus by the time of her shakedown cruise under the command of Colonel William Ronson.

Prometheus 1

The Prometheus in hyperspace.

Ronson took SG-1 and his crew out on their first mission to test the fully-operational ship. Unfortunately, the Naquadria reactor core which enabled the ship to travel in hyperspace began acting up with the effect even causing the Prometheus itself to drop out of hyperspace prematurely and ultimately, falling 49 thousand light years short of its destination.

The reactor core itself had to be eventually jettisoned because of its instability. Despite the Prometheus's shields, the resulting EM impact caused great damage to the ship.

As such, the Prometheus had to land on the planet Tagrea. After some conflicts with the Tagreans they were allowed to stay and await parts and repair equipment brought through the Stargate in order to get back home. (SG1: "Memento")

She did not make it home, however, until the following year, using a hyperdrive taken from a captured Al'kesh bomber. This meant that the ship was underpowered, since the Al'kesh reactor was designed for a vessel one-tenth of Prometheus size. As such, the Prometheus had to regularly drop out of hyperspace in order to cool down the engines. En route back to Earth, the ship was attacked by an Unidentified spaceship and was forced to hide inside an Interstellar cloud. Carter saved the Prometheus and her crew, and the ship continued its journey home. The crew were debriefed on the matter upon returning home, but retained no memory from between the time the ship scanned the Prometheus escape pods and when they were beamed back aboard. (SG1: "Grace")(SGA: "Pleasure Cruise")

Battle of Antarctica[]

Battle of Antarctica 1

The Prometheus protecting SG-1 and Bra'tac from Anubis's Al'keshs and Death Gliders.[4]

Main article: Battle of Antarctica

When Anubis launched a full-scale attack against Earth, Major General George S. Hammond assumed direct albeit temporary command of the Prometheus at the request of President Henry Hayes. The ship engaged Anubis's fleet in Antarctica to protect SG-1 as they sought to activate the Ancient weapons platform in the Antarctic outpost, buried within a mile of ice. After SG-1's mission to access the Outpost was successful, Prometheus entered orbit to directly battle Anubis' mothership. The ship suffered extensive damage, and Hammond was prepared to ram the dying ship into Anubis' ship, but that desperate measure was not necessary: Colonel Jack O'Neill activated the Outpost's defense weapons and destroyed all of Anubis' ships, resulting in the Tau'ri achieving a huge victory against the Goa'uld. (SG1: "Lost City, Part 2")

Further duties[]

Prometheus 2

The Prometheus in orbit.[5]

Following Colonel William Ronson's presumed retirement or reassignment elsewhere, Colonel Lionel Pendergast eventually assumed permanent command of the Prometheus later that year. As the ship lacked a reliable hyperdrive, he was tasked with orbital patrols, guarding Earth from potential Goa'uld attack in the aftermath of the Battle of Antarctica. On one such mission, the ship made contact with the Asgard flagship Daniel Jackson, which was bringing Teal'c back from a mission to the Othala Galaxy. (SG1: "New Order, Part 2")

When Thor visits Earth during the Colson incident, O'Neill requests an Asgard hyperdrive for the Prometheus when Thor apparently wants to "get something nice for the President." Thor tells O'Neill that he'll have to bring that request before the Asgard High Council. (SG1: "Covenant")

X-303 Prometheus from the television series Stargate SG-1

The Asgard were still in the process of performing upgrades when Prometheus was called out to search for the cloaked Al'kesh left behind by the Goa'uld Osiris when he/she was probing Dr. Daniel Jackson's subconscious for memories of his time as an Ascended Being and the location of the Lost City of the Ancients. The Al'kesh was found and used by a rogue cell of the NID, operating under the name of The Trust, who used the ship to steal the Stargate from Stargate Command and launch symbiote poison on worlds thought to bein Ba'al's domain. SG-1 tagged the Stargate with a locator beacon and the Prometheus used the new Asgard beaming technology to reclaim it. The Al'kesh, however, jumped into hyperspace and Prometheus was unable to pursue her because the hyperdrive engines had not yet been installed. (SG1: "Chimera", "Endgame")

Hq720

The members of The Trust who had escaped with Osiris' Al'kesh returned home implanted with Goa'uld symbiotes. It was their intention to start a nuclear war on Earth to gain access to the Antarctic outpost. Prometheus, still under the command of Pendergast, was assigned to Earth's orbit to search for the Al'kesh. She also rescued Daniel via the Asgard transporter when he was about to be taken into the Goa'uld's custody in Moscow, Russia. The Al'kesh attacked the Prometheus and was destroyed in the battle. (SG1: "Full Alert")

