Battlestar (reimagining)

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Battlestar
First appearance	Battlestar Galactica
Affiliation	Colonial Fleet
General Characteristics
Fighters	Colonial Vipers
Auxiliary craft	Colonial Raptors
Armaments	Gun batteries Point-Defence KEWs Nuclear missiles Ship-to-ship missiles
Propulsion	Sub-light engines FTL drive

A Battlestar is a space battleship in the reimagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica. The reimagined series' Battlestars, as well as the series' other visual effects are designed and created by Zoic Studios for Battlestar Galactica.^[1]

The Battlestars Galactica, Atlantia, Triton, Solaria and Columbia are named in the miniseries; Battlestars Pegasus and Valkyrie are seen during the subsequent television series. Initially, twelve Battlestars were built at the start of the Cylon War, one for each of the Twelve Colonies, Galactica represented the colony of Caprica.^[2] The fleet has grown by the time of the miniseries, as over thirty are lost during the opening wave of the Cylon attack, a loss which one character describes as "a quarter of the fleet".^[2][3]

Contents 1 Design 1.1 Flight pods 1.2 Propulsion 2 Defence 2.1 Armour 2.2 Armament 2.2.1 Air group 3 Crew 4 Combat Performance 5 List of Battlestars 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Design

[edit] Flight pods

Battlestars are seen to possess two flight pods. Galactica's flight pods retract during an FTL jump, although Pegasus does not retract its flight pods during jumps. The flight pods are landing bays for returning Vipers and Raptors. The pods are normally 2 story decks, with the top deck being an open-ended landing bay for vipers, raptors, and small civilian ships like Colonial One. Vipers and Raptors move to a side elevator lift and descend to the lower hangar bay, where they are maintained. The launch tubes for Viper egress is also located on the lower level. Once in launch position, an airlock closes behind the Viper and the front of the tube is open-ended, exposing the Viper to space for launch. The Mercury class battlestars, like Battlestar Pegasus, have a third storey on each flight pod. There is a second landing bay that is upside down. Vipers approaching this deck roll 180 degrees ("on their backs") prior to landing on it.

[edit] Propulsion

Galactica is shown to possess six sub-light engine pods^[3] while Pegasus is shown to possess eight.^[4] Battlestars are highly manoeuvrable and are capable of docking, for example with the Ragnar Anchorage station.^[3]

[edit] Defence

[edit] Armour

Battlestars of Galactica's class are protected by armour plate covered by ribs designed to catch and detonate incoming ordnance away from the armour. Newer battlestars are covered with smooth armour plating. The miniseries shows Galactica withstanding a direct nuclear detonation with little apparent damage to its command structure and fighter bays.^[3] The newer Mercury class Battlestar Pegasus is apparently more resilient and withstands at least five nuclear hits while still remaining operational to inflict heavy damage to a Cylon Basestar with a salvo from its bow battery.

[edit] Armament

Gun batteries 

Two guns on each battery fire rounds in tandem. The guns are stated to possess at least two settings: suppression-fire mode, where they fire explosive flak rounds,^[5] and a salvo mode where the guns fire anti-ship rounds.^[6] When firing in salvo the rounds are shown to be highly effective against Cylon Basestars.^[4]

Point-defence guns 

The primary purpose shown on-screen is to suppress enemy fire, such as destroying incoming ordnance.^[3] Ammo fired from the guns are shown to be effective in destroying Cylon Raiders.^[3]

Nuclear warheads/missiles 

Galactica has five nuclear warheads on-board as of the outbreak of war.^[7]

Galactica is armed with at least seven nuclear missiles as of "The Eye of Jupiter" with at least ten launch tubes.^[8] Admiral Adama orders the nuclear missiles targeted at the Algae Planet in "The Eye of Jupiter".

Ship-to-ship missiles

The Battlestar Valkyrie is fitted with at least one ship-to-ship missile launch tube.

The Battlestar Pegasus can launch ship-to-ship missiles from its missile tubes.

[edit] Air group

The Battlestar Galactica was originally equipped with 80 Viper Mk. I fighters. These were upgraded to Viper Mk. II fighters during the Cylon war. In addition to improved manoeuvrability, the Mk. II fighters are also equipped with two light missile racks.^[2]

Before the Cylon holocaust on the Twelve Colonies, Galactica had its fighter squadrons upgraded to Mk. VII Vipers; most of these, however, are removed and reassigned pending the Battlestar's decommission. A squadron of Galactica's Mk. VII Vipers are destroyed by two Raiders after being deactivated by the Cylon virus in the upgraded navigational program.

At the onset of the second Cylon War, the Vipers in the ship's starboard hangar museum, mostly Mk. II's, were pressed into service to defend the ship. These fighters, supplemented by a small number of Mk. VII's, gave Galactica an effective air group of roughly 40 craft. This number diminished over time as the ship and her fleet of civilian craft fled the Cylons. ^[9] The arrival of Pegasus with her mostly intact squadrons and Viper production facilities increased the size of Galactica's group. Pegasus' Air Group was subsequently transferred to Galactica after the former's destruction, giving Galactica a full complement composed largely of Mk VII Vipers.^[10]

Galactica is also equipped with numerous FTL jump-capable Raptors, multi-role spacecraft used for transportation, reconnaissance, scouting, and electronic countermeasures.

[edit] Crew

Galactica's crew complement prior to its scheduled decommissioning was around 2,000.^[2] This figure is higher for a fully-staffed Battlestar, exceeding the 5,000 mark. After the Cylon attack, Galactica's crew complement rises to over 2,500 as civilians join the service.

