The Ship That Saved Humanity- The Battlestar Galactica Breakdown
She might be old, but this Grand Old Lady, can still save mankind. Join us as we breakdown the Battlestar Galactica.
There was no ship more important to the Colonial Fleet, and indeed, humanity, than the BS-75 Battlestar, known better as the Battlestar Galactica.
No ship has served nearly as long as she did. No ship was more instrumental in humanity’s survival. She truly was a Grand Old Lady. But how did one ship come to have such an impact on humanity’s destiny? It all starts with the United Colonies of Kobol.
Battlestar Galactica: Origins
Galactica’s origins start, as most ships do, with the 1st Cylon War. This conflict altered the course of humanity forever. The United Colonies of Kobol went to war with the sentient machines known as the Cylons. This war encouraged a unique form of warfare. Since Cylons could hack networks remotely, humanity developed a kind of ship that could be crewed by dedicated computers with specially trained crewmembers.
These ships were the first Battlestar. And Galactica was one of twelve original Battlestars. Twelve Battlestars for twelve colonies. Galactica herself represented Caprica in the early days of the conflict. And owing to the volatile nature of the war, little is known of her history in the conflict.
Commander Silas Nash was her CO. And at some point during the war, Battlestar Galactica took a beating. But she endured. And proved to be invaluable right up until the year 1980, when her usefulness was superseded by newer model Battlestars. She might have been scrapped, as were her sister ships. But Galactica was selected for morale duty, lasting another 18 years to show that historically significant ships still had a place in the new way of life following the Cylon War.
Eventually, though, she was decommissioned and was going to be refurbished as a war museum.
From War Museum to Humanity’s Savior
And so might have ended Galactica’s career. Except the Cylons, chose that moment to break the forty-year long armistice. As Galactica was due to be decommissioned, a massive Cylon offensive struck out across the colonies. Galactica, not having the Command Navigation Program that newer ships had, was one of the only ships to survive the initial attack.
The quick actions of her commanding officer, Commander Willliam Adama, helped mount a successful counteroffensive. Galactica was able to provide protection to a number of civilian ships that jumped to her side. And in the first days following humanity’s devastation at the hands of the Cylons, Galactica led a fleet out from the Twelve Colonies. And though their journey was long and harrowing, eventually they would carry humanity (and a number of rebel Cylons) to the distant, fabled world known as Earth.
Capabilities
Battlestar Galactica was a Jupiter-class battleship. These were the original Battlestars, first put into service midway through the 1st Cylon War.
Like all original Jupiter-class vessels, Galactica comes in at 1,438.64 meters long, 183.32 meters high, and 536.84 meters wide. Room enough to house a crew of up to 5000 comfortably, though for most of her life, Galactica carried a crew of around 2700 souls.
Battlestar Galactica was heavily armed. Her standard loadout was a series of 24 Kinetic Energy Weapons. KEWs were typically mounted on two-barreled turrets that could fire independently from each other, allowing for ships to track multiple targets. 12 Missile Tubes made for even heavier firepower.
For defense, she was just as bristly, with 514 Dual Point-Defense KEW and armor plating. But what made the Battlestars truly punch well above their weight class, were their complements of fighters.
And Galactica carried two flight pods, two flight decks, and launch tubes for 40 Vipers. Galactica carried a complement of Viper Mk IIs, Viper Mk VIIa, Viper Mk VIIb, Raptors, and Heavy Raptors, and could deploy them all with considerable ease. And she had a gift shop.
Beyond that, six sublight engines and an array of maneuvering thrusters meant Galactica could perform evasive maneuvers as well as jumps when needed.
