Battlestar Galactica (ship) - Battlestar Galactica (2003)

Battlestar Galactica (2003)

One of the first twelve Battlestars built, Galactica represents the Colonial planet Caprica. In the re-imagined series, there were about 120 Battlestars in service prior to the second Cylon attack.

Galactica entered service in the early years of the first Cylon War, under the command of Commander Nash. During her service, Galactica formed a part of Battlestar Group 75 (BSG 75), a Colonial force described by series creator Ronald D. Moore as a mixed force of vessels somewhat similar to a US Navy carrier strike group.

Like any of her sister ships, which may have survived the original Cylon War, Galactica underwent refits and upgrades (for example, at the end of her career, she was equipped with the latest Mark VII Viper space superiority fighter). However, the computer systems were neither networked nor integrated during these refits due to the fears of its commander William Adama.

Due to this lack of network integration at the time of the Cylon attack, Galactica was unaffected by the infiltration program used by the Cylons to disable Colonial vessels and defense systems, using the Command Navigation Program (CNP), developed by Dr. Gaius Baltar and subverted by Cylon operative Number Six as a back door into such systems.

At the time of the Cylon Attack, Galactica was fifty years old and was undergoing formal decommissioning from the Colonial Fleet following her retirement as an operational vessel. The ship had been due to become a museum commemorating the (first) Cylon War and an educational center. Due to its age and operating conditions, the ship is unofficially known as "The Bucket" by the crews of both Pegasus and Galactica. Another nickname used by the crew is "The Big G" (a possible reference to the U.S. Navy sailors' nickname for USS Enterprise, "The Big E"). Galactica's starboard launch pod was outfitted as a Cylon war museum; this exhibit remained intact until the final mission against the Cylon colony.

Since the Cylon attack, in keeping with the concept of the original 1978 series, Galactica became both protector and provider to a small fleet of civilian vessels searching for the legendary planet Earth.

Galactica took heavy damage during its raid on New Caprica, and her hull was now clearly darker with burn marks and missile hits, the most notable marks are the three large holes in the top of the ship where its armor was weakest.

The starboard hangar pod (and possible also the deck) had been converted into a museum prior to Galactica's intended decommissioning. The starboard hangar deck was used to house civilian refugees from New Caprica after the evacuation, and earned the nickname "Camp Oilslick". In "A Measure of Salvation", which followed "Torn", Major Lee Adama informs Galactica that their Raptor was on approach to the starboard landing deck, which indicated that the starboard flight pod had started flight operations again. However, this is likely a dialogue error because in the finale it was still shown to be a museum and Oilslick was never moved.

In the episode "The Woman King", 300 additional passengers were shown being moved to the starboard hangar deck, and the area was given the name "Dogsville" by the Galactica crew. Upon arriving, each passenger was checked for medical issues by civilian doctors and medical staff. Also now housed in the starboard hangar deck was a makeshift bar called "Joe's". Which located behind a storage area, and was equipped with a bumper pool table, Pyramid arcade area, and a heavily damaged Mark II Viper hung above the bar. It was first seen in the episode "Taking a Break from All Your Worries". The bar seemed to have distilling equipment, similar to the one Chief Tyrol built in the port hangar deck, in the center of it. Later a piano also came out of nowhere as intended continuity.

In the episode "The Passage" Galactica was used to house fleet passengers during the trip through the intense gas cloud, leaving the fleet vessels to be flown by skeleton crews with radiation medication. It is unclear as to whether the passengers were returned to their vessels between "The Passage" and "The Eye of Jupiter".

