Jupiter-class
the original twelve battlestars
The Jupiter-class was a line of battlestar that served the Colonial Fleet for nearly its entire history. Uniquely built around un-networked computers, the class was largely immune to Cylon infiltration, and one of its number, Galactica, was the last to survive the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
The Jupiter-class, sometimes also known as the Galactica-class or Columbia-type battlestar, was a type of warship operated by the Colonial Fleet for nearly its entire history. Based on the earlier Artemis-class, Jupiter-class ships were battleship and carrier hybrids that stood at the center of the Colonial formations known as battlestar groups. An initial order of twelve, one to represent each of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, was written into the Articles of Colonization that established both the Colonial Fleet and the United Colonies. Alone among pre-war designs, the Jupiters were built around un-networked computers, giving them an extraordinary resistance to Cylon infiltration.
Origins#
Derived from the preceding Artemis-class, the Jupiter-class served as the backbone of Colonial battlestar groups, combining the roles of capital warship and carrier. The original production run of twelve ships was specified in the Articles of Colonization, the founding document of the Colonial Fleet and the United Colonies of Kobol, with each ship dedicated to one of the twelve worlds. Of those original twelve, three survived the Cylon War intact, and of those only the Galactica endured to the Fall.
Defenses#
The class mounted 514 close-in weapon system point-defense emplacements distributed throughout the hull to intercept incoming ordnance and enemy fighters, which represented only half of its defensive capacity. Two-layered armor plating offered effective protection against both conventional and nuclear weapons. By the time of the Fall, most Jupiters, Galactica among them, had had their armor partially stripped, exposing the inner hull layer and the ship's structural ribs.
Fighter complement#
Large flight decks supported a sizable complement of fighters, multipurpose craft, and shuttles. At the Fall the class carried an assortment of Viper Mark VIIa and VIIb fighters alongside Raptors and Colonial shuttles. Exact numbers are unknown, but with forty launch tubes per flight pod the standard loadout is reckoned to have included at least eighty Vipers. The port and starboard flight pods were designed to retract. Vipers launched through dedicated tubes on the sides of the pods, but all craft had to recover on the flight deck, which extended when needed. Because extension exposed the deck to vacuum, it was magnetized to simulate gravity for landing craft.
Computer systems#
Given the severe threat of Cylon hacking facing the Colonial Fleet, Jupiter-class ships were deliberately built to rely on primitive, un-networked computers, making them less advanced in this respect than older ships in the fleet. Whether by original design or later refit, these computers could be networked when required, but standard procedure kept them isolated. This choice limited their faster-than-light jump calculations: by the years around the Fall, an un-networked Galactica computed jumps considerably more slowly than modern civilian ships. Because Galactica was unique as the last of her class in service, post-war Jupiters are presumed to have been networked like the newer Mercury-class and therefore vulnerable to the same infiltration. The Colonial Fleet deployed at least one Jupiter-class ship in the defense of Caprica.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the Jupiter-class?
- The Jupiter-class, also known as the Galactica-class or Columbia-type, was a line of battlestar operated by the Colonial Fleet for nearly its entire history. These ships were battleship and carrier hybrids based on the earlier Artemis-class, and they stood at the center of Colonial battlestar groups.
- How many Jupiter-class battlestars were originally built?
- An initial order of twelve ships, one to represent each of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, was specified in the Articles of Colonization that established the Colonial Fleet and the United Colonies. Of those twelve, three survived the Cylon War intact, and only Galactica endured to the Fall.
- Why were Jupiter-class ships resistant to Cylon infiltration?
- Given the severe threat of Cylon hacking, Jupiter-class ships were deliberately built to rely on primitive, un-networked computers, making them less advanced in this respect than older ships in the fleet. This kept them isolated from the infiltration that crippled the rest of the fleet, though it also limited their faster-than-light jump calculations.
- What fighters did Jupiter-class battlestars carry?
- At the Fall the class carried Viper Mark VIIa and VIIb fighters alongside Raptors and Colonial shuttles. With forty launch tubes per flight pod, the standard loadout is reckoned to have included at least eighty Vipers, though exact numbers are unknown.
- What defenses did the Jupiter-class have?
- The class mounted 514 close-in weapon system point-defense emplacements distributed throughout the hull, which represented only half of its defensive capacity. Two-layered armor plating offered protection against conventional and nuclear weapons, though by the Fall most Jupiters, including Galactica, had had their armor partially stripped.
Sources
- WikiJupiter-class — Battlestar Wiki entry
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Related entries
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.
Mercury-class
The Mercury-class was the most advanced battlestar fielded by the Colonial Fleet, developed roughly two decades before the Fall to supplement and eventually replace the aging Jupiter-class. Its heavy networking proved its undoing when the Cylons attacked.
Caprica
Caprica was a planet in the Cyrannus star system and the cultural, economic and military center of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Birthplace of the first Cylons, it became the capital of the United Colonies and was devastated in the Cylon assault that ended colonial civilization.
Colonial Fleet
The Colonial Fleet was the naval arm of the military of the United Colonies of Kobol, founded during the Cylon War to unite the forces of the Twelve Worlds. At its height it numbered some 120 battlestars, yet a single Cylon exploit reduced it to two ships in the opening minutes of the Fall.
Colonial Viper
The Viper was the primary space superiority fighter of the Colonial Fleet, developed on Caprica before the Cylon War and fielded through seven major marks. The Mark II and Mark VII bookended its service from the first war to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies.
Columbia
In the Original Series continuity, the Columbia was a Colonial battlestar that fought in the Thousand Yahren War against the Cylon Alliance. It was destroyed in the surprise Cylon strike at the Cimtar armistice talks.
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Alert-type
The Alert-type was a purpose-built Colonial escort warship of the First Cylon War and a sister class of the Hornet-type. Once mighty line vessels, the Alert-type ships were relegated to escorting the newly built Jupiter-class battlestars, and at least one was retrofitted as a hospital ship.
Basestar Type-C
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Battlestar
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Battlestar Archeron
The Battlestar Archeron was a Jupiter-class battlestar of the Colonial Fleet during the First Cylon War. Attached to the Ghost Fleet, she was destroyed in a Cylon ambush during the final years of the conflict.
Battlestar Athena
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Battlestar Columbia
The Columbia was a Jupiter-class battlestar and sister ship to Galactica, one of the most decorated warships of the First Cylon War. She was the last known Colonial ship lost in that conflict, destroyed shortly before the armistice.
Battlestar Columbia (Second)
The second Battlestar Columbia was one of the most modern warships in the Colonial Fleet at the time of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. Named for the original Columbia lost in the First Cylon War, she served as a Viper testbed before being destroyed over Virgon in Admiral Nagala's task force.
Battlestar Group: the Colonial Fleet's core formation
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Battlestar Prometheus
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Battlestar Yashuman
The Yashuman was a Valkyrie-class battlestar of the Colonial Fleet that led Caprica's orbital defense patrol at the time of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies. She detected the incoming Cylon basestars but was crippled by the Command Navigation Program exploit before she could mount her attack run.
Berzerk-class
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Colonial Fleet
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