The Trafalgar-class is a space carrier deployed by the Earth Federation Forces. It was first mentioned in Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam novels and made its animated debut in the video game Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren's Greed.
Technology & Combat Characteristics[]
The Trafalgar-class is a modified Magellan-class with an open flight deck attached to each side. However, its capacity is somewhat limited, as it has been seen to carry Public-class Gunboats: at least twelve of them. They have been seen to be capable of launching large numbers of FF-S3 Saberfish fighters, though their specific carrying capacity is unknown. As a result, it's classified as an open deck-type support cruiser rather than a regular carrier. Due to the attachment of the flight decks, the side mounted mega particle guns and twin machine gun turrets were removed, as were the bow mega particle cannons: replaced by additional hull extensions and a pair of missile batteries for additional forward firepower.
The flight decks themselves are armored and are protected by a few defensive machine gun turrets and missile launchers. The outer sides of the decks house hangar openings for resupply, and an additional pair of engines were added aft of the decks to help push the additional mass of the heavy ship. Behind each flight deck above the engines are small landing decks meant for recovering fighters or any other craft it could carry. While effective as an impromptu support carrier, the heavy reduction in firepower meant that it was both mostly defenseless and an incredibly large target, leading to the ship often requiring heavy escort from battleships and cruisers for protection.
Armaments[]
- Twin Mega Particle Gun
- The ship is armed with only one twin-barreled mega particle cannon, mounted in a forward firing position on the top of the hull.
- Twin Machine Gun
- The ship is armed with at least eight twin defensive machine gun turrets, with two mounted on either side of the ship's bridge tower and two more turrets on each of the flight decks.
- 6-tube Missile Launcher
- The ship is armed with a pair of 6-tube missile launchers, with one on the upper and lower parts of the extension of the bow.
- Large Missile Launch Tube
- Mounted on the outer sides of each of the ship's launch hangars, similarly designed to missile launchers of the Pegasus-class.
History[]
Eight of these of ships were built before White Base entered service, and were designated as "all-through deck support cruisers". During the One Week Battle, one of these ships was docked at the Side 4 colony Rodinia, but after the colony was attacked by Zeon forces with poison gas, it managed to escape with some of the colony's inhabitants. Because of the possibility that the poison gas was viral and could spread, the ship was banned from docking at other colonies, so the crew took on the name of Shutendouji and used the ship as their home ship to make a living through piracy and junk business. The flight deck was modified to allow for the loading and launching of mobile suits. After that, Shutendouji went out of business as space pirates, and was reborn as the private military company Maria Shield in the year 0085. At that time, the ship was also renamed, and is now operated from Side 6.
Gallery[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- It is named after the Battle Of Trafalgar where the British navy defeated the French and Spanish navies thereby preventing an invasion of Britain itself.