Battlestar
Battlestars are capital ships from the science fiction universe of Battlestar Galactica, depicted in the original Battlestar Galactica (1978) movie and series, the Galactica 1980 spinoff, and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (2003) series.
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Battlestar Galactica (1978-1980)
General Information
Battlestars are the premier capital ship in the navy, which is the space equivalent of an aircraft carrier of the Twelve Colonies, and they have fought for at least five hundred years in the Thousand Year War against the Cylon Alliance. They are about 1408 meters (4620 feet) in length. The hull is divided into the main hull with the bridge and propulsion systems and winged hanger bays on the port and starboard sides. Each hanger bay typically carries 16 Viper starfighters and several shuttles, giving a normal battlestar a compliment of 32 fighters. The fuel for a battlestar is called tylium, a mysterious material that can be found on certain planets. For defence, a battlestar mounts energy dispersing armor plate and several anti-fighter and anti-ship laser batteries plus anti-ship missiles.
Battlestar Armament
Laser Turrets
The laser turret is basically the same weapon as a Viper's laser cannon based on appearances alone. There are three known types of turret. One, the anti-ship type, is a slow-tracking heavy turret found along the outer edge of both hanger bays. They have longer barrels than other turrets, presumably to focus the shot for more power. Above each anti-ship turret is an anti-fighter turret. They are flatter and thinner in appearance and track much faster. Their barrels are smaller and closer together for superior accuracy against fightercraft, but lack the punch to slug it out with capital ships. The third type, of which there is only one example, is the dorsal turret. It is situated a little forward of the midline on the main hull. The purpose of this turret is harder to decypher, but it appears to be placed almost as an afterthought. The dorsal surface is otherwise devoid of any weapons.
Note: The lasers used in Battlestar Galactica are not true lasers. They move slower than light and are visible in the vacuum of space, which is impossible for real world lasers. The term "laser" is either an anachronism or a laser simply plays a part in the firing of the actual weapon discharge.
Forward Lasers
The forward lasers have only been seen in The Living Legend Pt. 2 and The Hand of God and are often confused with anti-ship missiles (see section below). They are very powerful, orange-beamed weapons solely for capital ship use. They give a battlestar the offensive firepower to pose somewhat of a threat to a base star. Their use must be a significant drain on ship power because they are typically reserved for close range, knockout blows on base stars. The location of their emitters on the hull is unknown.
Anti-ship Missiles
These heavy missiles give a battlestar enough firepower to utterly destroy at least two base stars. The only example of their use is in The Living Legend Pt. 2. Each battlestar carries a limited supply of these potent missiles, though. They probably carry solenite warheads. They are often confused with the forward lasers because they were fired at the same time in the above mentioned episode. However, the most likely explanation is that the missiles and lasers were used in conjunction to batter down the base stars' defences quickly.
Battlestar Armor
The armor plate of a battlestar is unique in that it acts like an energy shield would in any other science fiction universe. It disperses the energy from a weapon bolt quickly over a large portion of the hull to ward off damage. However, as the armor is overheated during an engagement, hull breaches and fires will develop where energy leaks through. Both battlestars and Vipers have this special armor, while Cylon craft either have an energy shield or no defenses at all.
List of Battlestars
It has been believed that five hundred battlestars were constructed during the duration of the Thousand Yahren War, and only five were known to survive by the time the original movie took place.
- Battlestar Galactica
- Last surviving Battlestar, built 500 yahren before the close of the Thousand Yahren War. Commanded by Commander Adama. The Galactica has about 150 Vipers aboard, a mixture of its own, some from the other battlestars at the Peace Conference, and a great amount of fighters from the Pegasus.
- Battlestar Atlantia
- Battlestar of President Adar, lost at the Peace Conference.
- Battlestars Pacifica, Triton, and Acropolis
- Fleet lost at the Peace Conference. One ship was Count Baltar's own.
- Referenced in background radio chatter in the original pilot episodes ("...battlestars Atlantia and Acropolis losing speed..", "...no response from the Triton and the Pacifica")
- Battlestar Solaria
- The novelization of the movie (aka "Saga of a Star World") listed the Battlestar Solaria as being destroyed in the Cylon ambush.
- Battlestar Pegasus
- Sole survivor of the Battle of Molecay, 2 yahren before the Destruction of the Colonies. Commanded by Commander Cain. Missing since the Battle of Gamoray.
- Battlestar Rycon
- Commanded by Commander Kronus. Fought in the Battle of Cosmora Archipelago. Presumed destroyed prior or during the destruction of the Colonies.
Battlestar Columbia?
In the episode "Gun on Ice Planet Zero," a Cadet Cree claims to be from the Battlestar Columbia in an attempt to foil the interrogation efforts by the Centurian Vulpa. Vulpa answers back that the Columbia was lost in the Peace Conference with the rest of the fleet. The absurdity of a ship from a wholly alien culture being named after Genoan explorer Christopher Columbus is readily apparent, and all of the battlestars at the Peace Conference had already been named. Perhaps the most logical interpretation is that the word "Columbia" was intended to reference the word "dove" like Columbus does, and that the Columbia was destroyed at a shipyard within the Twelve Colonies. On the other hand, the name 'Columbia' could be genuine after all: either the name 'Columbus' exists in Colonial history as well as Earth's (not that unusual, given how Earth-similar some of the character names are), or perhaps the Battlestar 'Columbia' was inspired by another source other than 'Columbus'.
- In the remake, a Battlestar 'Columbia' is specifically referred to by name, so however it came to be, the name can be assumed to be genuine.
Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Battlestars Galactica, Atlantia, Triton, Solaria and Columbia are named. At the start of the Cylon War, twelve battlestars were made, one representing each colony (with Galactica representing Caprica). By the time of the miniseries, there are hundreds of battlestars - some 30-34 are lost during the opening wave of the Cylon attack, a loss that is described by Starbuck as "a quarter of the fleet". It is unknown how many of these 120+ battlestars were constructed before/during/after the war (most likely, battlestar production was ramped up during the war, due to anticipated heavy losses).
The Galactica entered service in the early years of the Cylon War, under the command of one Commander Dash. During her service, the Galactica formed a part of Battlestar Group 75 (BSG 75), a Colonial naval force described by series creator Ronald D. Moore as a mixed-force of vessels somewhat similar to a US Navy Carrier Battle Group. While the exact composition of such a group is uncertain, it has been speculated that more than one battlestar operated within each group.
Like any of her sister-ships which may have survived the original Cylon War, the Galactica doubtless underwent refits and upgrades (for example, at the end of her career she was equipped with the latest Mark VII Viper space superiority fighter). However, her computer systems were neither networked nor integrated by any of her commanding officers, up to and including her final operational Commander, William Adama. Thus, at the time of the Cylon attack, she was immune to the infiltration program used by the Cylons to disable Colonial vessels and defence systems, using the Command Navigation Program (CNP), developed by Dr. Gaius Baltar and subverted by Cylon operative Number Six as a backdoor into such systems.
At the time of the Cylon Attack, she was undergoing formal decommissioning from the Colonial fleet following her retirement as an operational vessel. She had been due to become a combined living museum commemorating the Cylon War and educational centre.
Since the Cylon attack, in keeping with the concept of the original 1978 series, the Galactica has become both protector and provider to a small fleet of civilian vessels searching for the legendary planet Earth.
Producer Ron D. Moore has stated that he has not decided if or how the Battlestar Pegasus might reunite with the Galactica in the remake as it did in the original series.