Distress beacon

A distress beacon (also known as a disaster beacon) is an automated device on board starships or shuttles that is used to alert other ships or stations that they are in need of help, and makes it easier to locate the starship in distress. It is typically deployed in dire circumstances, such as immediately before a starship is disabled or destroyed.

In 2267, the signal from the automated disaster beacon of the USS Constellation (NCC-1017) was barely detectable by the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) as the Enterprise attempted to find the Constellation. 

The distress beacon of the Promellian battle cruiser Cleponji continued to transmit for at least a millennium after its crew had perished while their ship been held by aceton assimilators, until it was silenced at long last after being discovered by the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) in 2366. 

After crash-landing on a Class D planet in 2375, Tuvok recalibrated his shuttle's distress beacon. The beacon was later used as the center of a two-meter radius where a transporter beam from the USS Voyager transported Tuvok, Tom Paris and Noss back to the ship.