Omega class destroyer

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Omega class
Churchill ramming the Roanoke
First appearance	—
Affiliation	Earth Alliance
General Characteristics
Fighters	Starfuries
Armaments	Pulse cannon turrets X-Ray laser cannons

The Omega class destroyer is the primary warship used by the Earth Alliance in the science fiction series Babylon 5 in the late 23rd century.

Contents 1 Omega Class 2 Special Note on the Origin of the Class 3 Shadow Enhanced Omega Class Ships 4 Known Omega Class Vessels 4.1 Notes 5 Design Notes 6 External links

[edit] Omega Class

The Omega class is a heavy warship which serves many of the primary functions for the post-Minbari War 'Earth Alliance' military. It is a heavily-armed front line destroyer that also carries several squadrons of Starfuries for fighter support. The class was developed following the Earth-Minbari war and is based heavily on the design of the older Nova class dreadnought. However, the Omega-class destroyers are significantly longer than the dreadnought due to the addition of a central rotating section that provides a 1-g, simulated gravity environment. Built upon a hollow magnetized driveshaft, the rotating central section is used for habitation. It contains the crew quarters, medical bay, main computer systems, and the ship's three control centers. The forward and aft sections are zero-g, and consist of the Hangar (forward) and Engineering (aft) sections.

Omega-Class destroyers are heavily armed with weapons developed during and after the Earth-Minbari War. Their arsenal includes 18 pulse cannon turrets and 18 X-Ray particle/lasers based on technology the Narn stole from the Centauri Republic and sold to the Earth Alliance. The two forward hangar racks have sufficient capacity to carry up to 36 Starfuries of varying types.

The crew complement for an Omega Class destroyer may vary from 360 to more than 1000 (EAS Cerberus crew was 360, and in the episode End Game Franklin states they may be 1000 people on each destroyer.) Also death toll of the Roanake was stated at 547. Those variations may be crew requirements due to mission profile (ie: additional troops).

The Omega-Class was the central combat vessel to both sides of the Earth civil war, in which forces led by John Sheridan attempted to overthrow President Morgan Clark.

[edit] Special Note on the Origin of the Class

Although it is commonly believed that the class came into service after the Earth-Minbari War, there is a mass of evidence to the contrary. The exact quote that most fansites base their origin of the class comes from one of the season two episodes in which Captain John Sheridan states about the EAS Agamemnon, "...she was a real beauty, one of the first Omega class destroyers to come off the assembly line after the war...", obviously this statement doesn't exclude the possibility of ships being produced before the war. In the Babylon 5 movie "In the Beginning", one of the initial fleet battles against the Minbari depicted the destruction of no fewer than five Omega-class Destroyers! The EAS Churchill, a vessel shown later (chronologically) during the Earth civil war was mentioned by General Lefcourt during a briefing to John Sheridan. Now although this may not necessarily be the same ship as the Omega class shown later, it is also a distinct possibility. The EAS Pournelle, an EarthForce star cruiser, similar to the Omega-class Destroyer also shown later was equipped with blue plasma weapons instead of the standard Omega yellow pulse cannons. Most of the Omegas were named after ancient mythological and historical figures; those named after other references may have been older ships constructed sometime prior to the Earth-Minbari war and that they perhaps survived that conflict. The first vessel of the Omega-class built after the war may have been the EAS Achilles followed soon thereafter by the EAS Agamemnon.

The website B5tech.com speculates that these ships are in fact a Nova-X that is an experiment that leads to the Omega rather than Omegas themselves. This is similar the later Omega-X which is also (alleged by the site) to be a prototype for the later Warlock cruiser and was pressed into service by Clark.

[edit] Shadow Enhanced Omega Class Ships

Referred to as the 'Omega-X' class, these warships were developed to test experimental technology acquired by President Morgan Clark's regime prior to the Earth Civil War of 2261. Excavations of ancient Shadow vessels found on Mars and Ganymede had yielded a few technological advancements far beyond standard Earth Alliance technology, although most aspects of the Shadow vessels were completely beyond the comprehension of every scientist assigned to study them. However, Fusion Beam weapons technology and new stealth technology, based on Minbari designs, as well as reverse-engineered Shadow bio-armor, were slated for testing to be used on the new Warlock class destroyers, which were still under construction.

