Battlestar Profile 006 : BSG 29 Triton Class Battlestar Trident

In the closing days of the Cylon War, a new generation of Battlestars was created in the hope to stem the tide and overwhelm the Cylons with increasingly more powerful ships.  The Triton is one of the most radical and controversial designs in the fleet, attempting to fulfill several different roles in a single Battlestar.

Despite their size and firepower, the Poseidon class were never used as command ships, most admirals using the aging Longbow and Gauntlet Battlestars as their flagships.  The Triton attempted to resolve this by including a Strategic Command Centre (SCC) for use by higher ranking officers, leaving the CIC to handle ship operations without interference.  While highly suitable as command vessels, the Triton class also mounts a fearsome arsenal of heavy guns on her flight pods, rivaling that of the larger Gunstars.

Logistically, this posed several problems.  The presence of so many guns requiring large ammunition supplies reduced the available storage space for fighters in the flight pods.  Designers incorporated storage space inside the ship's main hull, but problems with the cargo elevators meant that the Tritons had a much slower fighter launch and recovery rate than other Battlestars.  Some Commanders have tried to solve this by reducing the ammunition storage to ease the flight pod congestion, their rationale being that command ships should stay out of close combat anyway.  Another problem was the combined recoil of the guns causing structural damage to the flight pods as a result the batteries were fired in sequences to reduce damage.

The Trident was the command ship of Admiral Taris and flew many diplomatic and goodwill missions in the colonies during the troubled and politically unstable  post-war years.  She was considered an unlucky ship, having suffered several fires, an engine explosion and accidental decompression of most of the starboard flight pod.  It was during maneuvers in an attempt to engage a pair of Skirmishstars that she veered off course to simulate her attempt to dodge enemy fire and collided with the Artemis, an Atlas Class Battlestar.  Many hundreds of crewmembers died as the two ships collided and broke up.  The high loss of life as well as commanding officers and Admiral Taris was a serious blow to the image of the Colonial Fleet.

The Triton Class is currently being replaced by the new Nova Class Battlestars as command vessels.  A major overhaul of the design has been suggested, replacing the troublesome flight pods with more conventional ones and foregoing most of the heavy firepower.

The general layout and design of the ship inspired designers of the Mercury class.

Commander : Commander Silas Gale
XO : Colonel Mikael Green (KIA)
CAG : Major Donna "Spitfire" Qassi (KIA)
Complement : Up to 8 squadrons of fighters, up to 40 Raptors
Armament :