DAEDALUS BC-304
CLASS BATTLECRUISER

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The Daedalus-class battlecruiser is a fictional starship in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Also referred to as a Deep Space Carrier and a 304, the Daedalus class is the second generation of Earth battlecruisers and is designed to combat enemy ships, such as the Goa'uld Ha'tak-class mothership. It succeeds the Prometheus as the main vessel operated by the United States Air Force and its allies on the two series.

Four Daedalus battlecruisers have been built and three are in active service, including the Daedalus, the USS Odyssey and the USS Apollo. The Russian Air Force-operated Korolev was destroyed during the Battle of P3Y-229.
 


 

TECHNOLOGY

The Daedalus class is equipped with much of the same advanced alien technology as the Prometheus, only all integrated into the original design prior to construction, as opposed to being "tacked on after the fact", as Lt. Col. Samantha Carter puts it, as was the case with the Prometheus.

ASGARD

The Daedalus class contains a great deal of Asgard technology, notably its intergalactic hyperdrive, shields and beaming technology. The Odyssey is also equipped with energy weapons, an Asgard computer core, and other technologies, which Samantha Carter describes as "truly amazing". In addition, the Daedalus itself uses an Asgard engineer named Hermiod, who is assigned to oversee integrated technology, until the Asgard race commits suicide due to a genetic disorder.
 
General Characteristics
Class Daedalus
Registry 304
Fighters 16 F-302 Fighters
Armaments
 		 Railguns
Mk 3 and 8 Nuclear ordinance
Defense
 		 Asgard Shields
Trinium Hull
Propulsion Asgard Hyperdrive
Power Naqahdah Generators

GOA'ULD / ANCIENT

The Daedalus class ships also have the same ring transporters as Goa'uld vessels, which are known ultimately to be an Ancient creation. These rings are compatible with rings onboard Ori motherships as well as traditional Goa'uld emplacements. When temporarily genetically enhanced by Lantian technology, Rodney McKay wrote a formula on how to enhance the shields on the Daedalus, it is unknown if it was ever used.
 

TACTICAL SYSTEMS
The Daedalus class carries numerous Mark III and Mark VIII tactical nuclear warheads and a number of railguns. Generally speaking, the primary armament used by the Daedalus-class vessels is the missile complement which is fired using vertical launching systems, with all missile emplacements appearing at the bow of the ship; only the Odyssey has been seen with ventral hull emplacements. Unlike conventional vertical launch systems, it is possible to access the loaded missiles from inside the ship, to swap their warheads, or entire missiles. In Stargate Atlantis season three's "No Man's Land", Colonel Caldwell orders the safety protocols to be disabled so that it is possible for them to fire all their Mk. III nuclear missiles the moment they exit hyperspace to increase the chance of a missile achieving a direct hit and not being intercepted by the Wraith Darts.

In addition to a thick armor hull that is capable of withstanding brief but intense fire from a Wraith Hive-Ship, the Daedalus class vessels are fitted with advanced Asgard shielding that can defend the ship from incoming hostile fire.

There is no Asgard weaponry fitted to any Daedalus-class vessels prior to the Stargate SG-1 finale episode, "Unending", with the Asgard previously going so far as to safeguard their beaming technology by preventing its use as a weapons delivery system.
 

During the series finale, however, the Odyssey is heavily upgraded with the latest Asgard technology, including an Asgard computer core and energy weapons capable of successfully destroying an Ori mothership with several direct hits.
 
DESIGN
As seen in Stargate Atlantis, the Daedalus has notable physical differences from the Prometheus. It is sleeker and lacks the large aft tower. The Daedalus-class also has four additional engine emplacements on each side, making the rearmost part of the ship wider than that of the Prometheus. There is a large square structure on the ship's bow the purpose of which is unknown. F-302 bays are located on both sides of the ship, below and out from the main hull along the rear.

The Daedalus' shields are also capable of standing up to multiple Wraith Hive-Ships or Goa'uld motherships in combat.
   
HANGER BAY
The Daedalus class has a hangar bay on either side, but all the F-302s are in the starboard hangar. The Daedalus is capable of carrying up to 16 F-302s, but so far it has only been seen carrying eight so that the other hangar can be used for various needs. The hangars come with doors and shields to prevent decompression and expulsion into space.
 
SHIPS OF THE LINE
The USAF operated Daedalus (Hull-marked 02) first appears in the Stargate Atlantis episode "The Siege, Part 3", commanded by Colonel Steven Caldwell. The Daedalus plays an instrumental role in defending Atlantis, and subsequently serves as an intergalactic ferry between Earth and Atlantis.

