Battlestar (reimagining)
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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]

Design

Flight pods

Battlestars are seen to possess two flight pods. Those of Galactica's retract during an FTL jump, though the same is not true of Pegasus. The flight pods serve as landing bays for spacecraft and are normally two-story decks, with the top deck being an open-ended landing pad 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 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.

Propulsion

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

Defence

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 three nuclear hits during a Cylon ambush; not only does Pegasus remain operational, she inflicts heavy damage to a Cylon Basestar with her forward batteries^[4].

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, which have demonstrated a high effectiveness against Cylon Basestars.^[6][4].

Point-defence guns: The primary function of these guns is in an anti-fighter/missile role, such as destroying incoming ordnance or Cylon Raiders.^[3]

Nuclear warheads/missiles: Galactica has five nuclear warheads on-board as of the outbreak of the war.^[7] By the time Galactica has reached the algae planet, her stockpile has increased to at least seven nuclear missiles and at least ten launch tubes.^[8].

Ship-to-ship missiles: Both Battlestars Valkyrie and Pegasus are fitted with ship-to-ship missile tubes. It is unknown if Galactica is also equipped with anti-ship missiles.

Air group

The Battlestar Galactica was originally equipped with 80 Viper Mk. I fighters. During the First Cylon War these were replaced with the Mk. II version. In addition to improved manoeuvrability, the Mk. II fighters are also equipped with two light missile racks.^[2]

Before the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, Pegasus's fighter squadrons were flying the newer Mk. VII Vipers. Most of Galactica's Mk. VIIs had been reassigned with the Battlestar's pending decommission; her single remaining squadron of Mk. VII Vipers were sabotaged by the Cylon virus in the upgraded navigational program and annihilated.

Following the outbreak of the Second Cylon War, the Vipers in the ship's starboard hangar museum, mostly ageing Mk. II's, were pressed into service. These fighters, supplemented by a small number of retrofitted Mk. VII's, gave Galactica an effective air group of roughly 40 craft. Attrition over the following months reduced this number somewhat as the ship and her fleet of civilian craft were pursued by the Cylons. ^[9] The arrival of Pegasus with her mostly intact squadrons and Viper production facilities were a huge boost to Galactica's dwindling air group. With the destruction of the Pegasus her squadrons were subsequently transferred to Galactica, giving the latter a full complement of fighters that were largely 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.

Crew

Galactica's crew complement prior to its scheduled decommissioning was around 2,000.^[2] This figure would be much 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 crew is gradually reduced as personnel leave the ship and join the civilians on the planet surface.^[11] When the Cylons reappear 380 days after the colonization of New Caprica, Galactica is manned by a skeleton crew that struggles just to achieve combat readiness, let alone engage the Cylons.^[11]

After the rescue of the civilian population from New Caprica, Galactica's crew is bolstered by the return of the retired crew members from the planet as well as the survivors of Pegasus. It is implied that the most if not all the Pegasus crew escape the loss of their ship, bringing Galactica's crew close to full strength.

A Battlestar's crew, aside from the Marine Corps component present aboard the vessel, consists of 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.

Combat Performance

When separated from their Raider groups (which are superior in numbers to a battlestar's Viper complement), the basestars appear to be no match for the battlestars in purely ship-to-ship combat - throughout the series, Colonial battlestars have demonstrated a marked superiority over their Cylon counterparts in this area. 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 at least one basestar and heavily damage a second (possibly destroying it as well). 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 is able to fight four basestars simultaneously (albeit with heavy damage). With the later arrival of Pegasus, three basestars are lost - the first by fire from Pegasus's main batteries, the second when the crippled Pegasus is deliberately rammed into it, and the third due to collateral damage from the resulting explosion and debris.

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 dependent mainly on their Raiders, although they do possess missile silos used in ship to ship combat. 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.

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 Admiral Nagala and the surviving Colonial Fleet after Picon Fleet Headquarters and much of the navy are destroyed during the first wave of the Cylon assault. Like almost all of its sister ships, Atlantia was subsequently destroyed.^[2]

Battlestar Columbia

The first Battlestar Columbia served during the First Cylon War and was destroyed during Operation Raptor Talon, the last battle of that conflict. William Adama was involved in this action on his first mission as a Viper pilot, and witnessed the ship's destruction. This Columbia appears to belong to the same ship class as Galactica. ^[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 the last ship of its class and 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 and was part of Battlestar Group 62 (BSG-62). Originally commanded by Rear Admiral Cain, her former Executive Officer, Colonel Fisk becomes commander of Pegasus following her death. Commander Fisk is murdered in a conflict related to his illegal black market trading activities and is replaced by Chief Engineer Garner. Garner himself is killed in action shortly after, saving Pegasus from a Cylon ambush. Pegasus, under its final commander Lee Adama, is crippled over New Caprica during the battle to free the colonists; in a final act of defiance, the dying Pegasus rams a Cylon Basestar.^[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 operation to penetrate the Cylon Armistice Zone to gather intelligence on Cylon battle readiness. The operation ended in disaster, and Adama was 'downgraded' to command of Galactica to oversee that ship's retirement (and his own). Battlestar Valkyrie was assigned to Battlestar Group 41 (BSG-41). The Valkyrie's fate is unknown at present but is presumed destroyed.^[16]

References

External links

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