Thursday, December 3, 2009

Battlestar Profile 011 : BSG 80 Titan B Class Battlestar Epimetheus

By far the largest ships in the Colonial fleet are the massive Titans nearly twice as long as most other Battlestars her flight pods are a match an Atlantia class Battlestar size-wise.

Built at a time where the Colonial fleet came out of a hard-fought war against the Cylons and was determined to even the odds by all means possible.  Resulting in a leviathan of epic proportions called the Titan.

Often described as a one-ship fleet, the Titan's statistics are mind-boggling.  Able to carry a staggering 28 squadrons of Vipers and over a hundred Raptors in addition to 40 marine assault shuttles, 6 squadrons of Cobra bombers and 20 skirmishstars, tenders and repair craft.  She has room for an entire brigade of marines in her holds.

The massive hull of the Epimetheus is double-skinned with the equivalent of an entire Battlestar hidden deep inside her bowels  Allowing her to survive even the most crippling assaults.  The loss of such a ship would be a critical blow to the Fleet and everything was done to ensure she would be able to stand up to any attack.  The Epimetheus and others of her class have some of the largest Battlegroups of the entire fleet.

But this power comes at a price.  With more than 12,000 crew and astronomic maintenance costs, the Titans are rarely seen in operation today and remain docked most of the time, only to be brought out in times of crisis.  The original plan was to scrap most existing Battlestars in favour of 12 Titans, one for each Colony, but it was cut short by politicians who realized that the Cylon threat had abated and other areas such as education and the welfare of the people took precedence.  In the end 4 Titans were built using up the entire original budget dedicated to building 6 Titan Battlestars, after which funds dried up.

Soon after the Colonial fleet changed their strategic plans and began building smaller, smarter ships that would be more flexible and easier on the Colonial budget than the Titans.  Despite growing opposition politicians haven't been able to have the Titans scrapped, the lingering fear of a Cylon attack still playing in the back of everybody's mind.

Initial proposals have been made to build a new class, partially based on the more advanced Nova class that might replace the Titans, all of which are now entering their 4th decade of service.  These ships are planned to have a similar large capacity, but could reduce the crew down to a little over 3500, the complement originally found on an Atlantia Class Battlestar, cutting costs dramatically.  Recent updates suggest that the recently completed Pandemonium class is being tested as a  replacement candidate for the Titans.



Commander : Rear Admiral Martha Timonson
XO : Colonel Ronald Larson
CAG : Colonel Uther Grissom
Complement : Up to 28 squadrons of fighters, up to 120 Raptors, up to 40 shuttles.
Armament : 8 Thunderbolt 24 forward batteries, 14 Derlam Alpha heavy twin turrets, 106 D-7500 series medium twin turrets.  1684 Derlam Shield heavy CIWS, 2880 Derlam Targe light CIWS.  48 missile bays.

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