Battlestar Galactica (ship)

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The Battlestar Galactica is a space battleship in the original and re-imagined science fiction television series Battlestar Galactica.

The Twelve Colonies of Man in the original television series built a number of Battlestars during their thousand-year war with the Cylons, whose battleships are known as Basestars.

Contents 1 Battlestar Galactica (1978, 1980) 2 Battlestar Galactica (2003) 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Battlestar Galactica (1978, 1980)

One of an undisclosed total number of Battlestars constructed by the Twelve Colonies of Man. Eight other Battlestars are specifically named in the series: (Acropolis, Atlantia, Columbia, Pacifica, Pegasus, Rycon, Solaria, and Triton). Galactica represents the Colonial planet Caprica, and is crewed mostly by Capricans. Galactica was built 500 yahren before the close of the Thousand Yahren War (and the start of the television series). It is believed to be the only Battlestar to survive the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, until Battlestar Pegasus is found.

Of the other ships, it is known that the Atlantia, Acropolis, Pacifica and Triton are destroyed at the Battle of Cimtar in "Saga of a Star World". Battlestar Columbia is stated in the episode "Gun on Ice Planet Zero", but it is said to also have been destroyed at Cimtar by a Centurion. The Rycon is mentioned in passing in the episode "Take the Celestra" as the ship of Captain Kronus. Pegasus is encountered in "The Living Legend".

Galactica is commanded by Commander Adama. It has a complement of about 150 Vipers: a mixture of its own, some from the other battlestars at the Peace Conference, and a large number of fighters from the Pegasus.

Novelizations based on the original series, various comic books, and other sources have named several other Battlestars, including Bellerophon, Cerberus, Olympia, and Prometheus.

[edit] Battlestar Galactica (2003)

Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica
First appearance	Miniseries, Part 1
Affiliation	Colonial Fleet
References	Miniseries, Part 2 The Eye of Jupiter
General characteristics
Auxiliary craft	Colonial Raptors
Armaments	Primary KEWs Point defense KEWs Nuclear weapons
Propulsion	FTL drives Sublight engines
Length	1,445 m/4,740 ft[1]

One of the first twelve Battlestars built, Galactica represents the Colonial planet Caprica. In the re-imagined series, there were about 120 Battlestars in service prior to the Cylon attack.

Galactica entered service in the early years of the Cylon War, under the command of Commander Nash. During her service, Galactica formed a part of Battlestar Group 75 (BSG 75), a Colonial force described by series creator Ronald D. Moore as a mixed-force of vessels somewhat similar to a US Navy carrier battle group.

Like any of her sister ships, which may have survived the original Cylon War, Galactica 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 commander, William Adama.

Due to this lack of network integration at the time of the Cylon attack, Galactica was immune to the infiltration program used by the Cylons to disable Colonial vessels and defense systems, using the Command Navigation Program (CNP), developed by Dr. Gaius Baltar and subverted by Cylon operative Number Six as a back door into such systems.

At the time of the Cylon Attack, Galactica was 50 years old and she was undergoing formal decommissioning from the Colonial Fleet following her retirement as an operational vessel. She had been due to become a museum ship; a combined living museum commemorating the first Cylon War and as an educational center. Due to its age and operating conditions, the ship is unofficially known as "The Bucket" by the crews of both Pegasus and Galactica.^[2] Another nickname used by the crew is "The Big G"^[3] (a possible reference to the U.S. Navy sailors' nickname for USS Enterprise, "The Big E"). Galactica's starboard launch pod was outfitted as a cylon war museum; this exhibit remained intact until the final mission against the Cylon colony.

Since the Cylon attack, in keeping with the concept of the original 1978 series, Galactica became both protector and provider to a small fleet of civilian vessels searching for the legendary planet Earth.

Galactica took heavy damage during its raid on New Caprica, and her hull was now clearly darker with burn marks and missile hits, the most notable marks are the three large holes in the top of the ship where its armor was weakest. The starboard hangar deck, which had been converted into a museum prior to Galactica's intended decommissioning, was used to house civilian refugees from New Caprica after the evacuation, and earned the nickname "Camp Oilslick".^[4] In "A Measure of Salvation", which followed "Torn", Major Lee Adama informs Galactica that their Raptor was on approach to the starboard landing deck, which indicated that the starboard flight pod had started flight operations again.^[5] However, this is likely a dialogue error because since the escape from New Caprica the starboard landing deck was home to a refugee camp called "Dogsville". In the finale it was still shown to be a museum.

