Galactica is one of a handful of combination warship/fighter carriers, known as battlestars, of the Twelve Colonies of Man. Its task is to defend the Colonies' citizens from the Cylon Empire. Galactica represented the Colonial planet of Caprica.
Galactica was first brought into service approximately mid-way during the Thousand Yahren War with the Cylons. Galactica served with distinction throughout the conflict.
Galactica and her sister ships combined the roles of battle cruiser and fighter carrier, having a massive offensive capability in terms of on-board weapons and Starhound Viper space superiority fighters.
As of "Saga of a Star World," Galactica is one of only five battlestars believed to have survived the long war, and was under the leadership of Commander Adama, a distinguished member of the Council of Twelve.
Galactica and sister battlestars before the abortive Peace Conference.
The remaining battlestars amass at Cimtar for what is believed by President Adar to be a historic peace treaty signing with the Cylons. However, with the villainous aid of one of the Council's members, Baltar, Adar ignores several apparent threats to the battlestars, leaving all of them open to a massive Cylon Raider attack. Galactica Viper pilots Apollo and Zac encounter the Raider fleet, and is able to warn Galactica of the ruse.
Unfortunately, Commander Adama is unable to convince Adar to launch their Viper squadrons or place the other battlestars on alert. Adama chooses to launch his squadrons against Adar's orders, feigning a battle drill, and activates the battlestar's shields to meet any attacks.
Realizing that the Raider fleet is far away from any locatable basestars to support them, and after seeing press reports of other Raider attacks on Caprica, Adama realizes that the Twelve Colonies themselves are in mortal danger from basestar attacks, and orders Galactica to speed away to Caprica. The battlestar arrives too late; a handful of humans survive the genocidal onslaught.
The battlestar fleet, including Adar's flagship, Atlantia, is destroyed, save Galactica, the sole surviving battlestar from the attack. Adama sends out word to all the survivors to take whatever space going vessel they can find and rendezvous with Galactica. Together, Galactica and 220 other Colonial ships leave Colonial space in search of Earth, the mythic home of the Thirteenth Tribe.
Galactica serves three main military functions provided by battlestars, operating as fighter carrier, a battleship and a mobile base of operations all in one massive platform [2]
Following the destruction of the Twelve Colonies, Galactica is forced to dramatically increase the number of crew she carries. Galactica is originally equipped with two Viper squadrons, Red and Blue. She acquires two additional squadrons, Silver Spar Squadron and Bronze Spar Squadron from the battlestar Pegasus, following that ship's disappearance in "The Living Legend, Part II," boosting Galactica's fighter strength to one hundred-fifty Vipers (as mentioned in "Fire in Space").
Galactica has her own heavy offensive batteries, consisting of 32 known turbo-lasers and fusion missiles.
The primary power aboard Colonial battlestars are provided by a combination of tylium energizers and advanced fusion reactors.
Galactica is able to travel at lightspeed, but rarely does so with her civilian Fleet in tow, as no other ships in the Fleet have lightspeed ability.
An internal schematic of Galactica(TOS: "Fire in Space").In the event of imminent damage, Galactica can seal off her compartments to localize damage (TOS: "Fire in Space").
Galactica relies on scanners to locate and track objects around it. These scanners can be disabled by a significant hit to the bridge, leaving Galactica blind and forcing her to rely on her complement of Vipers to act as her "eyes" (TOS: "Fire in Space").
Galactica has an automated firefighting capability, managed by the boraton mist control center. In the event of its destruction all firefighting must be conducted manually. The fireleader coordinates the manual firefighting efforts (TOS: "Fire in Space").
Galactica makes use of gyros in order to maintain her orientation. If Apollo and Starbuck fail to detonate the explosives in exactly the planned pattern the ship's gyros would go wild (TOS: "Fire in Space").
Most frequently seen is Galactica's command center, or bridge, which features a huge viewing window with a large shield that can be put in place, and a rotating command console from where the commander can observe operations.
The commander's private dining area. Serina and Athena prepare a meal that is enjoyed by Adama and various family members, where Apollo announces his intention to marry Serina.
The ship is divided in to decks and sections designated with Greek letters. During "Fire in Space" the fire is initially out of control on alpha deck, in beta and gamma sections. Dialogue indicates that solium storage is located in or near gamma section. Sections are divided into compartments, with as many as 43 compartments in a section. A series of ducts run throughout the ship. These ducts are too small for humans to fit through, but large enough for Muffit(TOS: "Fire in Space").
Within fan circles, it has generally been assumed there were twelve original battlestars, given the number of Colonies. However, Glen A. Larson has stated that there was never any decision to have a specific number of battlestars, nor did the Original series state that there were only twelve battlestars built. Indeed, only eight battlestars were specifically mentioned the the course the series. Given the length of the Thousand Yahren War, it seems likely that far more than twelve of these warships were constructed.
