Battlestar Archeron

Battlestar Galactica 2004 Continuity
Battlestar Galactica 2004, Caprica, Blood & Chrome and Deadlock Video Game

Battlestar Archeron
General Information
Affiliation:	United Colonies of Kobol Colonial Fleet
Fate:	Destroyed, 42 BCH Cyrannus System
Technical Specifications
Class:	Jupiter-class
Type:	Battleship/Carrier
Crew:	~5000
Length:	1,438.6 meters (4,720 ft)
Width:	536.8 meters (1,761 ft)
Height:	183.3 meters (601 ft)
Armament:	40 Primary Dual KEW 12 Missile Tubes
Defenses:	582 dual point-defense Kinetic Energy Weapons Armor plating
Aviation facilities:	2x Flight Pods 2x Flight Decks 40x Viper Launch Tubes
Complement:	Viper Mk. I Viper Mk. II Viper Mk. III Raptor Mk. I Raptor Mk.II
Propulsion:	6x sublight engines Manoeuvring thrusters
FTL:	Yes

The Battlestar Archeron was a Jupiter-class battlestar in service with the Colonial Fleet during the First Cylon War. While attached to the Ghost Fleet, she was destroyed in Cylon ambush during the last years of the war.

History

Battlestar Acheron participated in a Colonial offensive Operation Clean Sweep during the First Cylon War. During the engagements, Archeron and its accompanying battlestar group came under heavy assault from Cylon forces, forcing the admiralty to redeploy Battlestar Group 75 for immediate support. Under heavy fire and ignoring orders from Galactica, the Archeron jumped away to Sector 12 to join the Ghost Fleet.

Shortly after redeployment, the Archeron was ordered to pick up Dr. Becca Kelly from Raptor 909, which Galactica dispatched. Shortly after, the Archeron was destroyed in a Cylon ambush.

Design

Armament

The Jupiter-class was armed with kinetic energy weapons scattered throughout the ship, primarily located on its dorsal and ventral hull (2 groups of 4 on each side), each capable of firing large shells at any given target, usually enemy vessels. Forty batteries made the Jupiter's one of, if not the heaviest hitters of the Colonial Fleet. Only during the interwar period the newer and larger battlestars of Mercury-class began to outshine Jupiter's in their offensive role.

Twelve missile tubes, armed with both conventional and nuclear-tipped weapons give Jupiter's the capability to level entire cities within minutes. Unlike Valkyrie-type, which uses its main batteries to fire missiles, the Jupiter carries its missile on top of its middle section, in separate missile tubes hidden beneath the ship's armor plating.

Defenses

582 CIWS point-defense weapons scattered throughout the ship to defend against the incoming ordinance and enemy fighters. As with virtually every Colonial vessel, this is only half of the ship's defensive potential. Two-layered armor plating provides effective defense against both conventional and nuclear weapons. Similar to Galactica, by the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, virtually all Jupiter's had their armor partially stripped, exposing the inner hull layer and ship's "ribs".

Fighter Complement

Large flight decks support a sizable complement of fighters, multi-purpose crafts, and shuttles. During the Fall, the Jupiter-class carried an assorted complement of Vipers Mk. II and III, alongside Raptors and Colonial shuttles. While the precise numbers are unknown, possessing 40 launch tubes would indicate that the standard loadout of Jupiter-class consists of at least 80 Vipers.

The port and starboard flight pods were designed to be retractable. While Vipers were launched via special tubes on the side of the flight pods, all craft needed to land on the flight deck, which would be extended when needed. As this required the port and starboard flight decks to be exposed to vacuum conditions, the deck was magnetized to simulate gravity conditions when extended.

Computer Systems

Due to the severe threat of Cylon hacking imposed on the Colonial Fleet, Jupiter-class were designed to rely on primitive computers without networking and were less advanced than older ships in the fleet. These computers, whether in the original design or a later refit, could be networked when necessary but, per standard procedure, were not. Calculations for faster-than-light jumps were also limited because of this. By the 0 ACHs, Galactica's computers were considerably slower at computing jumps than modern civilian ships if not networked.

Considering that Galactica was unique, the last ship of her class in service, it can be presumed that post-war build Jupiters were networked very much like the newer Mercury-class and therefore susceptible to Cylon infiltration. At least one Jupiter-class was actively deployed by the Colonial Fleet in defense of Caprica, and therefore likely succumbed to the Command Navigation Program infiltration.

Propulsion

FTL Engines of Jupipter-class

Ships of this class have four main rearward-facing sublight engines mounted on their outer hull, two on the dorsal and ventral surfaces each. Smaller maneuvering thrusters are also scattered throughout the ship, allowing it to maneuver quickly in combat scenarios. At the same time, two synced FTL drives are installed aboard to allow for faster-than-light travel. Unlike the Valkyrie-type, the Jupiter-class is large enough to house its FTL engines internally, mitigating the weakens exposed FTL engines pose.

While state-of-the-art for the Colonials, even by the time of introduction, the FTL engines of Jupiter-class were sub-part to contemporary Cylon design. By the time of the Fall, however, this weakness was essentially elevated, as even relatively un-upgraded Battlestar Galactica could jump every couple of minutes.

Gallery

Wreckage of Archeron's landing bay