The arrival of the White Star fleet and the rebel faction's string of victories forced Clark to order his engineers to send the experimental testbed warships into action against Sheridan's forces. These ships were still incomplete, with largely inexperienced crews; however, their weaponry and new armor proved to be nearly a match for the White Stars sent up against them. The twenty White Stars completely destroyed the twenty modified Omegas, but were in turn almost totally destroyed themselves.

After this engagement, no additional Omega-X destroyers were built. Following their destruction, Earth's methods of producing Shadow bio-armor were lost, but the other advancements were built into the subsequent generation of Warlock class destroyers.

The understanding gained here may have been used to create a powerful bio-warship that was running wild during the exodus of the Technomages. This bio-ship destroyed the EAS Ceberus and later self destructed, the only survivor of the incident was one Ensign, Matthew Gideon later Captain of the IAS Excaliber in Crusade.

[edit] Known Omega Class Vessels

• EAS Acheron - Delivered Captain Elizabeth Lockley to Babylon 5 in 2262 so that she could assume command of the station following Captain John Sheridan's election to the post of President of the Interstellar Alliance.

• EAS Achilles - First Omega-class destroyer Built.

• EAS Agamemnon - John Sheridan was the Captain of this ship before being reassigned to the command of Babylon 5. He later commanded the final battle of the Earth Civil War from this ship.

• EAS Agrippa - Captained By Dexter Smith One of Four ships sent by President Clark to seize Babylon 5 on 4-14-2260 to prevent its secession from the Earth Alliance. Destroyed by Babylon 5's defense grid during the battle.

• EAS Alexander - One of the key vessels involved in the Earth civil war of 2260 - 2261.

• EAS Anubis- Mentioned by General Thompson in 2267.

• EAS Apollo - General Lefcourt's flagship during the final stages of the Earth Civil War in 2261. Led a fleet of Earth destroyers to oppose Sheridan near Mars. Saved Sheridan by destroying the orbital defense platform he was about to ram.

• EAS Cadmus - Fought for President Clark in the Earth civil war. Commanded by Captain Leo Frank.

• EAS Cerberus - Destroyed by a Shadow warship while on deep patrol circa 2257. Only Ensign Matthew Gideon survived the attack.

• EAS Charon - Captained by Leonard Anderson. Fought on the side of President Clark during the Earth Civil War in 2261. Later took over command of the Victory during Babylon 5: A Call to Arms.

• EAS Churchill - Captained by Sandra Hiroshi. One of the ships on the resistance side of the Earth civil war. Destroyed on 4-15-2260 when her captain rammed her into the EAS Roanoke after taking heavy damage defending Babylon 5 from President Morgan Clark's forces. The Churchill's first and last appearance was in the Season 3 Episode "Severed Dreams"

• EAS Damocles - Fought on the side of President Clark during the Earth Civil War in 2261. Disabled in battle near Beta IX.

• EAS Delphi - Fought for President Clark in the 2261 Earth civil war.

• EAS Furies - Involved in the 2261 blockade of Proxima III. She decided to stand down rather than fire on Sheridan's forces. She joined Sheridan's forces following the battle.

• EAS Excalibur - One of the EarthForce ships sent to stop General Hague's coup off the transfer point in Io. She was disabled during the firefight, allowing Hague's EAS Alexander to escape.

• EAS Heracles - One of two vessels that attacked civilian vessels attempting to leave Proxima III in 2261. Flagship of the Proxima III blockade force. Commanded by Captain Trevor Hall, who was later relieved of command by his executive officer, Commander Sandra Levitt. Taken to Beta IX for repairs following liberation of Proxima by Captain John Sheridan. Commander Levitt kept the Heracles a neutral ship for the rest of the war.

• EAS Hermes- Flagship of the fleet that fought the Drakh during the Battle of Earth, 2267.

• EAS Hydra - Fought for President Clark in the 2261 Earth civil war.

