Colonial Fleet

The Colonial Fleet and Colonial Fleet Reserve were the naval arm of the military of the United Colonies of Kobol. Founded during the Cylon War, where the military forces of each of the Twelve Worlds were integrated under a new federation. The primary role of the Colonial Fleet in peace time was as a deterrent to any Cylon invasion, and at its height it boasted some 120 battlestars.Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries, Night 1.
==History==
The Colonial Fleet was formed around -52 BCH as part of an urgent response to Cylon uprising as a strategic necessity, as while worlds such as Caprica boasted an advanced military other such as Aquaria were limited or even nonexistent. The first major shake-up the fleet went through was several years into the war, when Cylon hacking became increasingly successful in disabling or hijacking the fleet's cruisers. A new classification of capital ship, the battlestars, entered service to replace these losses while assuming a number of responsibilities in fleet operations. Perhaps to celebrate the Articles of Colonization, an initial order of twelve were constructed, with each representing a particular colony; in Galactica's case, Caprica. By the end of the war, the Colonial Fleet consisted of a number of different classes of battlestar, and during Operation Raptor Talon three battlestars were sent out without the need of fleet support ships.
Though the war ended around 1960 with the Cimtar Peace Accords, the political situation was as such that continued vigilance was crucial. The next shake-up occurred in 1980, when a new generation of battlestars entered service, with many ships that were rushed through construction during the war being retired from service, or pulled back to interplanetary transport as was the case with Galactica. In 1998, the Adar administration ordered Galactica be decommissioned in two years' time and handed over to the Ministry of Education when its antiquated design represented too big an operating cost. Also in the 1990s, further advancements took place, with greater focus on the reintroduction of networking of ship computers, with defence researcher Dr. Gaius Baltar foreseeing a fleet using sophisticated computer technologies everywhere from Mercury-class battlestars to the Mark VII Vipers. This defense project, however, got the attention of Humanoid Cylon spies, with one agent - Caprica Six - able to seduce Baltar and re-write his crowning Command Navigation Program to have a backdoor for Cylon hackers to bypass firewalls and disable ships immediately.
On the day of the Fall of the Twelve Colonies, a large force of basestars jumped into orbit around all twelve worlds. Though they were immediately detected by the planetary divisions, such as the 5th Combat Division in orbit over Aerilon, the CNP backdoor exploit led to some thirty battlestars - a quarter of the fleet - being disabled and destroyed in the first minutes, allowing the basestars to begin bombarding the colonies virtually undisturbed, while Raider squadrons equipped with 10kt nuclear warheads destroyed orbiting facilities such as the Scorpia shipyards. With the bombing of Picon destroying Colonial Fleet HQ, Admiral Nagala assumed command of the fleet and ordered all remaining ships to rendezvous with Atlantia over Virgon. By the end of the day, the Colonial Fleet had been dwindled down to Galactica and Pegasus. The concept of a Colonial Fleet continued under Admiral Helena Cain and later Admiral William Adama, but following the loss of Pegasus during the Exodus from New Caprica this was a meaningless formality.
== Ranks ==
<tabber>
|-|Enlisted=
Colonial Fleet 	Colonial Marine Corps
Master Chief Petty Officer	Master Gunnery Sergeant
Chief Petty Officer 	Gunnery Sergeant
Petty Officer 1st Class 	Staff Sergeant
Petty Officer 2nd Class 	Sergeant
Specialist 	Corporal
Deck Hand 	Lance Corporal
Recruit 	Private
|-|Officers=
Colonial Fleet 	Colonial Marine Corps
Admiral of the FleetBattlestar Galactica: Deadlock	-
AdmiralRon Moore's Blog 	General
Vice Admiral 	Lieutenant General
Rear Admiral 	Major GeneralPresumed - Based upon real-life Marine Corps from which Ronald D. Moore took inspiration
Commander 	Brigadier General
Colonel 	Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel 	Lieutenant Colonel
Major 	Major
Captain 	Captain
Lieutenant 	First Lieutenant
Junior Lieutenant 	Second Lieutenant
Ensign 	Ensign
</tabber>
==Vessels of the Colonial Fleet==
<tabber>
|-|Named Ships=
Name 	Class 	Type
Alert 	Alert-type 	Hospital Ship
Archeron 	Jupiter-class 	Battlestar
Athena 	Jupiter-class 	Battlestar
Atlantia 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Bellerophon 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Berzerk 	Berzerk-class 	Fleet Escort
Caprica 	Caprica-class 	Tug
Columbia 	Jupiter-class 	Battlestar
Columbia 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Corvehe 	Corvette-class	Frigate
Cyclops 	Loki-class 	Heavy Cruiser
Demeter 	Demeter-type 	Fleet Escort
Demeter 	Jupiter-class 	Battlestar
Erasmus 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Galactica 	Jupiter-class 	Battlestar
Hornet 	Hornet-type 	Fleet Support
Loki 	Loki-class 	Heavy Cruiser
Night Flight	Unknown 	Battlestar
Osiris 	Orion-class 	Assault Ship
Pegasus 	Mercury-class 	Battlestar
Prometheus 	Jupiter-class 	Battlestar
Ramses 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Ramses 	Ramses-class 	Missile Frigate
Solaria 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Triton 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Uned 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Universal 	Unknown 	Battlestar
Valkyrie 	Valkyrie-class	Battlestar
Yashuman 	Valkyrie-class	Battlestar
|-|Ship Types=
Type 	Size
Battlestar 	649 - 1600 Meters
Carrier 	-
Fleet Escort 	~270 - 842 Meters
Heavy Cruiser 	779 Meters
Pocket Carrier 	~687 MetersBattlestar Galactica 2004, publication: "Battlestar Galactica: Designing Spaceships".
Frigate 	~687 Meters
Missile Frigate 	~677 Meters
Deep-Space Relay Vessel 	~675 Meters
Destroyer 	~501 Meters
Minelayer 	~472 Meters
Minesweeper 	~468 Meters
Electronic Warfare Vessel	~340 - ~451 Meters
Assault Ship 	~360 Meters
Hospital Ship 	~270 Meters
Tug 	~266 Meters
Lighter 	~117 - ~195 Meters
</tabber>
== Notes ==
*Proportionally, the colonial fleet would have around 45 large battlestars of Mercury and Jupiter-class, and 75 of smaller Valkyrie-class.
==Gallery==
ANOVOSInsignia.jpg|Official Insignia by ANOVOS
InsigniaByJimStevenson.jpg|Jim Stevenson's ReproductionRank Insignia and Symbolism Analysis for Battlestar Galactica 2003: Update
==Sources==
 
Category:Twelve Colonies of Kobol