Minerva class battleship

"Minerva"-class battleship
Fast Facts
Ship Type	Battleship
Class:	Minerva
Launched:	October 2, Cosmic Era 73
Ships of Class:	LHM-BB01 "Minerva"
Commanding Officer:	Talia Gladys
General Characteristics
Length:	350 meters
Propulsion:	thermonuclear pulse thruster x 14
Armor:	laminated armor, unknown thickness
Armament:	QZX-1 "Tannhäuser" positron blaster cannon x 1 XM47 "Tristan" dual beam cannon x 2 M10 "Isolde" triple 420 mm naval rifle x 1 40 mm mutli-barrel CIWS x 12 "Wolfram" M-25 torpedo launcher "Neidhart"/"Parsifal" heavy missile launcher x 16 "Dispar" intercept missile launcher x 16 Anti-beam depth charge launcher x 2
Mobile Suit Complement:	(C.E. 73) (Spacebound) ZGMF-X56S Impulse ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior x2 ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom x1 ZGMF-601R GuAIZ R x3 (C.E. 73) (Earthbound) ZGMF-X56S Impulse ZGMF-X23S Saviour ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior x1 ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom x1 (C.E. 74) ZGMF-X56S Impulse ZGMF-X42S Destiny ZGMF-X666S Legend
Linear Catapults:	3

The "Minerva"-class battleship is a fictional ship class from the Cosmic Era timeline of the anime Gundam metaseries. It is a naval space vessel used by ZAFT.

Design and construction

The first ship of the class, "Minerva", carries the hull classification code LHM-BB01, designating it as both a transatmospheric mobile assault ship (like the "Archangel") and a battleship, the first such craft commissioned by ZAFT during the postwar era.

The "Minerva" is heavily armored and armed with two twin-barrel XM47 "Tristan" beam cannons, one three-gun M10 "Isolde" 420 mm (16.54 in) projectile cannon turret, numerous missile launchers, and a single QZX-1 "Tannhäuser" positron beam cannon. She was designed with the ability to deploy the ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam.

Despite being heavily armored and her advanced ordnance, the "Minerva" has an exploitable weakness. Aside from her hull armor, "Minerva" has virtually no defensive or counter measures to protect her underside leaving her quite vulnerable to attacks from below.

Despite the construction plans, however, there is a secondary combat bridge to where the main personnel in the regular bridge, use during combat.

In service

The "Minerva" is commanded by Talia Gladys; her executive officer is Arthur Trine. The "Minerva", which was meant to carry the stolen Gundams ZGMF-X24S Chaos, ZGMF-X31S Abyss, and ZGMF-X88S Gaia, was launched prematurely on October 2, Cosmic Era 73, in the aftermath of the Armory One incident; at that time, her mobile suit complement included the ZGMF-X56S Impulse (piloted by Shinn Asuka), two ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warriors (one piloted by Lunamaria Hawke, while the other was the unregistered unit brought aboard by Athrun Zala), one ZGMF-1001 ZAKU Phantom (piloted by Rey Za Burrel) and two ZGMF-601R GuAIZ Rs. Both GuAIZ Rs were destroyed in her first engagement and one of the ZAKU Warriors in her second. After its launch, the "Minerva" was involved in the unsuccessful attempt to break up the Junius Seven colony drop, during which it was attacked by the Blue Cosmos stealth battleship "Girty Lue" and the three stolen Gundams. When the "Minerva" reached Earth, one of the ZAKU Warriors was replaced by the ZGMF-X23S Saviour, and one of the GuAIZ Rs was later replaced by the prototype ZGMF-X2000 GOUF Ignited. After Heine Westenfluss' death at the Battle of Dardanelles and Athrun's alleged defection, "Minerva"'s remaining pilots as of the invasion of Orb in Operation Fury were Shinn, Rey, and Lunamaria.

The "Minerva" was heavily damaged during the battle near Space Mobile Fortress Messiah by the "Archangel" and Athrun's ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice. Even though most of the crew survived, Talia Gladys would later die inside Messiah alongside PLANT Supreme Council Chairman (and lover) Gilbert Durandal and pilot Rey Za Burrel.

Related development

*"Archangel"-class assault ship, the Earth Alliance assault ship that the "Minerva" was designed to emulate.
*"Izumo" class battleship, the basis of the "Archangel"'s design.
*"Girty Lue", Blue Cosmos stealth battleship and antagonist of the "Minerva".

Trivia

*The "Minerva" is named for the Roman goddess of crafts, wisdom and the noble side of war, who was known to the Greeks as Athena.
*The ship's main weapons ("Wolfram", "Tristan" and "Isolde") are all named after characters from Richard Wagner's operas.
*The "Tristan" dual beam cannon could also be named after a 12th-century courtly romance written by Gottfried von Strassburg. Coincidentally, the Earth Alliance's equivalent weapon is called "Gottfried".
*The ship's positron cannon, Tannhäuser, is named both after a knight and poet in German medieval legend and an opera by Richard Wagner

External links

* [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/seed-destiny/minerva.htm Mecha Anime HQ: "Minerva"]