WRAITH HIVE SHIP

Writing Credits:  Information borrowed from
WIKIPEDIA site.
E-Mail for that site can be sent to
 

Wraith Hive-ships are starships in the Stargate Atlantis science fiction series.

The Wraith Hive-ship is a massive Wraith mothership, home to an untold number of Wraith who hibernate for centuries at a time. The large ships are capable of interstellar travel and of landing on the surface of a planet.

Most of the Hive-Ship first encountered by the Atlantis team was concealed beneath the surface of their homeworld - so much so that they did not realize it was a ship at all. It sat undisturbed on the surface for so long that tall trees grew on its dorsal surface. Only the Keeper and a small number of Wraith warriors were on guard to defend the sleeping race; when the Keeper was killed, the sleeping creatures began to awaken.

The ships seem to have a bridge with three to four consoles present that are controlled telepathically by the Wraith in the same way that the Puddle Jumpers can only be controlled by someone with the ATA Gene. Deeper inside the craft lies a 'Royal chamber' where the leader of the Hive-Ship sits. A holographic system generates a misty screen in front of the throne to allow the Wraith a view on events. The craft contains untold numbers of hibernation pods, and is equipped with at least two holding cells for individuals awaiting an audience with the Wraith before their life-force is consumed. They also contained an untold number of cocoon alcoves which were used to store humans for later feeding.
 
General Characteristics
Fighters Wraith Darts
Armaments Pulsed Energy Weapons
Defense
  		 Organic Armored hull
Asgard beaming jammer
Propulsion Hyperdrive
OFFENSIVE & DEFENSIVE WEAPONS
A Wraith Hive-Ship has a large number of weapon ports stationed across the exterior of the ship. These ports rapidly fire blue energy bolts which are powerful enough to destroy another Hive-Ship after around 20-30 hits and, when several Hive-Ships worked in concert, were able to bring down the Asgard designed shields of the Daedalus in less than a minute. The ship does not seem to have any point defense weapons to fight off smaller ships such as F-302s. Instead the Wraith Dart is used for fighter-defense. It is not known how many fighters can be carried by a Hive-Ship, but it is estimated in the hundreds as shown in "The Siege" and other episodes.

What makes the Hive-Ships different from other known combat vessels of comparable size is the fact that they do not have energy shields for protection during combat, something previously un-encountered amongst ships constructed by technologically advanced alien races. Instead, they rely on an organic armored hull which allows the ship a limited ability to repair itself (literally 'healing' the damage.) The hull and armor of the ships has been shown to be able to withstand a direct hit from Mark III tactical naqahdah enhanced nuclear weapon, although the ship suffered serious damage and was rendered largely inoperable.
 

PROPULSION
Because of its massive size a Wraith Hive-Ship is not as maneuverable as a Daedalus class battlecruiser or Ha'tak. However as seen on "The Siege, Part 3" they are able to alter course to intercept ships quickly. There is only limited information regarding Hive-Ships but it is known that they can enter the atmosphere of a planet and break orbit when needed. The hyperdrive on Wraith Hive-Ships is not as effective as that used by other races. As seen also on The Siege, Part 3 Hive-Ships do not have intergalactic Hyperdrives and are much slower than even a Ha'tak. They have to travel in a series of jumps and depending on the distance, must take breaks to allow the organic hull time to recover from the effects of hyperspace radiation as stated in "No Man's Land". It is also known that due to the massive size of the ship they have certain weaknesses such as the hyperdrive being able to be disabled by a few well placed shots from a F-302. The reason the Wraith have never developed advanced hyperdrives is unknown. More then likely its because they live in a dwarf galaxy and since the solar systems are close, in galactic terms, when they need to take breaks to allow the ship to recover, they can cull a planet filled with humans.
 
PROPULSION
Wraith Hive-Ships are the second largest known ships in the Stargate universe, after the Ancient city ship. It is even larger than the Ori battlecruiser as seen in the SG-1 episode "Camelot". Hive ships are at least 13 times larger than Earth's Daedalus class battlecruiser. It is unknown precisely how many Wraith each hive ship can carry, but the number is well into the thousands.


 

NUMBER OF ACTIVE WRAITH HIVE SHIPS
In the episode "Underground", the Atlantis expedition collected information from Wraith computer systems during a raid aboard a Hive-Ship. Through this they found out that there are at least 21 hive ships in the same quadrant of the Pegasus Galaxy that Atlantis is in, and at least 60 in total. This number has been decreased over time:
  • "The Siege (Part 1)": One Hive-Ship is destroyed by an Ancient defense satellite.
  • "The Siege (Part 3)": One Hive-Ship is destroyed through a suicide mission with a Puddle Jumper, while three others are destroyed when the Daedalus beams atomic bombs on them.
  • "The Hive": Sheppard turned two Hive-Ships against each other. In the ensuing battle both were destroyed.
  • "No Man's Land": The Daedalus and the Orion managed to destroy 1 of the Hives heading to the Milky Way with its Drones while another one is captured by the Atlantis team.
  • "Misbegotten": The captured hive has been destroyed by another hive ship in the orbit of a planet near Atlantis.
  • "The Pegasus Project" (SG-1): While attempting to complete a plan to block incoming traffic from the Ori galaxy by dialing in from a gate in Pegasus galaxy, SG-1, onboard the Odyssey, managed to destroy a Hive ship while connecting to the Ori supergate, thus blocking any more ships from coming through to the Milky Way and simultaneously destroying an Ori ship close to the supergate's event horizon.

This is a total of ten confirmed Hive ship kills. (Additionally, during a mission to the wrecked ancient ship AURORA, two Wraith cruisers were destroyed by the AURORA's self-destruct function; however, the total number of Wraith cruisers is unknown.) This leaves a total of at least 50 Wraith hive ships that are known to be active, with more possibly constructed during the show. However, it is quite possible that other Hive-Ships (and cruisers) were destroyed in the Wraith civil war. Information learned from the Wraith during a short-lived alliance with a single Wraith hive indicates that Wraith civilization has stagnated for centuries or longer, with all but a handful of the Wraith forgetting much about Wraith technology (the Keepers apparently handle most basic maintenance and repair that the Hive ships cannot heal on their own, and the Wraith spend most of their time hibernating anyway.) Given that Wraith provided this information, and that they later betrayed Atlantis, this information is suspect, but other information learned by Atlantis supports it.