The Magellan-class (0083 refit) is a space battleship that appeared in the OVA Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.
Technology & Combat Characteristics[]
Despite the superiority of mobile suit based combat, the Federation's engineers were not about to give up on Magellan-class battleships just yet. Between the end of the One Year War and the Federation's naval review in November of U.C.0083, the Magellan-class battleships underwent an overhaul and refit. All the twin machine guns were replaced with laser guns which seemed to fire at a slower rate but stood a better chance of killing an opponent should the attack hit. Despite being a more powerful and efficient battleship, the Magellan Kai-class was still an ineffective weapon against small and agile fighters such as mobile suits, nor did they have the ability to properly carry mobile suits outside of strapping them to their hulls.
Armaments[]
- 2-barrel Mega Particle Gun
- The Magellan-class mounts seven 2-barrel mega particle gun turrets, two on the dorsal and ventral sides of the bow, one in front of the main bridge, and two starboard and port of the engine block forward and aft of the sub-bridges.
- 2-barrel Laser Turret
- For anti-mobile suit combat, the Magellan Kai is equipped with sixteen 2-barrel laser turrets in place of the original Magellan's machine guns. The laser turrets seem to have a slower rate of fire but are more effective at shooting down a mobile suit. The laser turrets were placed so that they concentrated around the mid-section of the ship where the bridge was, with four on each side of the ship, two on the primary command bridge, two on each side of the main bridge, and one on each sub-bridge.
- Heavy Missile Launcher
- Like its predecessor, the Magellan Kai is equipped with missile launchers, with the standard four in forward firing positions, with two firing ports on each side of the ship.
Special Equipment & Features[]
- Re-entry Shuttle
- Supplemental Rocket Booster
History[]
This refit, known as the Magellan Kai-class battleship (or less formally, the (0083 refit)), was introduced along with the refitted Salamis-class cruisers and the new Birmingham-class during the U.C. 0083 naval review at Konpei Island, the former Principality of Zeon space base known as Solomon. During the Konpei Island naval review, the stolen RX-78GP02A Gundam "Physalis" fired a nuclear warhead that destroyed much of the Federation's space fleet. Many of the newly refitted Magellan-class battleships were destroyed or damaged beyond repair.
The Magellan Kai-class battleships were then deployed to combat the Delaz Fleet, however despite possessing improved anti-mobile suit combat capabilities, many still fell to the Zeon Remnants mobile suits and their new AMA-002 Neue Ziel. The Earth Federation, finally seeing that the "All Big Gun" ship philosophy simply would not work against mobile suits, promptly shut down the Magellan-class battleship program, and decommissioned most of the remaining vessels before the Gryps War in U.C. 0087.
In place of the Magellan line of battleships, new battleships would be commissioned which combined the heavy firepower of the Magellan line and the mobile suit carrying capabilities of the Pegasus-class. Such ships include the Alexandria-class heavy cruiser, Irish-class battleship, and finally the Ra Cailum-class battleship. Despite its line been discontinued, the Magellan Kai was still in use by U.C.153, with at least one such ship being part of the Federation fleet led by Admiral Murabak Stern sent to assist the League Militaire against the Angel Halo.
Gallery[]
Lineart[]
Anime[]
.png "Magellan Kai-Class Bridge 02 (0083 Ep10).png (4.55 MB)")
.png "Magellan Kai-Class Bridge 01 (0083 Ep12).png (5.62 MB)")
Notes & Trivia[]
- Magellan Kai-class is likely based on the refit Iowa-class battleships, which were modernized World War II-era battleships that had some of their secondary battery guns and all of their outdated AA guns removed in favor of modern CIWS's (Close-In Weapon System) and missile launchers while still keeping the main battery guns. Even after the refit, the concept of the big gun equipped battleship proved questionable in a modern world where guided missiles and carrier-launched aircraft were the norm and the ships were ultimately retired, similar to how the worth of a big gun equipped Magellan Kai-class with no mobile suit capability proved questionable after the widespread adoption of mobile suits and the class was ultimately dropped in favor of ship classes capable of carrying mobile suits.
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