Zanzibar-class

In the Universal Century Gundam universe, the Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is a carrier utilized by the Principality of Zeon. These ships are functionally equivalent to the Earth Federal Space Force's Pegasus class assault carriers, and fill a similar role in the battlefield.

Technology and Combat Characteristics
The Zanzibar class is designed for mobile suit transportation, and as such the ship relies on its mobile suits for most of its offensive and defensive power. This is also the only Zeon ship that can undergo atmospheric re-entry and return to space. Unlike the Federation's Pegasus-class ships, the Zanzibar class does not have an integrated Minovsky Craft system, so it must depend on sustained thrust to operate. These ships have appeared several times, usually in support of major operations. Some were even used as flagships by high ranking Zeon members (like Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi) when a battleship was unavaible or ill-suited for the role. Perhaps the most creative use of a Zanzibar class ship was in MS Gundam: The 08th MS Team, when Ginias Sahalin used one as a power plant for his Southeast Asia base. Also some of the Zanzibar's had been modified to replace the hangar space of four of their mobile suits by a mobile armor. It was more balanced in terms of weapons, since it was equipped with machine gun turrets for point defense. But Zeon space commanders were not as eager to use the class since the Zeon space navy had been built around mobile suit transportation and combat; additionally, the Zanzibar's were more expensive so the Zanzibar-class ships took a back seat to the Musai.

One detail that is easily overlooked are the Zanzibar's two Giant Missile Tubes which are probably used for Anti-Ship work. They are removed in the Zanzibar II refit to allow for more Armor Plating and additional mountings of two-barrel beam turrets.

In the strategy game series Gihren's Greed, the Zanzibar is one of the most expensive vessels the Zeon forces can build, but on the other hand it is arguably the most useful as well. As it can enter the Earth's atmosphere independently, it can be used to spearhead land-drop operations and function as a supplier for the mobile suit forces (as opposed to relying solely on HLVs which, in addition to being defenseless, do not resupply units.

In the manga Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Deleted Affair: Portrait Of Young Comet, the Ingolstadt, which is named after a city in the Free State of Bavaria, is a Zanzibar-class cruiser refitted with additional booster propellant tanks.

Armaments

 * 2-Barrel Main Gun Turret
 * The Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is equipped with one 2-barrel main gun turret.


 * Mega Particle Cannon
 * The Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is equipped with four mega particle cannons.


 * Large Missile Launcher
 * The Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is equipped with two large missile launchers for anti-ship combat.


 * 2-Barrel Machine Gun
 * The Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is equipped with five 2-barrel machine gun turrets.

History
The Zanzibar-class ship is a Zeon battleship that was introduced during the One Year War as a multi-environment mobile suit carrier. Despite being produced in limited numbers the Zanzibar-class performed in several important operations. Notably the Zanzibar was placed under command of Char Aznable during his pursuit of the Earth Federation ship White Base. Another important use for the Zanzibar-class was to act as escape craft for Zeon forces on Earth after Operation Odessa.

Near the end of the One Year War, Zeon launched its United Maintenance Plan in an attempt to increase the performance of existing machines while streamlining construction to make construction and maintenance cheaper and easier. The Zanzibar-class was one of the ships classes put through the Plan, leading to the development of the Zanzibar II-class mobile cruiser.

Descendants

 * CCM-91 Chimaira
 * Zanzibar II class
 * Zanzibar-Class Task Force Battle Cruiser (Keraunos)
 * Zanzibar-Class Interplanetary Type (Ingolstadt)