LHM-BB01 Minerva

The Minerva is a battleship in the series Gundam SEED Destiny.

Technology & Combat Characteristics
Since it was designed as a battleship, the Minerva is heavily armed. Its weaponry includes beam cannons, CIWS guns, many missile and torpedo launchers, anti-beam depth charge launchers and lastly a powerful Positron Blaster Cannon. As it doubles as a carrier the Minerva has two conventional linear MS catapults as well as a specialized catapult to launch the Core Splendor, Chest and Leg Flyers and Silhouette Packs

Armaments

 * 40mm CIWS
 * As with many other ships and mobile suits, the Minerva mounts a total of twelve 40mm CIWS guns. These guns are used to shoot down incoming missiles but are also effective against close range mobile suits.


 * Anti-beam Depth Charge Launchers
 * For added defense, the ship is mounted with a large number of anti-beam depth charge launchers, which can release a cloud of beam-absorbing particles to protect the Minerva from enemy beam fire. The particles however also decrease the efficiency of the Minerva's own beam weapons.


 * M10 "Isolde" 42cm Triple Cannon
 * For heavier firepower, an M10 "Isolde" 42cm triple cannon is mounted on the main body in front of the Impulse catapult. This cannon is usually hidden underneath a shutter, but is retracted if needed.


 * Missile Launchers
 * The largest number of weaponry which the Minerva is mounted with are its many missile and four torpedo launchers. The missile launchers are capable of either launching "Neidhardt" space missiles, "Parsifal" ground missiles or "Dispar" interceptor missiles.


 * QZX-1 "Tannhäuser" Positron Blaster Cannon
 * The most powerful weapon of the ship is its single QZX-1 "Tannhäuser" positron cannon, which makes the Minerva the first ZAFT ship to be equipped with a positron cannon. Mounted on the front side of the ship, the "Tannhäuser" is hidden underneath a shutter and only released when activated. It should also be noted that while the "Tannhäuser" cannon is extremely powerful, if it's attacked when it's about to fire, the cannon will overload and cause serious damage to the ship.


 * Torpedo Launchers
 * As opposed to the missile launchers, the torpedo launchers are equipped with only one type of torpedo, namely "Wolfram" M25 torpedoes.


 * XM47 "Tristan" Dual Beam Cannons
 * In terms of beam weaponry, the Minerva is equipped with two XM47 "Tristan" dual beam cannons. These cannons are mounted above the two standard linear catapults, allowing them to cover the launching of Mobile Suits.

System Features

 * Ablative Armor
 * Like the Earth Alliance' Archangel-class assault ship, the Minerva is protected by a laminated armor, Ablative armor, granting it added protection against beam weaponry. Also like the Archangel, the Minerva can enter Earth's atmosphere and travel across water like a ship.


 * Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System
 * Designed specifically to carry the new Second Generation Gundams of ZAFT, the Minerva is the first (and so far only) ship to be equipped with the Deuterion Beam Energy Transfer System. This allows the ship to recharge the battery of a nearby mobile suit by firing a deuterion beam from a specialized emitter to a receiver on the suit.


 * Space Booster
 * The ship can also optionally be equipped with a space booster, allowing it to break through Earth's atmosphere on its own.


 * Catapult for Impulse modules
 * The Minerva is also equipped with a special catapult to launch the modules of the ZGMF-X56S Impulse. It also carries a large number of spare modules and Silhouettes to replace damaged or destroyed ones.

History
The Minerva class battleship was the first warship built by ZAFT after the first Bloody Valentine War. The ship was designed as a naval space vessel and has carrying space for at least 11 mobile suits including the Impulse. Visually, the Minerva resembles a combination of the Archangel and Eternal from the first war. It is however actually designed to resemble the space whale, Evidence 01, which was recovered by George Glenn. The first ship of the class, the Minerva, carried the hull classification code LHM-BB01, designating it as both a transatmospheric mobile assault ship (like the Archangel) and a battleship. The Minerva was commanded by Talia Gladys, a veteran ZAFT ship commander who was decorated in the Bloody Valentine War for meritorious conduct. Talia Gladys, Athrun Zala, Heine Westenfluss (deceased), and later Shinn Asuka and Rey Za Burrel were members of ZAFT's elite FAITH detachment.

The lead ship, meant to carry the new Second Generation Gundam units, was launched prematurely on October 2, CE 73, with the Impulse, two ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warriors (one painted in Lunamaria Hawke's personal red colors), one ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom (painted in Rey Za Burrel's personal white colors) and two ZGMF-601R GuAIZ Rs. After its launch, the Minerva followed the Phantom Pain battleship Girty Lue, which had stolen three of the new Gundams. During the first battle between the two ships, two GuAIZ Rs were destroyed. Later, the Minerva tried to prevent the fall of Junius Seven on Earth by shattering the large a fragment with its positron cannon. During this incident, it again battled Phantom Pain as well as several Coordinator extremists. After descending down to Earth, the ship entered the territory of Orb.

When the Second Bloody Valentine War broke out, the Minerva left the country and headed for the Carpentaria Base, although it was forced to battle the Earth Alliance forces ouside Orb's territory. In Carpentaria, one of the ZAKU Warriors was replaced by the prototype ZGMF-X23S Saviour and one of the GuAIZ Rs was later replaced by a ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited. After leaving Carpentaria, the ship headed towards the Gibraltar Base. On its way, the Minerva fought the EA and its allies of the Orb Union several times, which caused severe damage to the ship and its mobile suits. It was also forced to fight the Archangel several times, who always intervened in the battles. This caused PLANT chairman Gilbert Durandal to order the Minerva to destroy the ship, which they however didn't accomplish, although Shinn was able to destroy the ZGMF-X10A Freedom. Afterwards, the Minerva finally reached Gibraltar, where it received the new ZGMF-X42S Destiny and ZGMF-X666S Legend. It was also at this base that Athrun defected.

The Minerva later took part in the battles at Heaven's Base and Orb, until it headed to space to capture the EA's superweapon Requiem on the Daedalus lunar base. The ship then took part in the battles against the Three Ships Alliance. During the last battle of the war, the ship was heavily damaged during the battle near the Mobile Space Fortress Messiah by the Archangel and Athrun Zala's ZGMF-X19A ∞ Justice. Even though most of the crew survived, the captain Talia Gladys would die inside Messiah alongside her former lover Gilbert Dullindal, and ace pilot Rey Za Burrel.

Trivia

 * The Minerva is named for the Roman Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare, who was also known to the Greeks as Athena.
 * The ship's main weapons ("Tannhäuser", "Wolfram", "Tristan" and "Isolde") are named after characters from Richard Wagner's operas.
 * In Super Robot Taisen L, the Minerva crews do not consider the Archangel as their enemy. There is an event where Shinn with his Destiny helped Kira when the Strike Freedom was attacked by the game's original villain unit in Orb. With the exception of Rey and his Legend Gundam, the Minerva even sided with the Three Ships Alliance during the Battle of Messiah, the last scenario of Gundam SEED Destiny storyline in the game. Thus, the Minerva did not sink and Talia Gladys survived the battle.
 * The design of the Minerva resembles the controversial "Evidence 01," the much-debated fossil of a winged whale that George Glenn (the first Coordinator) had found in on one of Jupiter's moons.

See also (Similar MS carriers)

 * SCV-70 White Base (Mobile Suit Gundam)
 * MSC-07 Albion (Mobile Suit Gundam 0083)
 * Argama (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)
 * Archangel-class assault ship (Gundam SEED)