- For the unnamed original class, to which Galactica belongs, see Galactica type battlestar.
| Mercury class battlestar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Race: | Colonial | ||
| Type: | Military | ||
| FTL: | Yes | ||
| Propulsion: | |||
| Crew: | Unknown (at least 2,450) | ||
| Capacity: | |||
| CO: | {{{co}}} | ||
| XO: | {{{xo}}} | ||
| Role: | Capital battleship/carrier | ||
| Weapons: | Primary 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: | [[Image:{{{patch}}}|175px|Ship's patch]] | ||
| Other Images: | Gallery | ||
| Length: | {{{length}}} | ||
| Width: | {{{width}}} | ||
| Height: | {{{height}}} | ||
| Weight: | {{{weight}}} | ||
| Wingspan: | {{{wingspan}}} | ||
| Other: | {{{otherdi}}} | ||
| Cost: | {{{construction}}} | ||
| Construction Time: | {{{construction}}} | ||
| Hull Size: | {{{hull size}}} | ||
| Hull: | {{{hull}}} | ||
| FTL Cooldown: | {{{ftl cooldown}}} turns | ||
| Speed: | {{{speed}}} m/s | ||
| Turn Rate: | {{{turn rate}}}°/turn | ||
| 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}}} | ||
| 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 | |||
The Mercury class battlestar is an advanced Colonial capital warship/carrier introduced into the Colonial Fleet sometime after the First Cylon War.
Overview[edit]
Following the end of the Cylon War, the original battlestars remained in service as other battlestars were built. Their numbers steadily increased to a grand total of 120 ships in the Colonial Fleet. Newer models employed networked computers which had been prohibited during the war. Being networked, and compromised by the Command Navigation Program, led to the Cylons being able to hack the system, thus rendering the ships defenseless (Miniseries).
A Mercury class battlestar sports several features not found aboard Galactica such as automated sliding doorways and basic computer recognition stations at vital areas. At the time of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, a Mercury class battlestar was a top-of-the-line vessel.
The physical appearance of the Mercury class is different than that of the original battlestar. The "neck" section is smaller, and the Mercury class is equipped with eight sublight engine pods, compared the older class's six. These are also more "boxy" in appearance than those of the original. The flight pods also appear to have two entrances each, above and below the mid-line. Combined with computer assisted landing, this gives the Mercury class a faster rate of Viper recovery than Galactica. Unlike Galactica, Pegasus appears to have a full armor "skin", but in Galactica's case this may have been deliberately removed prior to its scheduled decommissioning.
This, probably the largest of the battlestars, may be able to carry a maximum of 180 Viper Mark VII fighters (six to eight squadrons and one reserve squadron)[1].
The gun batteries on the Mercury class are arranged very differently from Galactica's. Where as Galactica's large guns are clustered along her top side, with secondary batteries concentrated along the flight pods, the guns of the Mercury class are found all over the ship (The Captain's Hand). 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. Two more turrets are mounted on the front and back of each flight pod. The Mercury class's secondary guns are distributed all over the ship and do not clearly emerge from the hull like Galactica's.
Based on figures from the episode "Pegasus", the standard crew complement of a Mercury class battlestar is in excess of 2,500, which is significantly lower than found on a Galactica-type battlestar. Despite being larger in size than its preceding ship class, this level of crew appears to make operating battlestars of this class manageable, due to heavy computer automation.
In addition to having better armament and weapons than Galactica, the Mercury class battlestar has production facilities to build new Viper Mark VIIs from basic resources (Scar).
Unlike Galactica, which must retract her flight pods to execute an FTL jump, the Mercury class battlestars's flight pods are fixed in place and do not retract during a jump (The Captain's Hand). This suggests that a Mercury class battlestar's jump system is more advanced than the older battlestars's.
Known Mercury class battlestars[edit]
Notes[edit]
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 old class 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[edit]
- ↑ Intelligence Debrief: Cylon Basestar, "Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine," June/July 2006, page 56.
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