Vala Mal Doran's hijacking of the Prometheus

Prometheus is attacked by Goa'uld Death Gliders and Al'kesh

After the Asgard hyperdrive engines were successfully tested, Gen. Hammond selected his crew to embark on a rescue mission to the Pegasus Galaxy where the Atlantis expedition team was stranded and had not been heard from since they left. While en route, they answered a distress call and were hijacked by the space pirate Vala Mal Doran. Vala stranded the crew on her crippled Al'kesh and took Prometheus to a planet where she intended to sell her for a case full of refined weapons grade Naquadah, but her plans were thwarted by Daniel who was the only crew member left on board the ship. While on the planet, Prometheus sustained hull damage when she was attacked by Death Gliders and Al'kesh. Daniel and Vala were rescued by the crew of the Prometheus who had managed to get their Al'kesh repaired. Vala escaped in that Al'kesh, and the trip to the Pegasus had to be aborted because of the ship's hull damage, forcing the Prometheus to return to Earth for repairs. (SG1: "Prometheus Unbound")

After Daniel translated a tablet brought to Earth by Vala about an Ancient treasure potentially under Glastonbury Tor, SG-1 decides to use the Asgard sensors about Prometheus to see if they can get around the Ancient shielding cloaking the site from regular surveys. The Asgard sensors allowed the Prometheus to map the exterior of the structure, but not to be able to see inside. The ship's Asgard transporters were unable to penetrate the shielding protecting the caves, but Vala realized that the ship's ring transporter could get them inside. After SG-1 uncovered the treasure, the Prometheus crew helped to catalogue it. (SG1: "Avalon, Part 1", "Avalon, Part 2")

Battle of Kallana[]

Battle of Kallana 1

The fleet over Kallana

Main article: Battle of Kallana

A Prior of the Ori came to the planet Kallana to convert its inhabitants to Origin, but the Jaffa of the planet, having previously worshiped the Goa'uld refused to follow the teachings of the Book of Origin. As such, the Prior struck them down. Soon after a mysterious blue force shield appeared around the Prior and the Stargate.

Prometheus was sent to P4C-452 to rendezvous with Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and SG-1, carrying a Mark IX "Gatebuster" Naquadria-enhanced Nuclear warhead to stop an Ori incursion on the planet Kallana (Kallana's Stargate wasn't accessible). The ship was used to monitor the progression of an energy force field being built by the Ori on the planet, as the first step in their plans to build a Supergate and to send ships to the Milky Way Galaxy.

After the Mark IX impacted, both the Tau'ri and their arrived Jaffa allies discovered that the shield used their attacks to power itself, becoming bigger. Their plan had backfired. The planet collapsed into a micro-singularity in order to power the Supergate, but thanks to the bravery of Vala Mal Doran, the Ori beachhead was eventually destroyed.

Prometheus suffered a hull breach on the hangar deck, but survived the Ori's attempt at forming a beachhead. Unfortunately, the Jaffa fleet weren't as lucky as they lost two out of their three Ha'tak ships. After the Ori's attempt at building a Supergate was prevented, the Prometheus returned home. (SG1: "Beachhead")

After the battle[]

Kallana system

The Prometheus at a Black hole

After the downfall of the System Lords, Ba'al took refuge on Earth. In order to ensure that he would be left alone, he threatened to blow up a building in Seattle, Washington. Prometheus was used to transport Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter from Virginia to Washington so that she could search for the Naquadah bomb. After discovering that the Naquadah had been used in the very structure of the building, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell commanded that the entire building be beamed into space where it could safely explode. Most likely, Prometheus was also used to collect the debris from the blast and return it to the building's original site. (SG1: "Ex Deus Machina")

Prometheus was hijacked once again, this time by an SG-1 from a alternate reality. The SG-1 from our universe and the parallel SG-1 flew the ship to close the breach in space that had diverted several SG-1 teams during Stargate travel. However, it was a trick and the alternate SG-1 intended to use her to steal the Zero Point Module from Atlantis. In this instance, the plot was foiled and the ship was reclaimed without suffering any major damage. (SG1: "Ripple Effect")

Destruction[]

Main article: Battle of Tegalus
Ethon

Prometheus's shields are breached by the Ori satellite.[6]

Following Daniel Jackson's disappearance while on the planet, Tegalus, the Prometheus was dispatched to save Daniel but this mission also ended up being the Prometheus's last ever mission.

During the rescue effort, the Prometheus's crew and Carter, Mitchell and Teal'c all discovered that the planet which had recently come under the influence of Ori Priors also possessed an Ori satellite that belonged to the Rand Protectorate.

Prometheus first attempted to attack in the hope of destroying the weapon but they were unable to penetrate the satellite or even cause any damage due to the satellite's own shields.

The satellite itself quickly overwhelmed Prometheus's defenses and severely crippled the ship, causing overwhelming damage and killing some on board personnel.

In a last ditch attempt to minimize the loss of life, Colonel Lionel Pendergast ordered the evacuation of his crew and SG-1 using the Asgard transporter, remaining behind to ensure their departure.

Battle of Tegalus 11

Prometheus is destroyed.

Having taken three shots from the satellite, Prometheus could no longer endure any more hits and with a fourth and final shot, the Prometheus split at the neck before exploding seconds later, resulting in its demise. Tragically, Pendergast himself and thirty-nine members of the Prometheus's crew died as a result while also making Prometheus the first ever Tau'ri ship to have been destroyed in battle.

