Gundam The Origin Vehicle Analysis- Salamis-class Cruiser

The Salamis-class Cruiser was the workhorse unit of the Earth Federation Forces during, and well beyond, the One Year War. This vessel served as the general-purpose patrol and combat unit of the Federation, carrying out a massive variety of missions. Like their larger siblings the Magellan-class Battleships, the Salamis-class cruisers proved incredibly vulnerable to Zeon Mobile Suits, suffering heavy losses throughout the war. However, unlike the Magellan, the Salamis-class hull proved versatile and easy to refit, and modified versions of the Salamis-class remained in the Earth Federation arsenal as late as U.C. 0153. Due to the large variety of Salamis refit designs and the fact that just about every single anime set in the One Year War has had a slightly different take on the original Salamis-design, I will be focusing on the iteration of the Salamis-class shown in the Gundam The Origin OVAs. Now, onto the analysis.

Propulsion

The Salamis-class is propelled by a single engine of unknown design. This allows the Salamis to move at a respectable speed. For course corrections, a large number of thrusters are mounted throughout the hull.

A number of these thrusters are hidden behind armored hatches until they are needed.

While the Salamis’ engine can propel it at substantial speeds across space, it lacks the power to escape earth’s gravity on its own. For orbital launches, a specially designed booster is attached to the Salamis’ stern.

Armament

The Salamis-class carries a substantial armament for its size. The primary offensive capacity of the vessel lies in six Mega Particle Cannons mounted in single turrets around the hull.

Three of these guns can fire directly forwards and three directly astern, while the side turrets can elevate their barrels enough that four guns can fire along the broadside of the ship.

These weapons are slightly inferior to those of a Musai-class cruiser, but still pack a significant punch.

Along with the Mega Particle Cannons, the Salamis carries a heavy missile armament, with eight missile tubes installed in the bow, an eight-weapon Vertical Launch System behind the dorsal fore Mega Particle Cannon, and two six-missile box launchers behind the side mounted forward Mega Particle Cannons. We never actually get to see the Salamis fire all its missiles on screen at once, but it would be a very pretty sight.

For Anti-Aircraft and later Anti-Mobile Suit combat, the Salamis carries sixteen machine guns in eight twin turrets.

While these weapons were more than sufficient to engage the fighters that existed when the Salamis-class entered service, they lacked the weight of fire to reliably defend against Mobile Suits.

Durability

While the Magellan-class battleships became famous for their extreme survivability, the Salamis-class proved far more fragile. While the vessel could survive one or two hits from a Zaku’s Bazooka or a Musai’s Mega Particle Cannons, the cruiser’s smaller size meant it was substantially easier to destroy than the larger battleships. In some instances, a single bazooka hit in the right place proved enough to take down a Salamis.

Conclusion

So I decided to make more of these, now that finals are finally letting up. I’ve been watching a lot of Gundam, so I decided to do some ships from the Universal Century. Now, there are a lot of different takes on the Magellan class over the various UC shows. Almost every one, be it the original show, Igloo, or the Origin OVAs, has slightly different armaments, hull lines, and sizes. I’m going to the Origin OVA version because it’s the one that most recently appeared on screen, and because it’s the prettiest variation IMHO. With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Introduction

The Magellan-class Space Battleship was the primary heavy capital ship of the Earth Federation during the One Year War. While superior to just about every warship in the Zeon arsenal except for the Gwazine-class battleship and the massive Dolos-class mobile fortress, Magellans were highly vulnerable to attack from Mobile Suits, which greatly limited their combat effectiveness. Despite this, Magellans served throughout the One Year War as the Federation’s main heavy strike unit, spearheading assaults and serving as flagships for fleet commanders. Unlike its counterpart the Salamis-class cruiser, the Magellan’s hull proved difficult to easily upgrade to meet the demands of Mobile Suit combat, and Magellan-class vessels were phased out of service by UC 0087.

Propulsion

The Magellan’s main drives consist of four engines of an unknown type mounted on the rear of the ship. While these drives are more than sufficient for maneuvering in space, they lack the thrust to propel the vessel out of Earth’s gravity. When launching into space, a specially designed booster stage is attached to the rear of the vessel. Once orbital or escape velocity is reached, the booster shuts down and detaches and the Magellan’s main engines engage.

For course corrections, the Magellan carries a large number of thrusters mounted around the hull. These thrusters are concealed behind armored hatches until they are used.

Armament-

The Magellan-class battleship is extremely heavily armed. The main armament of the vessel consists of two different calibers of Mega Particle Cannons. The heavier caliber of cannon is mounted in two turrets on the bow of the vessel, above and below the nose.

The smaller caliber of Mega Particle Cannon is mounted in five dual turrets. One is positioned on the dorsal side of the hull just in front of the bridge.

The other four turrets are mounted on the flanks of the ship, two to each flank.

In addition, the Magellan carries a quartet of bow torpedo tubes.

A eight-weapon battery of Vertical Launch Missiles rounds out the Magellan’s suite of offensive weapons.

If it comes under attack by fighters or mobile suits, the Magellan is not completely defenseless. Close-in defense consists of sixteen dual AA machine gun turrets mounted on either flank and two quad turrets mounted behind the bridge.

While these weapons are sufficient for defense against conventional fighters, they lack the accuracy and weight of fire to successfully engage Mobile Suits.

Durability

The Magellan class is extremely tough. At the Battle of Loum, these vessels proved to be the greatest obstacles for the Zeon forces to destroy. While the Salamis-class cruisers or Lepanto-class frigates could be dispatched in one or two missile hits, Magellan-class vessels remained functional despite extreme damage. 

Although they could not reliably hurt Mobile Suits, those same Mobile Suits lacked the firepower to reliably kill the Magellans without support from the Mega Particle Cannons of the Zeon Musai-class cruisers. Even then, a kill was far from a sure thing. General Revil’s flagship, the Ananke, remained functional despite taking direct hits at point-blank range from Dozle Zabi’s flagship Valkyrie, which possessed heavier Mega Particle Cannons than the average Musai.

Variants

The Magellan class possesses one major variant in the Origin timeline. Generals Revil and Tianem commanded from a specialized variant of the Magellan. These vessels, most notably the Ananke and Titan, replaced the Vertical Launch System of the standard design with an additional secondary Mega Particle Cannon turret.