Hyperion class heavy cruiser
 The EAS Prometheus emerges from hyperspace. | |
| First appearance | A Voice in the Wilderness |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | EarthForce |
| General characteristics | |
| Fighters | 6 Starfuries |
| Auxiliary craft | Ironside class shuttle |
| Armaments |
1 Heavy Plasma Cannon 2 Particle Beam / Laser Cannons 8 Medium Pulse Cannons 2 Missile Launchers |
| Defenses |
6 - 8 meter armored hull 10 Mk.I Defence Interceptors |
| Propulsion | Ion Particle Drive |
| Power | 3 Fusion Reactors |
| Mass | 8.4 million metric tons |
| Length | 1,025.39 m (3,364.1 ft) |
The Hyperion class heavy cruiser is a fictional starship in the Babylon 5 universe.
History
The Hyperion class is an older type of EarthForce warship, smaller and less heavily armed than the newer Omega class destroyer, but still a capable design. It saw its heyday during the Dilgar and Earth-Minbari wars. In both wars the Hyperion class was the primary ship of the line, alongside the Nova-class dreadnought. Although the majority of them were destroyed by the end of the Earth-Minbari war, they are still a common sight in Earth fleets, often deployed on long-range patrols or as escorts for the newer, more advanced destroyers. Hyperions were still in EarthForce service as late as 2281.
Design
1025.39m in length and massing 8,400,000 metric tons, the Hyperion carries a crew of 356 and 200 troops. The design boasts a powerful armament in the form of one heavy double-mount plasma cannon (the big guns mounted forward), two particle/laser turrets (mounted on either side of the forward hull), eight medium pulse cannon turrets (the bubble-like turrets mounted all over the ship), and two heavy missile launchers. In addition to the armament, the cruiser has potent defenses in the form of a 6-8 meter-thick armored hull and a standard defense grid. The Hyperion class is capable of carrying 6 Starfury fighters and 2 shuttles. As with most ships of its size, Hyperion class ships are capable of both using jump gates and creating their own jump points.
Unlike the later Omegas, Hyperions did not have rotating sections and the ships operated in zero-gravity. As such the crew would normally be seen strapped into their seats during operations. Since the ship lacks artificial gravity technology, acceleration would be limited to levels the crew could tolerate, which would normally be below 2g's for extended periods.
Notable cruisers
- EAS Aegean: Cruiser fighting on Sheridan's side during the civil war, shortly seen in hyperspace behind the Agamemnon during the season 4 episode, "Endgame".
- EAS Clarkstown: This ship ambushed General Hague's flagship EAS Alexander at the Io transfer station after he rebelled against President Clark. Unfortunately, General Hague was killed by a shot to the midsection of the Alexander during the attack. After the death of Hague, Major Ryan took command and, with some reluctance, gave the order to fire on and destroy the Clarkstown, which was captained by a friend of Hague, Captain Maxwell, with whom Major Ryan was acquainted.
- EAS Excalibur: One of the EarthForce ships sent to stop General Hague's coup off the transfer point in Io. She was disabled during the firefight, allowing Hague's EAS Alexander to escape. Since this ship is unrelated to the IAS Excalibur from Crusade, presumably the ship was decommissioned or otherwise destroyed shortly afterwards.
- EAS Hyperion: Commanded by Captain Pierce, he served and participated in the Earth-Minbari War previously years before and commanded the Hyperion in the resolution of the Great Machine incident at Epsilon III seen in the season 1 episode, "A Voice in the Wilderness".
- EAS Lexington: Commanded by Roger Stearns and John Sheridan, she participated in the destruction of the Black Star as shown in the TV movie, In the Beginning.
- EAS Prometheus: Commanded by Captain Michael Jankowski. This ship started the Earth-Minbari War by firing on the Valen'tha in July 2245 at the first contact between the two races, as shown in the TV movie, In the Beginning. This encounter took place on the rim of unexplored space in a region known as Falcon's Reach. However the Prometheus was destroyed in the Earth-Minbari War.