Colonial Mercury Class Battlestar
Name: Mercury
Craft: Colonial Mercury Class Battlestar
Type: battleship
Scale: capital
Length: 1,447.8 x 505 x 295 meters
Skill: capital ship pilot
Crew: 1,900
Passengers: 10,000
Cargo Capacity: 52,000 tons
Consumables: 26 months
Hyperdrive: x575,000
Nav Computer: yes
Maneuverability: 1D+1
Space: 5
Hull: 8D+2
Armor: 2D
Sensors
- Passive: 100/3D+2
- Scan: 200/4D+2
- Search: 300/5D+2
- Focus: 10/6D+2
Weapons
- Heavy Point Defense System
- Fire Arc: all
Crew: 1
Scale: starfighter
Skill: starship gunnery
Fire Control: 3D+1
Space Range: 1-10/20/40
Damage: 4D
- 30 Primary Assault Railguns
- Fire Arc: 2 forward, 14 port, 14 starboard
Crew: 5
Scale: capital
Skill: capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 3D+1
Space Range: 2-13/25/50
Damage: 4D+2
- 12 Heavy Missile Launchers
- Fire Arc: 2 forward, 5 port, 5 starboard
Crew: 5
Scale: capital
Skill: capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 3D+1
Space Range: 2-35/70/140
Damage: 5D+1
- 12 Nuclear Missile Launchers
- Fire Arc: 2 forward, 5 port, 5 starboard
Crew: 5
Scale: capital
Skill: capital ship gunnery
Fire Control: 3D+1
Space Range: 2-300/600/1,200
Damage: 6D+2
Compliment: 100 vipers, 25 raptors, 12 other
Description: The twelve Mercury Class Battlestars are the largest and most powerful Colonial warships ever built and are the penultimate expression of Colonial design philosophy. The first of class, the Battlestar Mercury was completed roughly twenty years after the conclusion of the First Cylon War, and took roughly nine years to build.
The Mercury Class can be divided into two subgroups, the first consisting of Mercury, Triton, and Columbia; the latter comprised of the remaining nine, epitomized by Pegasus. While all twelve Mercury class Battlestars have been updated and upgraded over their service lives, the latter group incorporates advances in electronics, armor protection, and internal modifications which allowed highly specialized small-craft construction facilities to be shipped, greatly extending the endurance and flexibility of the Battlestar Group.
Quirks/Special Characteristics: Unlike their sisters, Mercury, Triton, and Solaria lack the ability to manufacture Vipers and other small craft, and have one less point of armor than their sisters.
Mercury Class are fitted with four landing bays, with each landing pod having two flight decks-one running parallel to the ship’s line of flight, the other inverted beneath it. Special elevators and airlocks bring embarked craft into sync with the ship’s gravity as they are transported to the hangar deck.
As the pain of lessons learned in the first Cylon War began to fade (and military budgets were slashed), the Colonial Fleet began looking for savings in manpower and began re-automating Colonial warships. The Mercury Class Battlestars were fitted with an integrated command and control suite allowing a 50% reduction in crew size over a similarly sized Minerva Class Battlestar. The savings in manpower and reduced habitability requirements allowed internal space to be converted to workshops, magazines, storage, and tylium bunkerage, and granted a much extended range and endurance.
Mercury Class vessels are fitted with an elaborate security system which uses card access to sensitive areas including (but not limited to) the CIC, Engineering, Magazines, and Flag Quarters.
Source: Source: Battlestar Galactica: Thin Blue Line (page 95)