Mercury class battlestar

For the unnamed original class, to which Galactica belongs, see Galactica Class Battlestar.

Mercury class battlestar
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Race:	Colonial
Type:	Military
FTL:	Yes
Propulsion:
Crew:	Unknown approx 2500 (Full crew)
Capacity:
CO:	{{{co}}}
XO:	{{{xo}}}
Role:	Capital battleship/carrier
Weapons:	34 Primary Kinetic Energy Weapons (30 twin turrets, 4 fixed twin mounts) and point-defense Kinetic Energy Weapons, conventional missiles, nuclear warheads, Vipers, Raptors
Armaments:	{{{arm}}}
Defenses:	{{{def}}}
Aircraft:	{{{aircraft}}}
Aviation facilities:	{{{facilities}}}
Fate:	Final known ship of this class destroyed at the Battle of New Caprica
Emblem:	[[File:{{{patch}}}|175px|Ship's patch]]
Other Images:	Gallery
Dimensions
Length:	5872 feet (1789.8m)
Width:	{{{width}}}
Height:	{{{height}}}
Weight:	{{{weight}}}
Wingspan:	{{{wingspan}}}
Other:	{{{otherdi}}}
Game Information
Cost:	{{{construction}}}
Construction Time:	{{{construction}}}
Hull Size:	{{{hull size}}}
Hull:	{{{hull}}}
Mobility
FTL Cooldown:	{{{ftl cooldown}}} turns
Speed:	{{{speed}}} m/s
Turn Rate:	{{{turn rate}}}°/turn
Armor Sum
Armor Total:	{{{armor total}}}
Armor Left:	{{{armor left}}}
Armor Right:	{{{armor right}}}
Armor Front:	{{{armor front}}}
Armor Rear:	{{{armor rear}}}
Armor Top:	{{{armor top}}}
Armor Bottom:	{{{armor bottom}}}
Armament
DRADIS Range:	{{{dradis range}}} m
Processing Power:	{{{processing power}}}
Munition Slots:	{{{munitions}}}
Munition Cooldown Period:	{{{munition cooldown}}} turns
Squadron Slots:	{{{squadrons}}}
Squadron Size:	{{{squadron size}}}
Special Abilities:	{{{special abilities}}}
Additional Information

Mercury class battlestars are advanced Colonial capital warships/carriers of the Colonial Fleet, top-of-the-line vessels at the time of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies

Overview

Introduced some years after the First Cylon War, the structural design of the Mercury class differs significantly from the original Galactica type battlestar. The "neck" section is smaller, and the Mercury class features eight sublight engine pods instead of the older class's six. Its edges are more angular is more completely armored (no exposed ribs). Each flight pod consists of two stacked landing bays with adjoined decks and hangars, which along with computer-assisted landings results in a faster Viper recovery rate. These pods are fixed and do not retract when executing an FTL jump (The Captain's Hand), suggesting advances in jump systems. Inside, the class features automated sliding doorways, basic computer recognition stations in vital areas, and networked computer systems.

An example of this class, Pegasus, carries a complement of 50 Raptors and 200 Viper Mark VII fighters (8 squadrons and two reserve squadrons color coded blue, red, green, yellow, orange, purple, black, white, and reserve squadrons gold and silver) .

Gun batteries on the Mercury class are distributed all over the ship (The Captain's Hand), with the greatest concentration of large turrets are found along the side of the ship, within the valley created by the upper and lower halves of the hull, including the flight pods. Four are mounted on the underside of the upper hull on the ship's bow, below which sits four non-turreted large guns; these form the main forward batteries. Six turrets are mounted on each underside of the alligator head, grouped in pairs. There are also three turrets on the side of each flight pod along two more turrets are mounted on the front and back of each flight pod. This amounts to a total of thirty-four main gun batteries. The turreted guns of the Mercury class have a higher rate of fire than Galactica's turreted guns when operating in flak mode, demonstrated during the skirmish with the Cylon War-era Raiders in Razor.

Pegasus from fore and below, with the Fleet in the background

Mark VII Vipers landing in Pegasus's port flight pod

Some of Pegasus's batteries

Comparison of original series battlestar and Mercury class

The standard crew complement of a Mercury class battlestar is in excess of 2,500 ("Pegasus", "Razor"), a small number for a ship its size made possible by computer automation.

The Mercury class battlestar has production facilities to build new Viper Mark VIIs from basic resources (Scar).

Known Mercury class battlestars

• Battlestar Pegasus

Notes

The shape of the Mercury class resembles the Original Series battlestar more than the Re-imagined Series' Galactica. Its engine pods number eight, compared to Galactica's six engine pods. The pods aboard the Mercury class battlestar appear more directly integrated with its rear section, and its flight pods share the original angular shape.

The visual effects artist of the re-imagined Pegasus, Jose A. Perez, has commented that, "The new design was somewhat of a cross between the look of the original-series battlestars, and yet with elements of the new one. Aside from that, it has mostly hull plating (to absorb more damage) , as opposed to the Galactica which has more ribbing." Mr. Perez also commented that, "The harder edges [ of the Pegasus ] were intentional as well, to match the interior style of the sets more."

References

Size comparison between Pegasus and Galactica.

Sources for this page may be located at: Sources:Correspondence with Jose Perez