Columbia
a battlestar lost at Cimtar
In the Original Series continuity, the Columbia was a Colonial battlestar of the Thousand Yahren War, destroyed, according to the Cylon Vulpa, at the peace conference that became the Cylon ambush at Cimtar.
In the Original Series continuity, the Columbia was a Colonial battlestar of the Thousand Yahren War against the Cylons. The ship is never seen. It is known only because a captured Colonial pilot claimed to serve aboard it, and the Cylon who questioned him knew it had been destroyed at the peace conference, the armistice talks over Cimtar that the Cylons turned into an ambush. (Battlestar Galactica (1978), "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero"; Battlestar Galactica (1978), "Saga of a Star World")
Service and destruction#
The Columbia served the Colonial Fleet in the long Thousand Yahren War against the Cylons. The war ended in betrayal: the Colonial leadership accepted Cylon overtures for an armistice and sent the fleet's battlestars to the talks at Cimtar, where the Cylons sprang a massive surprise attack. The Columbia is not named among the battlestars shown at Cimtar, but the Cylons counted it among the ships destroyed at the peace conference. (Battlestar Galactica (1978), "Saga of a Star World"; Battlestar Galactica (1978), "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero")
Its name came up after the Cylons forced down and captured Cadet Cree of the battlestar Galactica on the ice planet Arcta. Under interrogation by Vulpa, Cree claimed to be from the Columbia to hide the truth about Galactica and the fleet. Vulpa called the claim impossible, since the Columbia had been destroyed at the peace conference, and ordered a brain probe rather than wait for Cree to cooperate. (Battlestar Galactica (1978), "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero")
Original Series continuity#
This Columbia belongs to the Original Series continuity, in which the Colonies fought the Thousand Yahren War and were betrayed at the Cimtar armistice. It is distinct from the battlestars of the same name in the Reimagined Series continuity. (Battlestar Galactica (1978), "Saga of a Star World")
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Columbia in the Original Series?
- In the Original Series continuity, the Columbia was a Colonial battlestar of the Thousand Yahren War against the Cylons. It is known only from a single exchange in The Gun on Ice Planet Zero, and it never appears on screen.
- How was the Columbia destroyed?
- According to the Cylon commander Vulpa, the Columbia was destroyed at the peace conference, the armistice talks that the Cylons turned into an ambush. It is not named among the battlestars shown at Cimtar, so Vulpa may have meant the wider attack.
- Did anyone survive the Columbia?
- No survivor is known. When the captured Cadet Cree of Galactica claimed to be from the Columbia to hide where he had come from, Vulpa dismissed the lie at once because the ship had been destroyed.
Sources
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica (1978), "Saga of a Star World", Original series (1978)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica (1978), "The Gun on Ice Planet Zero", Original series (1978)
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Followed from this entry
Galactica: the last battlestar of the Colonial Service
In the Original Series continuity, the Galactica was a Colonial battlestar that served over five hundred yahrens in the Thousand-Yahren War. After the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Man at Cimtar, it survived to lead a rag-tag fugitive fleet on the search for Earth.
Colonial Fleet: 120 battlestars
The navy of the Twelve Colonies, which fought the Cylon War. One software exploit cut it to two surviving battlestars on the day of the Fall.
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.
Also in Original Series
Acropolis: battlestar lost at Cimtar
In the Original Series continuity, the Acropolis was a Colonial battlestar that fought through the Thousand-Yahren War against the Cylon Alliance. It was among the few battlestars left to attend the armistice talks over Cimtar and was destroyed when the conference proved a Cylon trap.
Atlantia: flagship at Cimtar
In the Original Series continuity, the Atlantia was a Colonial battlestar of the Thousand-Yahren War that carried President Adar and the Council of the Twelve to the peace conference at Cimtar. Caught off guard when the conference proved a Cylon trap, it was overwhelmed and destroyed.
Delphi: the Colonial school ship
Delphi was a freighter that escaped the Cylon attack on the Twelve Colonies of Man and joined the civilian fleet led by Galactica. Used chiefly to school and shelter the fleet's children, it was destroyed by a Cylon patrol after its children were evacuated.
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