In the fictional Gundam universe, the Salamis class is the Earth Federal Space Force's backbone ship. It was introduced in UC 0070 as part of the Year 70 Arms Reinforcement Plan. The ship was modified twice, once after the One Year War and again between the years UC 0083 and UC 0088.

The Salamis class is named for the island of Salamis in Greece and the Battle of Salamis in September, 480 BC.

The original Salamis

The first ships were launched in conjunction with the Magellan Class battleships as part of the "70s Armament Reinforcement Plan". They were armed with conventional weaponry, six main gun turrets, six two-barrel machine gun turrets for anti-fighter/anti-mobile suit defense and two six-cell external missile launchers, but were generally upgraded with beam weaponry in time for the One Year War. This variant suffered heavy casualties during the One Year War due to the general superiority of the Zeons' combination of their Musai class cruiser and MS-06 Zaku II Mobile Suit. In particular, the nuclear-armed MS-06C extracted a heavy toll against the Salamis class, as their thinly armored hulls were ill-suited to withstand nuclear weaponry. For this and a combination of other reasons, the Federation recalled the last remaining Salamis class vessels to the naval base Luna II, where they remained until September UC0079, when Federation scientists finally launched their first crude mobile suits. The remaining ships of the Federation's fleet were redeployed into combat zones with MS and ball protection. Although the Salamis class would suffer causalities throughout the remainder of the war, they proved to be effective when used in conjunction with mobile suits, which would play a role in the Salamis Kai design a few years later.

The 0083 refit

Between UC 0080 and UC 0083 the Salamis class underwent its first major refit. Top members of the Federation Admiralty decided that the Salamis class was in need of a total overhaul, and Federation engineers were charged with re-designing the class. The Admiralty was interested in improving the three major problems of the orginal Salamis cruisers: insufficient firepower, the slow speed of the cruisers (the original Salamis class ships had only one engine), and a better point-defense system for protection against enemy mobile suits. Drawing on the blue prints of the Magellan class battleships, engineers began the lengthy process of refitting the Salamis class.

The design of the ship was heavily modified, with additional beam weaponry (including three double barreled beam turrets, a first for the Salamis class), AA defense, increased missile capability (the six-cell launchers were exchanged for MUCH larger 15-cell launchers, and eight internal VLS cells were added), and larger engines. The overall length of this variant was reduced, requiring a reduction of the size of the main powerplant; consequently these improvements sapped the ship's power supply, and many units of this variant were lost during Operation Stardust in UC0083.

The Salamis Kai

At the end of Operation: Stardust the Federation Admiralty decided to abandon the 0083 variant in favor of refitting the vintage Salamis class vessels. During this second round of refits between UC 0083 and UC 0088, the Salamis class received the equipment fit that would serve it through the rest of its career. Federation engineers borrowed ideas and equipment from the Pegasus class MS carrier program (most notably the Albion), and the failed design of the 0083 refit, incorporating the best of both classes into this refit.

The ships refit under this plan received an all-new bow including MS hangars for four mobile suits (the new bow bore only a cursory similarity to the original bow). The catapult deck was mounted on the exterior of the ship, bearing a passing resemblance to the bow of a World War II aircraft carrier. The hangars and workspaces were placed inside the hull, so they could be continuously pressurized to a shirtsleeves environment. The addition of the hangars and topside catapult deck cost the Salamis Kai one main gun turret. Anti-mobile-suit defenses were increased, with two additional twin-gun main turrets replacing the old external missile launchers. This version, known as the Salamis Kai, remained in continuous production from UC 0083 to UC 0093, and composed the bulk of the fleet through the end of the first Universal Century. These ships saw a great deal of action in both major fleets (AEUG and Titans/Earth Federation) during the Grypps Conflict (0087-8).

The Salamis class was discontinued in UC0093, in favor of the Clop class, but these ships saw action well into the second Universal Century.

See also

• Mobile Suit
• List of Mobile Suits
• Universal Century

External links

• The World-Wide Gundam Informational Network (http://www.geocities.com/gundam_uc0079/index.html)
• Gundam Naval Mueseum (http://www.geocities.com/gundamships/Mainpage.html)
• MAHQ (http://www.mahq.net/index.htm)
• Library of Londonion (ship names & fates) (http://side7.gundam.com/rgz/info/uc_ship.html)