Similarities to our culture

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Meste17
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Similarities to our culture

Post by Meste17 »

Could the Galactica actually be their version of our USS Enterprise? According to the info on the BSG wiki, she IS referred to as the Big G (our USS Enterprise is referred to as the Big E), AND she has garnered QUITE a good history compared to most Battlestars. -deeply lost in thought-
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Re: Similarities to our culture

Post by Graham Kennedy »

One of the interesting things about the original Galactica series is just how much it relied on the carrier model of warfare. Almost every sci fi movie and series relies on the battleship model, where the big ships slug it out. Even when fighters are present they usually just buzz around the capital ships adding to the mayhem whilst the big ships slug it out. Galactica actually had battles where the fighters were used to attack the enemy at long range, and where the outcome depended on things like conducting recon sweeps beyond your sensor range, timing your strikes to catch the enemy carrier whilst his fighters were refuelling, etc. They still fell back on having the big ships slug it out sometimes, but overall it was very obviously influenced by WWII combat and the rise of the carrier as the dominant force.

Did they have a particular carrier in mind? I doubt it, really. The "Big G" might be a reference to the "Big E", and Galactica's "tough old warhorse" persona probably was influenced by CV-6's service in the war. Clearly the Galactica series was heavily based on carriers, and the Big E was one of the most famous carriers of all, so it would be surprising if that wasn't an influence. The nuclear powered CVN-65 Enterprise had been in service for almost 20 years by the time the original Galactica series came out, so they might have had that in mind too.
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Re: Similarities to our culture

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Big G is most likely a nod to either CV-6 or CVN-65 Enterprise. Off of the top my head I do not recall any other major ship named like that.

Carrier based tactics like we have seen in Galactica could be anything and not a nod or reference to something specific.

Actually I would wager though not many shows actually portray battleship like battles. Battleships slug it out at long distances and from what I have seen is cruiser or even fighter like tactics. Especially DS9. DS9 demonstrated fighter tactics.
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Re: Similarities to our culture

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I agree. I am only speculating that the Galactica might have been THEIR Enterprise. Like so much so that the ONLY reason that they didnt even use the name Enterprise was BECAUSE it was already used. I am thinking that Galactica might actually be THEIR version of the Enterprise. Star Wars demonstrated fighter tactics more than Star Trek though, but that was only the way that George Lucas did the space battles in that movie. He did them specifically that way because he wanted the battles that way. Point aside, the fact that the Galactica was LITERALLY THE ONLY surviving battlestar seems to be a DIRECT reference (at least in my head or IMHO) to the USS Enterprise CV-6 (herself being one of the ONLY US carriers to survive AND serve before, during AND after the war, the other 2 were Saratoga and Ranger). With that, I was thinking that technically, in a weird, alien (or sort of) sort of way, the Galactica WAS the Enterprise. Again, the only thing missing was the name ENTERPRISE prominently displayed on the hull instead of GALACTICA. But then again, Glen A. Larson might have been sued had he gone with that name, so he had to think creatively and originally, hence the name GALACTICA. And that was only the Original Series version. With the reimagined series, Galactica, like the Enterprise, was given a nickname (Galactica was the Big G, the Enterprise was the Big E), and in that series, she ALREADY garnered a reputation MUCH like the Enterprise (Galactica being a veteran battlestar and surviving ALL THROUGHOUT the first Cylon War and being decommissioned).

In conclusion, is it just me or is Galactica just another name to use instead of Enterprise? Hmmm......
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Re: Similarities to our culture

Post by McAvoy »

Ahhh.... their Enterprise as in the ship with that famous history.

Maybe with the nuBSG I could possibly agree with you.
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Re: Similarities to our culture

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McAvoy wrote:Ahhh.... their Enterprise as in the ship with that famous history.

Maybe with the nuBSG I could possibly agree with you.

