Basestar Type-B
the transitional Cylon warship
The Basestar Type-B was a Cylon capital ship of the First Cylon War, with an early version of the Y-shaped layout of later baseships. One was destroyed over the ice moon Djerba when the battlestar Osiris rammed it and detonated its nuclear warheads.
The Basestar Type-B was a type of warship used by the Cylons during the Cylon War. "Type-B" is a reference term rather than an on-screen name. The ship appears in the war's tenth year, and its design is an early version of the Y-shaped layout that defined later baseships. (Blood & Chrome)
Design#
The Type-B looks like a transitional design, sharing some of the Y-shaped configuration of the later baseships. On screen it launches a large complement of Raiders and fires missiles, but the series never states its size, armament or crew. (Blood & Chrome)
The engagement over Djerba#
A basestar of this type jumped into DRADIS range of the battlestar Osiris, which was in orbit over the ice moon Djerba to drop off Dr. Becca Kelly. Commander Ozar could have jumped away but chose to fight, to draw the Cylons away from the landing party. The basestar launched its Raiders and quickly heavily damaged the Osiris, wrecking the missile bay doors that held its nuclear stockpile and then destroying an engine nacelle. Ozar ordered the crippled ship to ram the basestar and detonated the warheads by hand, destroying both ships with all hands. (Blood & Chrome)
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Basestar Type-B?
- Basestar Type-B is a fan reference term for the Cylon baseship seen in Blood & Chrome, set in the tenth year of the First Cylon War. Its design is an early take on the Y-shaped layout of the later basestars.
- How was the Type-B basestar armed?
- On screen it launches Raiders and fires missiles, enough to cripple the battlestar Osiris. The series doesn't give figures for its launchers or Raider complement.
- What happened to the Type-B basestar at Djerba?
- A basestar jumped in on the battlestar Osiris while it was in orbit over the ice moon Djerba. Commander Ozar chose to fight to draw the Cylons away from a landing party. When the Osiris was crippled and could no longer launch its nuclear warheads, Ozar rammed the basestar and detonated them, destroying both ships.
- How did the Type-B differ from the modern basestar?
- The modern basestars of the series are larger, with the familiar double-Y shape. The Blood & Chrome ship is an earlier design from four decades before the Fall, but the series never sets out its specifications.
Sources
- EpisodeBlood & Chrome, Prequel web series and television film (2012)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Basestar: the Cylon carrier
The modern Cylon basestar was partly organic and run by a Hybrid, not a crew. It launched swarms of Raiders and healed battle damage like a wound.
Cylon Raider: the living fighter
The modern Raider was a living organism fused to a metal exoskeleton, able to plan and to refuse orders. Killed Raiders resurrected into new ships.
Cylon
The Cylons were a race of sentient machines created as military robots by Graystone Industries on Caprica. Built from research into artificial consciousness, they rebelled against their human masters, fought a long war, and forty years later returned to annihilate humanity.
Cylon War: the machines revolt
The Cylons rose against the people who built them on Caprica. Twelve years of fighting ended in a sudden Armistice that held for forty years.
Djerba: the ice moon of Sector 12
Djerba was an icy stellar body in Sector 12 that held a winter resort before the Cylon War. Captured by the Cylons early in the conflict, it became a deep enemy stronghold and the target of a costly mission tied to the Ghost Fleet Offensive.
Osiris
The Osiris was an Orion-class "pocket battlestar" of the Colonial Fleet during the First Cylon War. Part of the secret Ghost Fleet, she sacrificed herself to destroy a Cylon basestar over the ice moon Djerba.
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