USS Odyssey first appears in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Off the Grid", and becomes Earth's primary-defense when the Prometheus is destroyed in "Ethon". Odyssey is commanded by Colonel Paul Emerson from "Off the Grid" till "Company of Thieves" when he is killed in the line of duty. The Stargate SG-1 episode "Family Ties" reveals Odyssey's succeeding commander is Colonel Davidson.

The Russian Daedalus class vessel Korolev appears in the season nine finale, "Camelot", under the command of Colonel Chekov. The Korolev is destroyed in battle by two Ori mothership's.

Appearing in the Stargate Atlantis season three finale, "First Strike", the Apollo, commanded by Colonel Abe Ellis, is used in a preemptive attack against the Asurans.

The map color behind the Colonel's chair and the lighting on each of the ships appears to be color coded. The Prometheus is white, the Daedalus is green, the Odyssey is orange, the Korolev is purple and the Apollo is Blue/Indigo.
 
Name Hull number Base of Operation Status Commander
Daedalus 02 Atlantis Base / USA Active Col. Steven Caldwell
Odyssey 03 USA Active Col. Davidson
Korolev 04 Russia Destroyed Col. Chekov
Apollo 05 USA Active Col. Abe Ellis

DAEDALUS

The Daedalus is the first starship to be produced of the Daedalus class of battlecruisers, and carries an Asgard engineer (Hermiod) to oversee the ship's Asgard technology until Humans are entrusted to handle it on their own. It is believed that each ship takes about one year to construct and at least four Daedalus battlecruisers have been built with two being constructed in a year (the Korolev is rushed into service months before schedule). This may be a result of the funding change that Military Appropriations enacted at the beginning of season nine of SG-1, where 70% of the SGC funding is transferred to 304 production.

First mentioned in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Moebius, Part 1" and in the Stargate Atlantis episode "The Siege, Part 2", Daedalus makes its first appearance on Atlantis in the episode "The Siege, Part 3" at the beginning of season two. Since then, it has become one of the regular components of the series, primarily serving as a carrier between the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies.

Daedalus is also mentioned in several Stargate SG-1 episodes, including "Avalon Part 1", "Ethon", "Company of Thieves", "Camelot" and "The Shroud" (where the ship is engaged in a joint operation with the Odyssey to destroy a Pegasus Stargate using a Mark IX tactical warhead for the purpose of disengaging the Ori Supergate).

Appearance on the show

The Daedalus was first mentioned on Stargate SG-1 in episode 8.19, "Moebius, Part 1", and on Stargate Atlantis in episode 1.20, "The Siege, Part 2". She made her first appearance in Stargate Atlantis episode 2.01 "The Siege, Part 3".

History

The Daedalus is launched from Earth after the Zero Point Module is found in Egypt and is used to send a force of Marines to Atlantis with it. It takes the Daedalus only four days to reach the Pegasus Galaxy and Atlantis with the ZPM powering the ship's Asgard hyperdrive, and while installed, the ZPM provides a significant increase in shield power. This ZPM is removed and used to power Atlantis's shield. Without the Ancient power source capable of powering the Asgard hyperdrive at full power, it takes Daedalus approximately three weeks to travel between Earth and Atlantis.

Hermiod, the ship's Asgard technical adviser, is able to temporarily run the hyper drive at much greater level so as to increase hyperspace speed enough to make it into communications range in time to warn Atlantis of a Trust plot to destroy the city. This action places Daedalus at great risk of burning out the ship's engines.

In addition to serving as an effective transport, the Daedalus has experienced marked success in its function as a battleship. With the main threat in the Pegasus Galaxy being the Wraith, the Daedalus is usually pitted against Wraith Hive-Ships, which severely outclass the smaller ship in size, fire-power and fighter craft carrying capacity. The overall size of the vessels make them difficult to destroy with anything less than nuclear missiles, which are carried in only limited numbers and are easily intercepted by sacrificial Wraith darts long before reaching the Hive-ship. However, the advanced Asgard shielding aboard the Daedalus has allowed it to stay in a battle long after a Hive-Ship would have succumbed, and Daedalus has held its own in battle against the Wraith (sometimes against multiple Hive-Ships) and has scored numerous kills against the larger vessels, three of which were obtained by directly beaming nuclear devices aboard the ships.