Galactica was seen taking multiple hits from Cylon nuclear weapons and though the ship suffered damage, she was still operational. It is unclear exactly how well rated the Cylon nuclear weapons were versus Galactica's armor. Also, as the nukes detonated outside of the vessel, most of the energy would have been directed and attenuated out into the area of least resistance: space. However, the punishment has apparently begun to accumulate. In "Blood on the Scales", after disabling the FTL drive Chief Tyrol noticed a large crack in an interior wall; in the subsequent episode, "No Exit", a more detailed inspection reveals hairline fractures and more obvious structual damage throughout the ship. The damage is aggravated by the fact that the original builders of the ship 'cut corners' during her construction. Tyrol suggests applying a Cylon organic resin that will insinuate itself into the hull, both repairing and strengthening the metal as it matures. Adama initially refuses the idea, but after finding cracks in the bulkheads of his own quarters, the Admiral gives Tyrol permission to do whatever it takes to repair Galactica. The repairs were not proceeding well, with numerous electrical faults occurring throughout the ship. When Boomer made her escape, she jumped her Raptor close alongside the port forward section of the bow, causing a spacial distortion which causes massive damage both externally (a large, visible crater in the ship's outer hull) and internally aggravating the already heavy structural damage.

At the onset of the series, Galactica's last operational squadron of Mark VII Vipers participated in the decommissioning ceremony before departing the ship for reassignment. The squadron was redirected to intercept a group of Cylon fighters and was subsequently disabled by the Cylon computer virus and destroyed. The museum display Mark II Vipers were pressed into service to defend the ship, and these and a small number of Mark VIIs (presumably refugees from other battlestars or spares broken out from storage) comprised the ship's fighter complement until the arrival of the Battlestar Pegasus midway through the second season. Pegasus possessed construction facilities and flight simulators that allowed it to build and train new Mark VII vipers and pilots to strengthen the squadrons of both ships. When Pegasus was destroyed during the liberation of New Caprica, her nearly intact squadrons were transferred to Galactica, giving the latter a full complement of Vipers. By the time of the episode He That Believeth in Me, there were more Vipers available than qualified pilots, and trainees (known as 'nuggets') were pressed into service to defend the fleet. A significant number of pilots participated in the mutiny led by Tom Zarek and Felix Gaeta. Those pilots who refused to assist William Adama in retaking the ship were court-martialed and incarcerated aboard the fleet prison vessel. The further reduction in manpower forces Adama to allow Cylon heavy raiders from the renegade basestar to assist in CAP duties alongside Galactica's regular pilots.

Due to the ship's age, battle damage and cheaper materials used in her construction, Galactica eventually begins to show signs of severe metal fatigue. Attempts to seal the ship's multiple stress fractures with Cylon resins fail, and Adama orders the ship to be abandoned and stripped of weapons and supplies. The discovery of the Cylon colony gives Galactica a brief reprieve, and a skeleton crew embarks on a mission to rescue the Cylon/human child Hera.

The crew of volunteers is supplemented by Cylon centurions from the rebel base ship as well as a small number of civilians including Laura Roslin, Gaius Baltar, and Tory Foster. Samuel Anders, a Cylon left in a vegetative state due to brain damage, is connected to the ship's systems, effectively becoming the battlestar's version of a Cylon hybrid.

Galactica jumps to within point blank firing range of the colony, making it impossible for missiles or nukes to be utilized, and sustains more damage in the exchange of gunfire. Anders successfully disrupts the colony's systems and shuts down their weapons. A flight of Raptors jumps from Galactica's starboard landing bay, destroying it in the process, and the battlestar is rammed into the colony. Marine and centurion assault teams from the raptors and from Galactica are successful in rescuing Hera, but a counter-assault by the remaining Cylon forces in the colony results in a standoff. A truce is negotiated, but hostilities resume when the Final Five fail to transmit the plans for Cylon resurrection to the colony. The colony is hit by several nukes accidentally fired from a disabled raptor, and begins plunging into a nearby black hole. Kara Thrace jumps the Galactica without retracting the landing pods, resulting in severe structure fractures along its length, effectively breaking the ship's back and rendering Galactica incapable of jumping again.

Thrace uses co-ordinates derived from the musical notes of a song that has haunted both her and the Final Five Cylons, resulting in the ship arriving at the planet that will eventually become modern-day Earth. A raptor is sent to rendezvous with the fleet, and the survivors of the Twelve Colonies settle on the planet along with the remaining Cylon rebels. Galactica and the other ships in the fleet are abandoned. Admiral Adama flies the last viper off the ship, and the battlestar and its fleet are scuttled by Samuel Anders, who pilots them directly into the Sun.