Tivvay-class

In the fictional Gundam universe, the Tivvay class seems to be an updated version of the older Chivvay-class heavy cruisers. These ships are designed around MS transportation and combat. These vessles are lightly armed when compared to other Zeon ship classes, sporting only two beam turrets and a handful of missile launchers. They were designed with speed as its main feature (mainly due to its new type of engine) in order to use hit and run tactics. The class also had a large mobile suit capacity, between eight and ten mobile suits, a number that the Earth Federation would not have until they commissioned their Alexandria-class heavy cruisers.

The only known Tivvay-class cruiser is the Graf Zepplin, which appeared in Gundam 0080. This vessel served as a flagship for Captain Von Helsing (no relation to the vampire hunter) and his small Zeon taskforce, who were assigned to Operation Rubicon and dispatched with orders to rendezvous with Zeon's elite Cyclops commando unit. Graf Zepplin and her two escorts, Seigried and Valkerie, were to launch a diversionary attack on Side 6 to allow the Cyclops team entry. Later, these same three ships were used to ferry nuclear arms to Side 6 in anticiaption of firing on Side 6's Libot Colony, which housed a Federation R&D base containing the RX-78NT1 "Alex" Gundam. Graf Zepplin and her two Musai-class escorts were intercepted by a Federation patrol in the vicininty of Side 6 and surrendered to the Federation in late December UC 0079. The fate of the Graf Zepplin past this point is not known.

The name Graf Zepplin may be in reference to the World War II German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, however that has not been confirmed.

Some publications list this ship type as a cruiser or a heavy cruiser, while other cite the vessel as a battleship, leaving some speculation as to what exactly this ships official classifaction is.