ODYSSEY

The second USAF production spacecraft of the Daedalus class battlecruiser is called the USS Odyssey. Its design, weapons, and technological capabilities are identical to the Daedalus; however, due to the use of the ZPM and changes made by Daniel Jackson, Odyssey is now capable of cloaking itself. The Asgard make substantial technological upgrades to the Odyssey in the Stargate SG-1 series finale, "Unending". The Odyssey is now equipped with the knowledge of the Asgard and various Asgard technologies, such as an Asgard power core.

After the destruction of the Prometheus in "Ethon", the Odyssey becomes the primary vessel in Earth's defensive fleet.

It is reported in the Atlantis episode "Echoes" (and confirmed in the Stargate SG-1 episode "The Shroud") that one of the ZPMs left by the Asurans who invaded Atlantis is now powering the Odyssey to be used against the Ori.

Initial mission

During the shakedown cruise of the Odyssey, the commander of the vessel, Colonel Emerson, was sent by General Landry to rescue SG-1, who were captured by the Lucian Alliance on P6G-452. SG-1 had been captured after the Stargate on the planet was taken by Baal, preventing them from dialing home.

The ship traveled to the P6G-452 in hyperspace, and using implanted identification chips that were placed in all SGC personnel, the Odyssey was able to lock onto and beam them aboard. The ship was then immediately contacted by General Landry to go and reclaim the Stargates from Ba'al's mothership. SG-1 beamed aboard after Ba'al's ship was disabled and planted tracer beacons on all the Stargates and DHDs, while in the middle of fending off Ba'al's Jaffa. The Lucian Alliance showed up in a small fleet of Ha'tak vessels and ignored the Odyssey's hails, and they attacked Baal's ship. The Odyssey began to fire on the Lucian ships with rail guns in order to prevent them from destroying Ba'al's ship while SG-1 was aboard. The Odyssey then managed to beam all but one Stargate and DHD before the Lucian ships destroyed Ba'al's. That particular Stargate was being used by SG-1 to gate back to Earth, but Colonel Emerson and the Odyssey had to assume the worst and retreated after the shields were nearly drained and after doing no damage to the Lucian fleet.

During the Odyssey's first mission, its shields were untested and were not operating at 100%.

By the time of "Camelot", the Odyssey was among several other Jaffa/Asgard/Human/Tok'ra ships to form a fleet tasked with destroying the Ori supergate. Along with the Russian cruiser, Korolev, the ship engaged in combat with the Ori once the first wave of the enemy fleet breached the supergate. The ship suffered heavy damage, but was one of the few ships to survive the battle. Her crew was able to repair most systems in time to rescue the members of SG-1 and Bra'tac before Bra'tac's Ha'tak was rammed into an Ori battlecruiser in orbit of Chulak.

The Pegasus Project

In "The Pegasus Project", the Odyssey was dispatched to the Pegasus galaxy in an attempt to create a stable wormhole between Pegasus and the Ori Supergate in the Milky Way galaxy, to prevent the Ori from sending more ships through it. Attempts by the Asgard to dial out of the gate had already failed; the Supergate could only be dialed into from another Galaxy, and there was insufficient energy produced by a standard Stargate to establish a connection. The Odyssey positioned a Stargate near a black hole in Pegasus and, using the black hole as the Stargate's power source, established a connection with a Stargate that had been placed in close proximity to the Supergate. Once established, the Odyssey beamed shaped nuclear charges in front of the Stargate in an attempt to force the outgoing wormhole to jump to the Supergate, thus forming a connection to it. With a black hole powering the Stargate, the connection could be maintained indefinitely.

The Odyssey performed several unsuccessful attempts to jump the wormhole to the Supergate before a Wraith Hive-Ship detected the nuclear detonations and attacked the Odyssey. Performing a slingshot maneuver around the black hole's gravity well, the Odyssey beamed its remaining nuclear warheads into the Hive Ship that was pursuing them just as it passed by the Stargate. When the weapons were detonated, the resulting detonation of both warheads plus the Hive Ship sent enough energy through the Stargate to cause the wormhole to jump to the Supergate. In addition, the massive unstable vortex produced by the activation of the Supergate engulfed an Ori battlecruiser, destroying it.

