Battlestar Athena

Battlestar Athena was a Jupiter-class battlestar in service with the Colonial Fleet during the First Cylon War. Athena took part in what was considered the most desperate battles of the war including the Battle of Gamelon, where Saul Tight, freshly out of the pilot training shot down three Cylon fightersBattlestar Galactica 2004, publication: "Series Bible"..
==History==
Athena was the fifth Jupiter-class to be constructed and belonged to Picon. She was deployed just in time to alongside Fleet Group Daidalos, lift the Cylon siege of her sponsor planetBattlestar Galactica 2004, video game: "Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock"..
==Design==
=== Armament ===
The Jupiter-class was armed with kinetic energy weapons scattered throughout the ship, primarily located on its dorsal and ventral hull (2 groups of 4 on each side), each capable of firing large shells at any given target; usually enemy vessels. 24 batteries made the Jupiter's one of, if not the heaviest hitters of the Colonial Fleet. Only during the interwar period, the newer and larger battlestars of Mercury-class began to outshine Jupiter's in their offensive role. 
Twelve missile tubes, armed with both conventional and nuclear-tipped weapons give Jupiter's the capability to level entire cities within minutes. Unlike Valkyrie-type, which uses its main batteries to fire missiles, the Jupiter carries its missile on top of its middle section, in separate missile tubes hidden beneath the ships armor platingBattlestar Galactica 2004, episode: "The Eye of Jupiter"..
=== Defenses ===
514 CIWS point-defense weapons scattered throughout the ship to defend against the incoming ordinance, as well as enemy fighters. As virtually every other Colonial vessel, this is only half of the ship's defensive potential. Two-layered armor plating provides effective defense against both conventional and nuclear weapons. Similar to Galactica, by the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, virtually all Jupiter's had their armor partially stripped, exposing the inner hull layer and ships "ribs". 
=== Fighter Complement ===
Large flight decks support a sizable complement of fighters, multi-purpose crafts, and shuttles. During the Fall, the Jupiter-class carried an assorted complement of Vipers Mk. VIIa and VIIb, alongside Raptors and Colonial shuttles. While the precise numbers are not known, possessing 40 launch tubes would indicate that the standard loadout of Jupiter-class consists at least of 80 Vipers.
The port and starboard flight pods were designed to be retractable. While Vipers were launched via special tubes on the side of the flight pods, all craft needed to land on the flight deck, which would be extended when needed. As this required the port and starboard flight decks to be exposed to vacuum conditions, the deck was magnetized to simulate gravity conditions when extended.
=== Computer Systems ===
Due to the serious threat of Cylon hacking imposed on the Colonial Fleet, Jupiter-class were designed to rely on primitive computers without networking, and so were less advanced than older ships in the fleet. These computers, whether in the original design or a later refit, were capable of being networked, when necessary, but per standard procedure were not. Calculations for faster-than-light jumps were also limited as a result of this, and by the 0 ACHs Galactica's computers were considerably slower at computing jumps than modern civilian ships if not networked.
Considering that Galactica was unique, the last ship of her class in service, it can be presumed that post-war build Jupiters were networked very much like the newer Mercury-class and therefore susceptible to Cylon infiltration. At least one Jupiter-class was actively deployed by the Colonial Fleet in defense of CapricaBattlestar Galactica 2004, episode: "Miniseries, Night I"., and therefore likely succumbed to the Command Navigation Program infiltration. 
=== Propulsion ===
Ships of this class have 4 main rearward-facing sublight engines mounted on their outer hull, two on the dorsal and ventral surfaces each. Smaller maneuvering thrusters are also scattered throughout the ship to allow it to maneuver quickly in combat scenarios while two synced FTL drives are installed aboard to allow for faster-than-light travel. Unlike the Valkyrie-type, the Jupiter-class is large enough to house its FTL engines internally, mitigating the weakens exposed FTL engines pose. 
While state-of-the-art for the Colonials, even by the time of introduction, the FTL engines of Jupiter-class were sub-part to contemporary Cylon design. By the time of the Fall however, this weakness was largely elevated, as even relatively un-upgraded Battlestar Galactica was able to jump ever couple of minutes. 
==Sources==
Category:Colonial Fleet_Battlestars
Category:Colonial Fleet_Ships