• EAS Juno - Involved in the 2261 blockade of Proxima III. Withdrew without engaging Sheridan's forces.

• EAS Medusa - Stationed near the rebellious mining colony at Regula 4 in 2267.

• EAS Nemesis - Involved in the blockade of Proxima III in 2261, where she was disabled and surrendered to Sheridan’s forces. However, she is seen amongst General Lefcourt's fleet at Mars near the end of the Earth Civil War, so it seems the ship rejoined Clark’s forces following after-action repairs.

• EAS Nimrod - Sent by President Clark to support the seizure of Babylon 5 on 4-15-2260. Retreated following Delenn's arrival.

• EAS Olympic - Sent by President Clark to support the seizure of Babylon 5 in 2260. Retreated following Delenn's arrival.

• EAS Orion - Fought on the side of President Clark during the Earth Civil War in 2261, when she was disabled in battle near Beta IX. In 2267, was stationed with EAS Medusa at Regula 4.

• EAS Persephone - Lost in action following the Drakh attack on Earth in 2267. Pursued and forced a Drakh ship down on Ceti 4, but was destroyed when battle damage caused the fusion reactors to overload. Only a message drone survived.

• EAS Pollux - One of two vessels involved in illegal attacks on civilian vessels in 2261. She was destroyed in 2261 when a severely damaged White Star vessel collided with her.

• EAS Roanoke - Sent by President Clark On 4-14-2260 to seize Babylon 5. Destroyed on 4-15-2260 when rammed by the destroyer EAS Churchill (Severed Dreams). When John Sheridan was captured by the Earth Alliance in 2261, he was accused of destroying the vessel himself.

• EAS Talos - Supervised decommissioning of Babylon 5 in 2281.

• EAS Theseus - Part of Sheridan's fleet during the assault on Earth's Planetary Defense Network near the end of the Earth Civil War in 2261.

• EAS Vesta - Involved in the 2261 blockade of Proxima III. Commanded by Captain Edward MacDougan. Refused to fire on civilian refugees, and stood down rather than fight Sheridan. Following the battle at Proxima III, the Vesta joined Sheridan's fleet and fought in a number of engagements against Clark's forces.

• EAS Zeus - Part of General Lefcourt's fleet near Mars near the end of the Earth Civil War in 2261. ("Endgame")

[edit] Notes

• EAS Pournelle - On Mars patrol in the 2250's and saw action during the 2258 Mars Rebellion, where she shot down Abel Horn's escape ship. However, it is indicated on screen that this is not a destroyer, but rather a cruiser. It is therefore possible that the Pournelle is a heavier ship based on the Nova/Omega heritage.

[edit] Design Notes

Although it is not commonly pointed out, the EA destroyers drew on a number of very popular science fiction capital ship designs for inspiration. First and foremost is Syd Mead's Alexei Leonov from the 1984 film 2010: The Year We Make Contact: the rotating sections of the two ships are almost identical. Second is the Rebel Cruiser (AKA Medical Frigate, AKA "Nebulon B") from Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: both ships share a broadly "outboard motor-shaped" hull, with a deep bow, a shallow, blocky stern, and a narrow waist. In the Babylon 5 ship, however, the waist section is the axis for the rotating section. The third significant influence is Syd Mead's Colonial Marine Transport Sulaco from Aliens: both vessels share a broadly "gun"/"rifle" shape, with prominent turrets. In all three of these cases, calling this an "influence" is a bit of an understatement... "direct copy" is an overstatement, but probably more accurate. The popular appeal of this ship design is certainly augmented by these resmblances: all three of these ship designs left a lasting impression on movie audiences, and, with the arguable exception of 2010, all were from movies which have etched themselves into the pantheon of famous screen science fiction.

Other influences:

• In a similar layout to the Babylon stations, these ships have a large red docking bay in the bow.

• The inward-angled ventral portion of the ship's prow is reminiscent of the cheek-guards of a soldier's helmet of the Greco-Roman era. Possibly, this design could be linked with the naming scheme used for the Omega class.

[edit] External links

• Hyperspace