This article discusses the Battlestar Galactica found in the Original Series. For information on the Battlestar Galactica of the New Series, see Galactica (RDM).
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Galactica is a Colonial battlestar and with her sister battlestars were the Colonial response to a need for massive capital ships which arose during the Thousand-Yahren War with the Cylons. Introduced some 500 yahren into the war, she and her sister ships combined the roles of battle cruiser and aircraft carrier, having a massive offensive capability in terms of on-board weapons and Starhound Viper space superiority fighters.
Galactica served with distinction throughout the war, and at the time of the supposed Peace Treaty at Cimtar, was presumed to be one of only five surviving battlestars in the Colonial fleet.
Specifications
(source for the specifications section is taken, with acknowledgement, from The Battlestar Galactica Tech Manual website
The Galactica serves three main military functions provided by battlestars, operating as aircraft carrier, a battleship and a mobile base of operations all in one massive platform.
According to the August 1978 issue of Starlog (page 53) the Galactica is 2,000 feet long.
From Saga of Star World (TOS) we learn that the standard Battlestar type vessel had a crew of 496 personal with 200 warriors. From The Living Legend (TOS) we know that battlestars carried 75 Vipers, twelve Landram land based troop transports and twelve shuttle craft.
Following the destruction of the twelve colonies, the Galactica was forced to dramatically increase the number of crew she carried. Galactica, in addition to her to original Viper squadrons, Red and Blue, now has two additional Viper squadrons, Silver Spar and Bronze Spar of the Battlestar Pegasus. The additional Viper squadrons joined the Galactica following the apparent destruction of the Battlestar Pegasus in The Living Legend (TOS), boosting the Galactica's fighter strength to a hundred-fifty Vipers (as mentioned in Fire in Space (TOS)).
Galactica also has her big guns, consisting of 32 known Turbo-Lasers and Fusion Missiles.
Main power aboard Colonial Battlestars was provided by a combination of Tylium energizers and advanced Fusion reactors.
It has been generally held by fans and even suggested by those who worked on "Battlestar Galactica", that the ship most likely had some type of device that allowed it to travel at the speed of light.