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Musai class cruiser - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Sc, Adventurer, Alpinist, Ark, Astronaut, Barge, Battleship, Buss, Camper, Canoe, Caravel, Carrier, Cat |
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| Musai class cruiser |
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| Fast Facts |
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| Ship Type | Light cruiser |
| Class: | Musai |
| Launched: | Universal Century 0075 |
| Class Fate: | Inactive as of UC 0100 |
| General Characteristics |
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| Displacement: | 26,200 tons (Flight III) |
| Length: | 234 meters |
| Beam: | 98.4 meters |
| Draft: | 79.4 meters |
| Armament: | 2-barrel mega particle gun x3, large missile launcher x2, small missile launcher x10 (Flight I)
Flight II and Flight IIA identical except 2-barrel mega particle gun x2
Flight III 2-barrel main gun x 5, 2-barrel 120mm machinegun x 10, missile launcher x 10 |
Mobile Suit Complement:
(Musai/Komusai) | 3/2 (Flight I), 2/1 (Flight II), 4/1 (Flight III), 2/1 (Flight IIA) |
In the Gundam (Universal Century) fictional universe, the Principality of Zeon Musai-class light cruiser is the first warship designed to carry mobile suits. It carried a "Komusai" landing capsule that could (and often did) carry additional mobile suits. There were several models of the Musai produced during the war:
- Musai Flight I: This Musai variant carried five MS-05 Zaku I or MS-06 Zaku II mobile suits and supported them with a battery of three beam gun turrets. This is the version seen most frequently during the One Year War. Earth Federation soldiers referred to this style of carrying as "three in the back and two under the hood." Using the Komusai pod bays to carry operational mobile suits (rather than for their initial purpose of carrying the mobile suits to the surface of the Earth) brought the mobile suit carrying capacity of the Musai up almost to the same standard as the much larger EFSF Pegasus-class mobile suit carrier. The Flight I Musai had three mobile suit catapults mounted on the upper port, upper starboard and lower faces of its hexagonal mobile suit hangar; a standard air group for a Musai Flight I was two or four MS-06F Zaku IIs with one MS-06S commander's mobile suit. Char Aznable commanded a modified Musai I with a helmet-shaped command bridge (the Falmel).
- Musai Flight II: This Musai variant carried three of the far larger and bulkier MS-09R Rick Dom mobile suits and supported them with a cut-down battery of two beam gun turrets (one was removed to provide weight compensation for the heavier suits). All Flight I Musais were refit into Flight II ships by early October. The Flight II ships had two catapults instead of the Flight I's three.
- Musai Flight III: Also called the late production type Musai-class cruiser. The Musai Flight III was a considerable upgrade that combined Flight I firepower with Flight IIA mobile suit complement and acceleration - and as an additional bonus, the Flight III Musai's widened hull and improved launch facilities could handle four of the much larger Rick Doms, as compared to the Flight II's two. Only a few Flight III Musais were built before operational setbacks forced Zeon to switch to the less capable but less expensive and easier to construct Flight IIA. Most of the Flight III ships fled with the Delaz Fleet at the end of the One Year War and returned (and were destroyed) during Operation Stardust. The Peer Gynt is an example of the Flight III Musai class.
- Musai Flight IIA: Also called the final production type Musai-class cruiser, the Flight IIA Musai had upgraded engines. This rare version was the subtype in production during November and December, as resource restrictions forced Zeon to eliminate its ambitious plan of replacing all Flight I and II Musais with the drastically upgraded Flight III ships. The Flight IIA had two catapults; some carried groups of four Zaku IIs while others carried two of the heavier Rick Dom or MS-14 Gelgoog. The Valkyrie and the Siegfried are examples of Flight IIA Musai-class cruisers.
The Musais of all variants acquitted themselves well in the One Year War, and examples continued to fly in the postwar Republic of Zeon fleet until Zeon rejoined the Earth Federation in 0099. All remaining ships were mothballed in UC 0100 and sold and scrapped after that, the last ship leaving for the breakers by 0120.
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