Zephyr

The Zephyr was a passenger liner that escaped the Fall of the Twelve Colonies in the ragtag fleet led by Galactica. Distinguished by its huge ring section, it was among the most recognisable civilian ships in the fleet. The Zephyr stayed with the fleet all the way, eventually offloading its passengers on the new Earth before being flown into the sun. (Battlestar Galactica miniseries; Battlestar Galactica, "Daybreak, Part II")

Escape and the ragtag fleet#

Having survived the initial Cylon attack, the Zephyr was one of the first ships gathered by the newly sworn-in President Laura Roslin. From there it jumped alongside every faster-than-light capable vessel to Ragnar Anchorage to link up with Galactica, and under the battlestar's cover departed for deep space with the rest of the survivors to form the ragtag fleet. (Battlestar Galactica miniseries)

Among the people it carried was Alan Hughes, the lawyer first assigned to defend Gaius Baltar at his treason trial. (Battlestar Galactica, "The Son Also Rises")

Politics and the election#

Several weeks after the Fall, following Roslin's arrest during a confrontation with the military, the Quorum of Twelve took a shuttle from the Zephyr to Galactica in the hope of questioning the president and restoring her authority. (Battlestar Galactica, "Fragged")

Later, during the presidential election between Roslin and Gaius Baltar, the Zephyr's ballots sat at the centre of the attempt to rig the count for Roslin, a scheme involving Tory Foster, Saul Tigh and Petty Officer Anastasia Dualla. Lieutenant Felix Gaeta found the forged ballots in the Zephyr's ballot box, and Baltar was declared the winner. The rigged count and its reversal play out in the two-part "Lay Down Your Burdens". (Battlestar Galactica, "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II")

New Caprica and damage#

After the Colonial government chose to settle New Caprica, the Zephyr remained in orbit with a number of other ships. When the Cylons appeared a year later, it escaped alongside Galactica, Pegasus, and the other vessels that had been unable to set down. (Battlestar Galactica, "Lay Down Your Burdens, Part II")

During the Battle of the Ionian Nebula, two Cylon missiles struck the Zephyr from aft and blew away a large section of its ring, and it went on leaking air and debris after the battle. The damage was later repaired and the ring made habitable again. (Battlestar Galactica, "Crossroads, Part II"; Battlestar Galactica, "He That Believeth in Me"; Battlestar Galactica, "Revelations")

Earth#

The Zephyr turns up again after the fleet left the ruined first Earth, when Lieutenant Felix Gaeta was heading there for rest and relaxation before an emergency jump cut his Raptor off from the fleet. At the end, the ship's passengers and crew were offloaded on the new Earth, and Samuel T. Anders flew the vessel into the sun with the rest of the fleet. (Battlestar Galactica: The Face of the Enemy; Battlestar Galactica, "Daybreak, Part II")