I was speculating as to when and why the first Battlestars were built. It seems like they must have been built before the first war broke out, because they seem too big and involved to have just been built once the colonies fell under attack. If this is the case then were they built before the war for another purpose? Perhaps for bringing a strong military presence to the colonies for the purpose of policing them? Or did they even have them long before that - shortly after arriving at the colonies from Kobal? What do you think?
I would imagine that the first battlestars existed before the initial cylon war and that the battlestars of Galactica’s class were developed during the first cylon war. After all who said things were perfectly peaceful between the colonies through out history? Plus you would need some kind of military force to deal with insurgents and pirates.
Over the course of a 12 year war it is perfectly believable to think that new battlestars would have been developed specifically to counter the cylon threat. In the miniseries they started off saying that Galactica was designed in a retroactive style, independent systems, etc in order to deal with an enemy that could take over any computer network. Take America for example. The aircraft carriers the United States deployed by the end of WWII were far more advanced than the carriers we started the war with. The development cycle for all kinds of war machines were fast forwarded once the shooting began.
I think that is a good point because we know that there have been difficulties with the Sagitarions dating to at least the start of the first cylon war. Plus I was under the impression that the cylons were originally created to do the dangerous work the colonial wouldn’t do, and as a military force, so that would also seem to suggest the colonies haven’t always been in harmony.
Myth of the Twelve Battlestars (Original Series). Within fan circles, it has generally been assumed there were twelve original battlestars, given the number of Colonies. This appeared to be supported by Encyclopedia Galactica, a non-canonical publication released in 1979.[3] However, Glen A. Larson has stated that there was never any decision to have a specific number of battlestars, nor did the Original Series state that only twelve battlestars were built. During the series’ run, only eight battlestars are seen or mentioned. Given the length of the Thousand-Yahren War, it seems likely that far more than twelve of these warships were constructed.
In the Re-imagined Series continuity, it is stated at the start of the Miniseries that twelve battlestars were initially built during the Cylon War. However, in the years of and after the Cylon War, an additional 120 battlestars of various classes were built in that continuity. Like its Original Series counterparts, almost all of these battlestars are destroyed in an elaborate Cylon subterfuge.
For original series: Battlestars
For re-imagined series: Battlestars
As a place perhaps to store delicious pie? No? Maybe another reason?
Brendon, I’m digging your signature!
But I think the hooded figures are lacking their black sheep:
Sorry. I couldn’t resist.
Edit: Could someone with photoshop skills, well, photoshop Palpatine in there?^^
So I wonder if there were earlier versions of battlestars before the first cylon war or if there would have been a less advanced warship of some kind and what they were like if there were. Also I wonder how battlestar ship designs would compare to the ships that originally brought the humans to the 12 colonies.
mmmmmm…delicious pie…droooool
I’m sorta having a problem with the timeline. The Cylons needed time to be created, rebel, build up a sizable force, then go off to the stars. 12 years just doesn’t seem like enough time. I wonder if we’re dealing with a variation on the Terminator theme, where Colonials built cylons to fight, and they rebelled?
I think as a long standing space-based culture the Colonies would naturally evolve the equivilent of our Naval history. This probably served to protect shipping lanes between the colonies, perhaps engage in convlicts beween the colonies, or even to defend against other invaders besides the cylons (nobody said this didn’t happen, so why not?). Even without a major shooting war to inspire it, the capital ship concept still holds. Look at what a modern nuclear powered air craft carrier looks like compared to what we saw steaming out of the end of WWII.
I was just listening to a podcast on Aircraft Carriers on the Military History Podcast, and it was quite interesting. According to the show the US has five times the carrier flight deck acerage of the rest of the world combined, and two times the number of carriers of the rest of the world combined by number of ships. The US also has 1,000 of the 1,250 carrier based aircraft in the world. It makes sense, because who else has the need to project power arround the globe.
— Dismal
Well we dont know what specific designs and purposes they had when they were created, but they may have been created in near or full capacity to begin building their own technology. If we are meant to believe RDM’s concepts for the Caprica TV show, then the cylons were created during the time of Joseph Adama giving them plenty of time to grow and expand.
Some people might argue that no one has a NEED to project that kind of power…
In the Mini Series It was been stated that one of the reasons the Cylons were created was for Military use. When the Cylons rebelled they most likely took a lot of Military hardware with them.
Now as far development of big and better Basestasr and Battlestars lets look at the progression of US Aircraft Carries from before and during WWII. There is a massive jump in size and technological advancement from the Yorktown class built in the late 30’s to the Midway class built by the end of WWII. All this in a span of just five years.
USS Enterprise (CV-6) [Yorktown class aircraft carrier]
Commissioned: 30 September 1937
Displacement: 19,800 tons
Length: 761 ft
Aircraft carried: 90
USS Essex (CV-9) [Essex class aircraft carrier]
Commissioned: 31 December 1942
Displacement: 27,100 tons
Length: 872 ft
Aircraft carried: 100
USS Midway (CV-41) [Midway class aircraft carrier]
Commissioned: 10 September 1945
Displacement: 45,000 tons at commissioning
Length: 972 ft (296 m)
Aircraft: 137
One more thing to point out the Galactica in the current show looks like an up-armored version of the Galactica from the 1978 Show. The best example of this is take a close look at engine section on the current Galactica its core structure looks like the engines of the 1978 version with the addition of the lager engine pods as almost a modification to the older design.
I don’t think that such a straight extrapolation is really applicable. I would imagine that the technological advancement the Cylons made would be somewhat more of a quantum leap, like early aircraft carriers --> Iceberg Aircraft Carriers
Really hard to compare the battlestars of the new series to the old series and draw a correlation to the timeline.
Has anyone seen the original novel? According to it, Galactica is over 1000 years old.
Original series, the Cylonzzz were the lizard-man race that created the Centurions. Which I think rebelled against the Cylonzzz then went on to attack the humans. At least that’s what the Galactica ship’s log says that the astronaut found while orbiting around Earth.
Need to go back to Half-Price and pick up that book if they still have it…
over 1,000 yahrens? 
If the Galactica is over 1,000 years old, perhaps these are really the ships that were used to transport the colonists from where ever they came from. How sad would it be if a civilization were so stagnent that thye couldn’t update 1,000 technology…
— Dismal the critic
Yes, but I dont think original series BSG canon applies to the new series at all.
It is so true. In the original series humanity survived strictly on hair products.
Well we know that the RDM Galactica is less than 100 years old. But I do wonder what the ships looked like that carried the colonials from Kobal to the colonies. Or the ones that brought them to Kobal from where ever they came from.