Battlestar Atlantia - Cylon War (D26)

The Battlestar Atlantia was the first hull of the Series One-Alpha Columbia Class (Referred to in many sources as the Atlantia sub-Class Command Battlestars) which began entering service early in the war to act as task force command ships. Atlantia was sponsored by Picon.

The first improvement design based upon the Series One Columbia Class Battlestar, Series One-Alpha Atlantia sub-Class Command Battlestars embarked a maximum wartime load of 200 Vipers divided into 10 squadrons of 20 each, but typically operated during peacetime with a more modest load of 100 Vipers divided into 5 squadrons of 20 each. In addition to her airwing, they possessed an extensive battery of 32 Dual-Barrel Heavy Kinetic Energy Cannons for engagement of capital ships and orbital bombardment and a formidable secondary array of 418 Dual-Barrel Close-In-Weapon Batteries for anti-aerospace craft defense. For additional striking power, the Atlantia sub-Class had a complement of 16 variable-yield nuclear missiles in silos along the dorsal section of the hull, an increase over the 12 carried by Series One Columbia Class vessels'''. '''

The primary differences of Series One-Alpha vessels over Series One was an elongation of the main hull and flight pods, the addition of a second landing deck along the ventral portion of each flight pod (though still retaining only one hangar deck level), increased ammunition and provision storage, and the addition of more extensive Flag facilities and an expanded Combat Operation Center to accomodate the vessel's role as a Task Force Flagship.

Following the ratification of the Cimtar Peace Accords, Atlantia continued to serve in the fleet for an additional 21 years. As newer classes of Heavy Battlestars entered service, the Atlantia's prominance as a flagship was superceded by more capable and efficient designs. At last the decision was made to decommission the veteran warship as a cost-saving measure in light of her heavy crew complement requirements and increasing cost of maintenance and refit.

Following her decommissioning, Atlantia was stripped of her armaments and relegated to the Colonial Fleet Reclamation and Reserve Maintenance Depot in orbit of Sagittaron colony where she remained for nearly ten years. As the decision to finally condemn the old warhorse to the scrapper's torch came down, an environmental group on Picon came forward and presented a radical suggestion before the Colonial Ministry of the Interior. In order to aid in the bolstering of the heavily harvested near-shore fish populations, a plan was put forth to have the old Atlantia deorbited and sunk as an artificial reef. After nearly two years of exhastive work, the vessel was stripped of any potential environmental contaminents and was then towed away to perform her final FTL jump.

With news affiliates filming and a crowd of nearly 240,000 standing by on shore, the old Atlantia was jumped into the atmosphere of Picon, a precision operation that deposited the former Battlestar on an even keel, resting gently upon the surface of the ocean. With almost all of her internal compartments open, scuttle charges along the ventral section were detonated in sequence and the vessel soon began to take on water and sank as planned, settling down onto the bottom approximately 500 meters down.

See: Battlestar Atlantia

See: WSG 1