In the episode "The Passage" Galactica was once again used to house fleet passengers during the trip through the intense gas cloud, leaving the fleet vessels to be flown by skeleton crews with radiation medication. It is unclear as to whether the passengers were returned to their vessels between "The Passage" and "The Eye of Jupiter".

In the episode "The Woman King", 300 additional passengers were shown being moved to the starboard hangar deck, and the area was given the name "Dogsville" by the Galactica crew. Upon arriving, each passenger was checked for medical issues by civilian doctors and medical staff. Also now housed in the starboard hangar deck was a makeshift bar called "Joe's". Which located behind a storage area, and was equipped with a bumper-pool table, Pyramid arcade area, and a heavily damaged Mark II Viper hung above the bar. It was first seen in the episode "Taking a Break from All Your Worries".

Galactica was seen taking multiple hits from Cylon nuclear weapons and though the ship suffered damage, she was still operational. It is unclear exactly how well rated the Cylon nuclear weapons were versus Galactica's armor. Also, as the nukes detonated outside of the vessel, most of the energy would have been directed and attenuated out into the area of least resistance: space. However, the punishment has apparently begun to accumulate. In "Blood on the Scales", after disabling the FTL drive Chief Tyrol noticed a large split in an interior wall; in the subsequent episode, "No Exit", a more detailed inspection reveals hairline fractures and more obvious structual damage throughout the ship. The damage is aggravated by the fact that the original builders of the ship 'cut corners' during her construction. Tyrol suggests applying a Cylon organic resin that will insinuate itself into the hull, both repairing and strengthening the metal as it matures. Adama initially refuses the idea, but after finding cracks in the bulkheads of his own quarters, the Admiral gives Tyrol permission to do whatever it takes to repair Galactica. The repairs were not proceeding well, with numerous electrical faults occurring throughout the ship. When Boomer made her escape, she jumped her raptor right next to the port forward section of the bow, causing massive damage both externally (a large, visible crater in the ship's outer hull) and internally (large scale electrical malfunctions, bulkhead warping, creaking sounds throughout the ship).

At the onset of the series, Galactica's last operational squadron of Mark VII vipers participated in the decommissioning ceremony before departing the ship. The squadron was re-directed to intercept a group of cylon fighters and was subsequently disabled by the cylon computer virus and destroyed. The museum display Mark II Viper's were pressed into service to defend the ship, and these and a small number of Mark VII's (presumably refugees from other battlestars or spares broken out from storage) comprised the ship's fighter complement until the arrival of the Battlestar Pegasus midway through the second season. Pegasus possessed construction facilities and flight simulators that allowed it to build and train new Mark VII vipers to strengthen the squadrons of both ships. When Pegasus was destroyed during the liberation of New Caprica, her nearly intact squadrons were transferred to Galactica, giving the latter a full complement of Vipers. By the time of the episode He That Believeth in Me, there were more Vipers available than qualified pilots, and trainees (known as 'nuggets') were pressed into service to defend the fleet. A significant number of pilots participated in the mutiny led by Tom Zarek and Felix Gaeta^[6]. Those pilots who refused to assist William Adama in re-taking the ship were court-martialed and incarcerated aboard the fleet prison vessel. The further reduction in manpower forces Adama to allow cylon heavy raiders from the renegade base ship to assist in CAP duties alongside Galactica regular pilots. As the end of the show approaches the ship is so heavily damaged that Adama is forced with the decision to strip her for weapons and supplies. After that he would transfer the flag to the rebel base ship along with every single person and equipment, making the rebel base ship the protector of the fleet.

In the series finale Daybreak Part II, "Galactica" participated in her final mission, a rescue operation of the half-human/half-Cylon child Hera. The ship sustains a heavy barrage from the cylon colony. The starboard flight pod is destroyed when a Raptor assault force jumps directly from the landing bay to the opposite side of the colony, and further damage is sustained when Galactica is deliberately rammed into her adversary. At the end of the battle, Kara Thrace jumps the ship with the flight pods still extended, resulting in numerous hull breaches and visible flexing along the ship's axis. Tigh notes that Galactica has 'broke her back' and would never be able to jump again, although most of her essential systems including life support and sublight engines are still functioning.

Adama sent a Raptor to the rendezvous coordinates and brought the fleet back to Earth while the assault team disembarked from Galactica to explore planetside. Once the remainder of the fleet population made its way down to the planet, Adama ordered all of the ships to be set on autopilot, along with Galactica -- still under the control of the wounded Samuel Anders, on a course heading into the sun which destroys the Galactica and her fleet.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• 1978 Galactica (Battlestar Wiki)
• Re-imagined Galactica (Battlestar Wiki)

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