Legacy[]

Following the destruction of the Prometheus, the crew found refuge in the Caledonian Federation until Daniel was able to negotiate a deal between Rand and Caledonia that allowed Caledonia use of the Stargate to leave the planet. The Prometheus crew were able to return to Earth through the Stargate, but shortly afterwards Rand and Caledonia went to war and destroyed each other as discovered by the Daedalus. (SG1: "Ethon")

In the aftermath of Prometheus's destruction, the Odyssey under the command of Colonel Paul Emerson was launched with many of the Prometheus's former crew including Major Kevin Marks, going on to serve on the Odyssey. (SG1: "Off the Grid")

In 2009, after arriving at Atlantis in the new BC-304, the George Hammond, Colonel Samantha Carter commented that the George Hammond made the Prometheus look like a Wright glider. (SGA: "The Lost")

Later in 2009, the George Hammond encountered the alien ship that had chased the Prometheus into the gas cloud. Despite being far more advanced than the Prometheus, the George Hammond had no more success against the ship than the Prometheus did and all of the crew except for Carter were once again beamed away. Carter eventually deduced that both encounters were tests by the aliens and one communicated directly with her through the forms of John Sheppard and George S. Hammond. The alien explained that the race was concerned about the level of advancement the Tau'ri had achieved in both encounters and so tested Carter by disabling the ship and its weapons and taking away the crew to determine how she would react. The alien assured Carter that if she couldn't find a way to free the Prometheus, the aliens would've simply beamed her off and deposited the crew on a safe nearby planet. The alien also revealed that the alien vessel really did get stuck in the gas cloud: they hadn't expected Prometheus to launch escape pods and almost didn't take the chance of following it into the cloud. In all of the time that the race had been testing others, the Prometheus was the first ship to very nearly escape their clutches. After communicating with Carter, the aliens once again return the crew and depart in peace. (SGA: "Pleasure Cruise")

In 2012, after being beamed to the Daedalus, the clone of Jack O'Neill wondered if he was aboard the Prometheus after recognizing that he'd been beamed to a human ship, unaware of the vessel's destruction. (SG1: "Off Balance")

Bay on Earth[]

Main article: Area 37-92/NV
Area 37 elevator

Elevator shack gives access to the subterranean bay.

Prometheus sat in a subterranean bay in Nevada (Area 37-92/NV) where she was assembled and maintained. She was held in place with large docking clamps. Access to the subterranean bay was given through an elevator housed in a shack surrounded by an electric fence. The ship entered and exited through large retractable roof doors

Prometheus' maiden voyage was a result of a hijacking by rogue NID agents working with Colonel Frank Simmons and the Goa'uld in Adrian Conrad. They felt that it was easier to just steal her than to gain access to the Stargate. Even though she was not complete on the inside, Prometheus performed extremely well on her first flight and proved her space-worthiness. (SG1: "Prometheus", "Lost City, Part 2", "Endgame", "Prometheus Unbound")

Major campaigns[]

Alternate realities[]

Appearances[]

Appearances for Prometheus

In chronological order:

Notes[]

  • In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to the human race. It's fitting that humanity's first deep-space vessel, incorporating new technology, would be named after him. However, Prometheus was then punished by having a hawk come every day and eat his liver, and every night have it regrow. He was also exposed to the elements by being chained to a cliff. Both of these punishments supposedly will continue infinitely. This is why O'Neill thought it not quite so fitting.
  • In the anime series Macross (adapted in the U.S. as part of Robotech), one of two super carriers attached to the SDF-1 Macross was named Prometheus. Perhaps not coincidentally, the other carrier was christened as the Daedalus.
  • Prometheus is the name of a ship class in Star Trek.
  • In Star Trek: Voyager, a starship named USS Prometheus (NX-59650/NX-74913) was an experimental prototype that was hijacked and later recaptured. VOY: Message In A Bottle.
  • In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a starship namedUSS Prometheus (NCC-71201) was in service with Starfleet. DS9: Second Sight
  • Prometheus was the name of a spaceplane concept proposed in 2010 by Orbital Sciences Corporation.
  • USCSS Prometheus is the name of the spaceship in the eponymously titled film Prometheus.
  • Prometheus Decks

    Prometheus Elevator panel, indicating the ship has 28 floors

    From the short view we get of the Prometheus' lift panel (Prometheus Unbound), we can clearly see the ship has 28 floors/decks.

References[]

  1. Memento
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Stargate SG-1: The DVD Collection 2
    Some issues of The DVD Collection magazine are known to contain errors with respect to the dimensions they provide for spaceships. Dimensions for the same class of ship may vary between issues. The dimensions given in an issue may contradict how the ship visually appears on screen. The dimensions of two ships which appear similarly sized on screen may be given different measurements in The DVD Collection magazines. However, as the DVD Collection Magazines are officially licensed by MGM (and thus considered canon) Stargate Wiki includes them, while noting the apparent discrepancies in instances where they occur. See policy and List of spaceships by size for more information.
  3. Prometheus (episode)
  4. Lost City, Part 2
  5. New Order, Part 2
  6. Ethon

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