Ship of the Week: Colonial Battlestar

[Captain Seafort]

It certainly seems smaller than the Pegasus, and has fewer engines/thrusters; but the side bits are certainly more well-integrated into the structure than the bays on a Battlestar. However, they don't look like launching/recovery bays. Anyone have any info on this class, or recall seeing anything similar?

I've barely seen any of the new stuff, but that looks like a cargo ship of some kind, with those segments being removable in the same ways as modern 40-foot containers.

[Graham Kennedy]

The Battlestar wiki claims it as a Berzerk Class Escort, but it seems rather tentative.

[Mikey]

The Battlestar wiki claims it as a Berzerk Class Escort, but it seems rather tentative.

I saw that, but I can hardly buy a class-name and category based on one background pic and no analysis of ship's activity.

It certainly seems smaller than the Pegasus, and has fewer engines/thrusters; but the side bits are certainly more well-integrated into the structure than the bays on a Battlestar. However, they don't look like launching/recovery bays. Anyone have any info on this class, or recall seeing anything similar?

I've barely seen any of the new stuff, but that looks like a cargo ship of some kind, with those segments being removable in the same ways as modern 40-foot containers.

I also thought that they looked like modular cargo pods. They do seem to have some sort of port in the center... perhaps a kind of broadside battery?

[Captain Seafort]

I also thought that they looked like modular cargo pods. They do seem to have some sort of port in the center... perhaps a kind of broadside battery?

Or something to latch onto to remove the pod - it looks like they'd slide out sideways rather than vertically.

[Mikey]

Taking another look, they seem more like entry points more than anything else... either for some sort of small cargo tender, or for planetside/dockside loading.

[Sonic Glitch]

Refueling ship perhaps? The ports on the side could be for connection to ships to resupply. Maybe some sort of tender? (Tylium supply? Water supply? AvGas, or whatever Vipers use?)

[Mikey]

Refueling ship perhaps? The ports on the side could be for connection to ships to resupply. Maybe some sort of tender? (Tylium supply? Water supply? AvGas, or whatever Vipers use?)

Good point, Sonic. I wasn't even thinking in that direction, but you could very well be right. The only issue is that I wouldn't expect to see those discrete segments in a bulk fluid container.

[Sonic Glitch]

Refueling ship perhaps? The ports on the side could be for connection to ships to resupply. Maybe some sort of tender? (Tylium supply? Water supply? AvGas, or whatever Vipers use?)

Good point, Sonic. I wasn't even thinking in that direction, but you could very well be right. The only issue is that I wouldn't expect to see those discrete segments in a bulk fluid container.

Hm, fair point. Thought it may depend on how volatile the liquid is. Distinct tanks, possibly interconnected along the core structure, means that they can be isolated in the event someone looks at the warp core funny something goes "boom."

[Reliant121]

From what I've seen, it seemed pretty damn hard to kill Galactica. I can't imagine they use the patented "breath upon them and they shalt explode" power generation of the feds

[Tyyr]

Most large tankers subdivide their holds. We don't usually see it because of the way modern ships are built but it's standard practice. It helps to prevent waves from forming that could travel the entire length of the ship and allows you to carry multiple types of product.

[Mikey]

Most large tankers subdivide their holds. We don't usually see it because of the way modern ships are built but it's standard practice. It helps to prevent waves from forming that could travel the entire length of the ship and allows you to carry multiple types of product.

Indeed. What I was taking about was the external appearance. Such subdivisions for fluid cargo are generally made by internal bulkheads, while the units in the pic show a considerable space between each unit - more in line with how we think of dry freight modules. Of course, we are not spacefaring Colonials, so I'm not claiming that a BSG ship must follow our way of thinking or doing; but fluid cargo can be (and must be) pumped, while dropping a discrete cargo unit is more in line with the delivery of dry freight.

[Captain Seafort]

Maybe the design is a one-stop replenishment ship, modular so they can vary the proportion of dry cargo and fuel depending on the mission requirements. It simply happens to be fitted as a pure tanker.

[Mikey]

In support of that, those side pieces do like they attach impermanently along that upper rail. Against it, though, take another look at the forward facing of the side piece - it looks hollow, without a sidewall.

[Vic]

It looks like five "modules" with an (for lack of a better term) endcap all the way aft. What you are looking at Mikey seems to be an extension on the farthest forward "module". Or perhaps a forward endcap slid up against the module? Perhaps a way to lock all of the "modules" being shipped in place while underway?

[Mikey]

Unfortunately, AFAIK there was never a shot of this ship underway, much less in combat. I thought it odd that if they were removable modules, the "endcap" wouldn't be solid-state with the rest of the forward module. In any event, I just posted it as an illustration of a way in which extensions could be built on a Colonial-type superstructure without being left out on outriggers, like the Battlestar launch bays.