*snaps fingers and points to McAvoy* Exactly! :D

Right? You see it right? THAT'S EXACTLY what I'm saying! :D Thank you! ^_^ ^_^
Last edited by Meste17 on Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Similarities to our culture

Post by Graham Kennedy »

In nuBSG, I suppose one could argue that Galactica is the equivalent of the Intrepid. Retired carrier used as a museum...
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Re: Similarities to our culture

Post by Teaos »

Or Miranda.
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Re: Similarities to our culture

Post by McAvoy »

GrahamKennedy wrote:In nuBSG, I suppose one could argue that Galactica is the equivalent of the Intrepid. Retired carrier used as a museum...
Well if the Intrepid was never refitted.
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Re: Similarities to our culture

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McAvoy wrote:
GrahamKennedy wrote:In nuBSG, I suppose one could argue that Galactica is the equivalent of the Intrepid. Retired carrier used as a museum...
Well if the Intrepid was never refitted.
Yes, and It didn't last as long as the Enterprise. While Intrepid served only 39 years total from her launch in 1943, which was DURING the war (generally considered to have lasted from 1939 to 1945, although some conflicts in Asia that are commonly viewed as becoming part of the world war had been going on earlier than that) while the Enterprise served from her launch in 1936 ALL the way to May 1960 (when scrapping of the ship was completed), marking only 24 years, Enterprise served BEFORE the war AND survived all through it, while Intrepid served for only 2 years of the war (IF you consider the timeline of the war above to be accurate). PLUS Enterprise served in nearly EVERY SINGLE battle in the U.S.'s entry into the war, earning a grand total of 20 Battle Stars while Intrepid only served during some battles (it is unknown exactly how many battle stars she earned). Still, as you said, she WAS used as a museum.
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Re: Similarities to our culture

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GrahamKennedy wrote:One of the interesting things about the original Galactica series is just how much it relied on the carrier model of warfare. Almost every sci fi movie and series relies on the battleship model, where the big ships slug it out. Even when fighters are present they usually just buzz around the capital ships adding to the mayhem whilst the big ships slug it out. Galactica actually had battles where the fighters were used to attack the enemy at long range, and where the outcome depended on things like conducting recon sweeps beyond your sensor range, timing your strikes to catch the enemy carrier whilst his fighters were refuelling, etc. They still fell back on having the big ships slug it out sometimes, but overall it was very obviously influenced by WWII combat and the rise of the carrier as the dominant force.

Did they have a particular carrier in mind? I doubt it, really. The "Big G" might be a reference to the "Big E", and Galactica's "tough old warhorse" persona probably was influenced by CV-6's service in the war. Clearly the Galactica series was heavily based on carriers, and the Big E was one of the most famous carriers of all, so it would be surprising if that wasn't an influence. The nuclear powered CVN-65 Enterprise had been in service for almost 20 years by the time the original Galactica series came out, so they might have had that in mind too.
I would tend to agree, as according to the new BSG series, Galactica, Athena and ONE other battlestar DID survive the first Cylon War, as mentioned here:
http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Galac ... r#Overview
Look where it says the following:
"Unfortunately, the class didn't hold up well to the Cylon threat, with only the Galactica, Athena, and a third unnamed ship surviving the war. Despite this, newer Galactica type ships were built, with newer technologies, which still remained in service at the time of the Fall of the Colonies. However, Galactica was never upgraded, and remained in its Cylon War outfit at the time of its retirement 40 years after the war."

This DOES seem to be a DIRECT reference to the resiliency of the old US Aircraft carriers, as mentioned HERE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CV-6)
Because it says at the top and I quote:
"A Yorktown class carrier, she was launched in 1936 and was one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to survive the war (the others being Saratoga and Ranger)."

3 aircraft carriers survived World War II, 3 battlestars survived the first Cylon War. Coincidence? I think not! ;)
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Re: Similarities to our culture

Post by McAvoy »

You are looking into it way too much. First off the Galactica was part of a class of ship and were not pre-war. The previous war carriers that survived WW2 were three separate classes. The Saratoga was by the end of the war a worn out ship that took too much damage. The Ranger was never put into serious risk because the ship was a crap design. The Enterprise... well she is The Enterprise. The US Navy still talks about how shameful it was to scrap her fifty or sixty years after it happened.
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Re: Similarities to our culture

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McAvoy wrote:You are looking into it way too much. First off the Galactica was part of a class of ship and were not pre-war. The previous war carriers that survived WW2 were three separate classes. The Saratoga was by the end of the war a worn out ship that took too much damage. The Ranger was never put into serious risk because the ship was a crap design. The Enterprise... well she is The Enterprise. The US Navy still talks about how shameful it was to scrap her fifty or sixty years after it happened.
Hmmm .... I would seem to agree with you on that McAvoy. I think I put a little too much thought into all of this. I just thought that I would try to point out some patterns I saw in between certain things .... like comparing Galactica to the Enterprise.
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