Colonial One
the presidential ship
Colonial One was a civilian passenger liner that became the official residence and workplace of the President of the United Colonies of Kobol after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. Formerly Colonial Heavy 798, it served as the seat of the surviving government throughout the search for Earth.
Colonial One, formerly known as Colonial Heavy 798, was a civilian starliner chartered by the Colonial government. Following the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, it became the official residence and workplace of the President of the United Colonies of Kobol, serving as the seat of the surviving civilian government alongside Galactica's military command throughout the fleet's search for Earth. (Battlestar Galactica (2003 miniseries))
The Fall and the birth of a presidency#
In the hours before the Fall, Colonial Heavy 798 flew from Caprica to Galactica, carrying Secretary of Education Laura Roslin, her staff and members of the press to the battlestar's decommissioning. The Cylon attack began about three hours out from Caprica on the return trip, with Lee Adama escorting the liner in his father's old Viper. When a Raider attacked, Lee decoyed the missile aimed at the ship and shot it down, and the damaged Viper was taken aboard. (Battlestar Galactica (2003 miniseries))
As the highest-ranking official aboard, Roslin took charge of the ship and set it up for the long haul. When the Case Orange broadcast showed that the line of succession had collapsed, she was sworn in as President, and the ship was rechristened Colonial One. It then gathered other civilian ships stranded around Caprica into a refugee convoy. When the Cylons found the convoy, Roslin ordered every FTL-capable ship to jump, leaving the sublight ships behind. The survivors later met Galactica at Ragnar and left the system altogether in search of Earth. (Battlestar Galactica (2003 miniseries))
The seat of government in exile#
Though Galactica coordinated military strategy, Colonial One kept the civilian government physically separate from the military, with its own Presidential Security Service. That separation was tested when a Galactica Marine unit boarded the ship to arrest Roslin after William Adama judged her orders to Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thrace a threat to fleet security. Years later, during the Battle of the Ionian Nebula, the ship was nearly destroyed by a Cylon missile that Diana Seelix intercepted just in time. (Battlestar Galactica, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II"; Battlestar Galactica, "He That Believeth in Me")
After the discovery and colonization of New Caprica, Colonial One landed on the surface and became the residence and office of President Gaius Baltar. During the following year's Cylon occupation, a Cylon committee joined Baltar aboard and ran the real government from it. In the liberation and evacuation that followed, Roslin and a small armed group boarded the deserted ship and flew it off the planet, the last human ship to leave New Caprica. (Battlestar Galactica, "Occupation"; Battlestar Galactica, "Exodus, Part II")
Final service and fate#
The Quorum of Twelve, which had once met aboard Cloud 9, also met aboard Colonial One. Those meetings ended during the mutiny on Galactica, when Vice President Tom Zarek had a mutinous Marine unit massacre the delegates after they refused to legitimize the uprising. Roslin moved her government to Galactica after that. Colonial One was ultimately destroyed after the fleet reached the planet rechristened Earth, when Samuel Anders flew it and the rest of the fleet into the sun by remote control. (Battlestar Galactica, "Blood on the Scales"; Battlestar Galactica, "Deadlock"; Battlestar Galactica, "Daybreak, Part II")
Frequently asked questions
- What is Colonial One?
- Colonial One was a civilian passenger liner that became the official residence and workplace of the President of the United Colonies of Kobol after the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. It was formerly known as Colonial Heavy 798, a starliner the government had chartered to carry Laura Roslin and the press to Galactica's decommissioning.
- How did Colonial Heavy 798 become Colonial One?
- Colonial Heavy 798 was carrying Secretary of Education Laura Roslin when the Cylons attacked. As Colonial defeat became likely, Roslin took control of the ship, put it to work as a mobile aid station, and was sworn in as President once the line of succession collapsed, after which the ship was rechristened Colonial One.
- What role did Colonial One play in the fleet?
- Colonial One served as the seat of the surviving civilian government and the administrative heart of the refugee fleet throughout its search for Earth. The Quorum of Twelve also met aboard, and it was there that the Quorum was massacred during the mutiny on Galactica.
- What happened to Colonial One on New Caprica?
- After the colonization of New Caprica, Colonial One landed on the surface and became the residence and office of President Gaius Baltar. During the Cylon occupation it housed Baltar's puppet government and its Cylon overseers. During the evacuation, Roslin and a small armed group boarded the deserted ship and flew it off the planet, the last human ship to leave.
- What was the fate of Colonial One?
- Colonial One was destroyed after the fleet reached the planet rechristened Earth. Galactica and the rest of the fleet, including Colonial One, were flown into the sun by remote control under Samuel Anders.
Gallery
Images via Battlestar Wiki
Sources
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica (2003 miniseries), Sci Fi Channel, 2003
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part II", Season 1, Episode 13 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Occupation", Season 3, Episode 1 (2006)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Exodus, Part II", Season 3, Episode 4 (2006)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "He That Believeth in Me", Season 4, Episode 1 (2008)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Blood on the Scales", Season 4, Episode 14 (2009)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Deadlock", Season 4, Episode 16 (2009)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Daybreak, Part II", Season 4, Episode 20 (2009)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Cloud 9
Cloud 9 was a luxury liner that survived the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and became an entertainment hub and meeting place for the Quorum of Twelve. It was destroyed by a nuclear blast over New Caprica, taking several other ships with it.
Galactica
Galactica was a Jupiter-class battlestar that served the Colonial Fleet from the Cylon War until the discovery of Earth. Never networked, it survived the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and shepherded the last fifty thousand humans across uncharted space before being scuttled into the sun.
Caprica: the Colonial capital
Caprica was the richest of the Twelve Colonies, seat of the Colonial government, and the world where the Cylons were built. The Cylon attack destroyed it.
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.
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A single day of Cylon attack killed billions of people across Colonial space. Barely fifty thousand escaped in a refugee fleet.
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Dr. Gaius Baltar was a celebrated computer scientist whose vanity and manipulation by a Cylon agent handed the enemy the keys to the Colonial defenses, enabling the near-extermination of humanity. He survived to become Vice President, President, prophet, and finally a reluctant penitent.
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