| Archangel class assault ship |
 |
| Fast Facts |
| Ship Type |
assault ship |
| Class: |
Archangel |
| Launched: |
Cosmic Era 71 |
| Ships of Class: |
Archangel, Dominion |
| General Characteristics |
| Displacement: |
Unknown |
| Length: |
345 meters |
| Beam: |
Unknown |
| Wingspan: |
Approx. 250 meters |
| Draft: |
Unknown |
| Armament: |
225cm dual high-energy beam cannon "Gottfried Mk.71" x 2,
110cm linear cannon "Valiant Mk.8" x 2
Positron blaster cannon "Lohengrin" x 2
75mm automatic multi-barrel CIWS "Igelstellung" x 16
Large missile launcher x 24
Surface-to-air missile launcher x 16
Anti-beam depth charge launchers |
| Mobile Suit Complement: |
Eight |
In the fictional universe of Gundam Seed, the Archangel class
mobile assault ship was developed to support the mobile suits developed under the G Project. Based in part on the Orb Union's Izumo
class battleship design, it was a very heavily armed battleship (more powerfully armed than either the 250 meter class warship or Agamemnon-class carrier) with two large-bore
"Gottfried Mk. 71" beam cannons in forward turrets, two "Valiant Mk. 8" 110cm linear cannons in aft mounts, 16 75mm
"Igelstellung" CIWS mounts (mounting the same gun used in the Gundams' head mounts), 24 multi-purpose missile launchers (missiles include Sledgehammer anti-ship missiles and
Korinthos and Wombat heavy anti-aircraft missiles) and a 16-cell Helldart anti-aircraft missile launcher. Archangel's most
powerful weapon was her two "Lohengrin" bow-mounted positron beam cannons. The heavy defensive armament of the Archangel
class combined with the ship's laminated armor made it almost impregnable to all but the most determined assault.
The true power of Archangel was hidden in the ship's cavernous hangar bay: Room for up to eight mobile suits or mobile armors.
Combined with the G-series prototypes, Archangel was intended to be very nearly invincible. In operations, she was
intended to hold the Duel and Buster Gundams, Lieutenant Mu La Flaga's TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius
Zero mobile armor, and two TS-MA2 Moebius mobile armors back for
defense while the Strike, Aegis, and Blitz Gundams took the battle to the enemy. With ZAFT stealing four of the five prototypes and
destroying the two Moebius mobile armors, on 25 January CE 71, Archangel was left with only the Strike Gundam mobile suit
and Lieutenant La Flaga's Moebius Zero to defend herself. After the battleship linked up with Admiral Halburton's 8th Fleet, she
took on-board two FX-550 Skygrasper fighters, which were
compatible with the Strike Gundam's Striker Packs.
Two Archangel-class ships were built during the war: Archangel, commanded by
Lieutenant (later Lt. Commander) Murrue Ramius and Dominion, commanded by Lt.
Commander Natarle Badgiruel (formerly Archangel's XO). Dominion was destroyed and Archangel severely damaged
on the war's last day, 2 November, at the Battle of PLANT.
At the end of the war, Archangel's mobile weapon complement was the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam piloted by Kira
Yamato, the Strike Gundam piloted by Mu La Flaga and the Buster Gundam piloted by Dearka Elsman. Dominion carried the GAT-X131 Calamity Gundam piloted by Orga Sabnak, the GAT-X252 Forbidden Gundam piloted by Shani Andras, the GAT-X370 Raider Gundam piloted by Clotho Buer, and a squadron
of GAT-01 Strike Daggers.
After the war, Archangel was repaired, upgraded with submarine capability, and hidden in a secret hanger at Orb. After
an failed attack by ZAFT commandos, Archangel left this facility. Its mobile suit complement at this piont was the Freedom
Gundam piloted by Kira Yamato, the MBF-02 Strike Rouge
piloted by Cagalli Yula Athha, and a new MVF-M11C Murasame transformable mobile suit piloted by Andrew Waltfeld.
|