After the settlement of New Caprica, Galactica's complement is gradually reduced as crew members leave the ship and join the civilians on the planet surface.^[11] When the Cylons reappear 380 days after the establishment of settlements on New Caprica, Galactica is manned by a skeleton crew that could barely launch a squadron of Vipers for training, much less fly an efficient combat air patrol.^[11]

After the rescue of the population of New Caprica, Galactica's crew complement is bolstered by the return of the retired crew members from the surface as well as the survivors of Pegasus. It is implied that the most if not all the Pegasus crew escapes, bringing Galactica close to full complement.

A Battlestar's crew, aside from the Marine Corps component present aboard the vessel, are Colonial Fleet personnel. As such, the crew falls into a common, hierarchical, military rank structure. This hierarchy is divided into two broad groups: commissioned officers who exercise command oversight; and enlisted personnel (including non-commissioned officers) who perform technical duties or exercise first-line supervisory authority.

[edit] Combat Performance

In the season two episode "Resurrection Ship, Part II", with both sides' fighter groups engaged elsewhere, the battlestars Galactica and Pegasus successfully engage and destroy one basestar in ship-to-ship combat. A second basestar is not seen to explode onscreen, however it takes massive damage. Robbed of their Raider fleet (which is superior in numbers to a battlestar's Viper complement), the basestars appear to be no match for the battlestars. The battlestars used the tactic of circling one basestar while firing upon it until destroyed. A similar tactic is used in the battle of New Caprica in which the Galactica uses diversions to occupy the Cylon Raiders elsewhere, and fights four basestars simultaneously. With the arrival of Pegasus, two basestars are lost - one by crashing Pegasus into it, a second due to collateral damage from the resulting explosion and debris. A third basestar is heavily damaged by Pegasus as it fires its forward main batteries when it came into the fight.

The role and performance of the basestars indicate that they are not nearly as well armoured or armed as battlestars. Their offensive and defensive capabilities are limited entirely to their Raiders. Deprived of their Raiders, basestars are extremely vulnerable to Colonial warships. In contrast, while Galactica is heavily dependent on its Vipers for defence, it is heavily armoured against nuclear and conventional weapons and has several batteries capable of maintaining a much higher volume of fire than a basestar can achieve. Additionally, a basestar appears to be much less manoeuvrable than a battlestar. It is possible to surmise that the design of a basestar is intended to exchange armour, firepower and manoeuvrability for additional space in which to store Raiders. Battlestars, conversely, trade size for increased manoeuvrability, firepower and armour.

[edit] List of Battlestars

At the time of the Cylon attack, the Colonial Fleet was composed of approximately 120 Battlestars.^[2]

Battlestar Atlantia 

Becomes the flagship of the fleet after Admiral Nagala takes command of the Colonial Fleet following the destruction of Picon Fleet Headquarters, and is subsequently destroyed along with most of the fleet.^[2]

Battlestar Columbia 

The first Battlestar Columbia, in service during the First Cylon War, was destroyed during Operation Raptor Talon, approximately 41 years prior to the events of the reimagined series. William Adama was involved in this action as first mission as a Viper pilot, and witnessed the ship's destruction. ^[12]The second Battlestar Columbia was destroyed along with the Atlantia during the Second Cylon War. Columbia's executive officer some time before the events depicted in the show was William Adama.^[2]

Battlestar Galactica 

The Galactica survives the Cylon attack on the Colonies. During its service during the original Cylon war, the Galactica was a part of Battlestar Group 75 (BSG 75). At the time of the attack, Galactica is undergoing formal decommissioning, to be turned into a museum. The Galactica is commanded by William Adama.^[2]

Battlestar Pegasus 

The second season mid-season cliffhanger reveals that the Battlestar Pegasus also survived the Cylon attack. It is more advanced (a Mercury class Battlestar) than Galactica. Pegasus was part of Battlestar Group 62 (BSG-62). Originally commanded by Rear Admiral Cain, her former Executive Officer, Colonel Fisk is then appointed by Admiral Adama to command Pegasus. Commander Fisk is murdered in a conflict related to his illegal black market trading activities. Chief Engineer Garner is promoted to replace Fisk and takes command of Pegasus. Commander Garner is killed in action saving Pegasus from a Cylon ambush. Pegasus, under the command of Lee Adama, is destroyed over New Caprica by ramming itself into a Cylon Basestar during the battle to free the colonists; the Pegasus had left its Viper squadrons to protect the fleet prior to jumping to aid in the battle.^[13]

Battlestar Solaria 

Destroyed along with the Atlantia.^[2]

Battlestar Triton 

Destroyed along with the Atlantia.^[2] Triton was part of Battlestar Group 39 (BSG-39) and she was Crashdown's original posting.^[14] Starbuck also served on the Battlestar Triton once.^[15]

Battlestar Valkyrie 

Commanded by William Adama three years prior to the fall of the Twelve Colonies. Valkyrie is ordered by Admiral Corman to launch a black-ops operation to penetrate the Cylon Armistice Zone to gather intelligence on Cylon battle readiness. Battlestar Valkyrie was assigned to Battlestar Group 41 (BSG-41). The Valkyrie's fate is unknown at present but is presumed destroyed.^[16]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Elevations of the Battlestar Galactica by Zoic Studios.
• Galactica type Battlestar at BattlestarWiki.
• Mercury class Battlestar at BattlestarWiki.

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