Lucian Alliance Hijacking

With the possibility of another Ori Supergate in the Milky Way Galaxy, the Odyssey departs Earth to investigate in the Stargate SG-1 episode, "Company of Thieves". On arrival, however, they are ambushed by several Ha'tak-class vessels and are forced into a minefield, which, because their shields are weakened by a nearby neutron star, render the ship disabled. Soon boarded and seized, it is stated that their assailants are members of the Lucian Alliance who have been sent to destroy or capture the vessel. Demanding that Colonel Carter repair the damage and disable the distress beacon revealing their location, the members of the Alliance kill Colonel Emerson when he orders her to not assist them in any way.

Acting as though she is repairing the ship, Carter attempts to stall the hijackers until an escape attempt can be made, an opportunity which affords itself when Daniel and Vala are likewise captured and brought to the Odyssey. After retaking the ship and killing the leader of hijackers in the process, the crew returns the Odyssey to Earth for repairs. While the repairs are under-way, the Odyssey is fitted with a ZPM recovered after Atlantis had been retaken from the Asurans, after their occupation.

Sangraal

The Odyssey is part of a plan to deliver Merlin's weapon to the Ori galaxy for the purposes of destroying the Ori outright. Daniel Jackson used his Prior abilities to take control of the ship and transport the crew safely to the surface. After bringing Jack O'Neill on board the Odyssey, they set course for P3Y-229 while the Daedalus enters a parallel position over the Pegasus Galaxy Stargate that is maintaining the Supergate connection.

During the course of the trip, Jackson modified the ship's systems to generate a cloaking field, claiming "Having a ZPM helps". After the weapon is sent through the Supergate on an Ori ship and SG-1 had been evacuated with Asgard transporters, Jackson returns to his original form. Carter had a great deal of difficulty deactivating the cloaking device.

Other Operations

Following the successful retrieval of Daniel Jackson from the Ori and the deployment of the Sangraal, command of the Odyssey is given to Colonel Davidson. Under his command, the Odyssey transports SG-1 to a planet being used by a group of rogue Jaffa under the command of Arkad as a base so that SG-1 could prevent Teal'c from killing Arkad. Later, the Odyssey deploys ground-strike weaponry against a number of naqahdah filled cargo ships destined to be used against Earth by the rogue Jaffa in Arkad's army.

Odyssey is instrumental in the capture of Adria from a mothership under the command of Ba'al. The Odyssey utilizes the cloaking technology Daniel Jackson and Merlin installed in the vessel during the events of "The Shroud" and is used to hold Adria and prevent her escape using Anti-Prior technology. The Tok'ra are summoned to the Odyssey's location to perform a symbiote extraction of Ba'al from Adria. Following the extraction process, Adria breaks free of the restraints and locks Odyssey's infirmary, giving her enough time to ascend.

The Asgard Legacy

The Odyssey visits the Asgard home planet Orilla in the Stargate SG-1 finale episode "Unending" at the behest of the Asgard. Thor explains that the Asgard are giving the Tau'ri all of the knowledge of the Asgard, as a disease they have contracted is causing their bodies to degrade rapidly; consequently, the Asgard will soon become extinct. As the Asgard finish the upgrades to the Odyssey, several Ori motherships exit hyperspace nearby. The Asgard return to Orilla and as their last act destroy the planet, leaving the Odyssey as their legacy. Soon after the planet's destruction, the Odyssey has no choice but to fight, and, after a number of hits with its new Asgard weaponry, successfully destroys an Ori mothership.

KOROLEV

The Korolev was a BC-304 given to Russia by the USA in exchange for continued use of the Russian Stargate, and was commanded by Colonel Chekov. Just prior to the Battle of P3Y-229, Korolev was rushed to duty in order to defend against an invasion fleet of Ori battlecruisers. The ship was only partially finished, with a year of construction remaining; however, her major systems were complete and she was fully space worthy.

Korolev carried a compliment of F-302's, having also acquired their plans in the Russian Stargate exchange. She was equipped with Asgard beaming technology, as demonstrated on Dr. Jackson and Col. Mitchell.

In the Russian language sequences of "Camelot", the ship's name was spoken correctly as Karalyov, commemorating Russian rocket scientist Sergey Korolyov. In the English language sequences, it was pronounced as it is written in English, which is incorrect. This could be ascribed to the American characters not knowing the correct pronunciation, except that Daniel Jackson, who speaks excellent Russian, also makes this mistake; however, this could have been intentional so as to avoid confusion.

The Korolev was destroyed by two concurrent hits from Ori ships. Only 6 of her crew were saved by beaming to the Odyssey; it is unknown who survived. Dr. Jackson escaped by ringing aboard one of the Ori ships and Col. Mitchell made it to a F-302.
 

APOLLO

Assault on Asuran homeworld

The USS Apollo is a 304 commanded by Colonel Abe Ellis, and is later tasked to the second tactical wing. It arrives at Atlantis with a weapons platform, code named Horizon, which contains six Mark IX "Gatebuster" warheads and 4 decoy warheads. In conjunction with the Atlantis team, Colonel Ellis and the Apollo successfully deploy the Horizon weapons platform against the Asuran homeworld, targeting key military sites where new warships are being constructed. They are successful in destroying all the Asuran vessels, along with most secondary targets. 

Following the attack on the Asuran homeworld, Apollo returns to Lantean orbit. There it attempts to destroy a stripped down Asuran satellite-ship that arrives in orbit over the city containing a Stargate through which an energy beam is sent from the Asuran homeworld. The beam is momentarily turned on the Apollo immediately after it attempts to engage. The vessel's shields are heavily drained by the Asuran energy weapon. After that point Colonel Ellis pulls his ship back but remains in the vicinity of Atlantis. Apollo fires a number of missiles, but these prove ineffective against the satellite-ship's shields.

With no way for Apollo or Atlantis to disable the satellite-ship, a plan is devised by Doctor McKay and Colonel Sheppard to bring an asteroid from the area around Lantea, which they had previously assumed was left from a second, since destroyed, moon, into the path of the Asuran weapon long enough to allow Atlantis to fly to another world. F-302's, launched from Apollo's fighter bays under the command of Major Lorne, latch onto the asteroid and maneuver it from the system's debris field into the energy weapon's path. Apollo transports all non-essential personnel off the city just before the attempt to fly Atlantis to another world begins.

The search for Atlantis
Apollo waits until Atlantis enters hyperspace, then leaves Lantea to rendezvous at a prearranged planet. When Atlantis is not present upon their arrival, Colonel Ellis takes Apollo to the nearest Stargate to dial Midway Station, where Colonel Samantha Carter and Doctor Lee are supervising its final readiness operations.

With no current way of tracking Atlantis, Ellis requests that Carter and Lee travel to Pegasus and assist in the upgrade of Apollo's sensor systems so they can determine the position of the city. The upgrade involved pillaging parts from several primary systems including subspace communications. However the sensor upgrades allowed the Apollo to search the route between Atlantis and its new home in less then 50 hyperspace jumps.

The Apollo successfully locates Atlantis in space and returns to Asuras to provide covering fire for a retreating Puddle Jumper carrying McKay, Sheppard and Ronon along with a stolen ZPM. After they successfully withdraw, the Apollo returns to M35-117 and remains in orbit to assist the city as needed.

Bomb bay
The Apollo is equipped with a bomb bay with an attached observation and control deck. From this bay, it can deliver such payloads as the Horizon Weapons System.
 

BATTLE OF P3Y-229
In the Season 9 finale, "Camelot", the Odyssey and Korolev were both a part of a combined Tau'ri, Jaffa, Asgard, Tok'ra and Lucian Alliance fleet sent to intercept and stop the Ori fleet from arriving through a Supergate constructed around P3Y-229. The Lucian Alliance ships are shown to arrive late into the battle. The Asgard vessel was an O'Neill class battleship piloted by the Asgard Kvasir. En route, the Korolev was ordered to collect SG-1 and report immediately to the Supergate. Their standing orders were to destroy the Supergate by any means necessary.

The episode shows both the Odyssey and Korolev faring better than the Jaffa vessels in the opening moment of the engagement; apparently, their Asgard-designed shields were far better at withstanding the opening attacks from the Ori vessels. Although the episode didn't show the Asgard vessel being destroyed, it was seen fighting the Ori ships and taking numerous hits which appeared to be absorbed by its advanced shielding. However, as the engagement continued, both Earth vessels lost main power systems and main engines, rendering them sitting ducks to the Ori weapons.

Nearing the conclusion of the battle, with most of the vessels opposing the Ori destroyed, both Odyssey and Korolev remained largely intact (though incapable of continued combat), until a number of Ori vessels concentrated their fire on the Korolev, cutting the vessel's hull in half before the ship exploded.

At least one F-302 of the Korolev survived its destruction and was retrieved by the Odyssey following the conclusion of the engagement. Only six members of the Korolev's crew were beamed aboard the Odyssey. Daniel Jackson used a set of the Korolev's rings to escape onto an Ori ship and Colonel Mitchell used an F-302 to escape the Korolev. Colonel Chekov's fate is unknown.