Izumo class battleship

This article is AbOUT a fictional ship class from the Cosmic Era timeline of the anime Gundam metaseries.

The Izumo-class battleships are powerful warships of the Orb Union. Elements of their design were also used in the construction of the Earth Alliance's Archangel class assault ships, including their extremely powerful armament of "Lohengrin" positron blaster cannons and "Gottfried Mk. 71" dual beam cannons. One feature that remained unique to the Izumo class battleships, however, was their modular design; this allowed them to jettison the forward and rear modules (which contain most of the weaponry) and replace them with a separate forward module for atmospheric reentry and launching back into space, where the weapon modules would then be recovered.

Design and Construction

The Izumo class was developed by the Orb Union as a heavily-armed space battleship. Armed with large beam cannons, she was also among the first spaceships equipped with positron cannons; furthermore, she also has large hangar facilities inside.

At least four Izumo class ships were built: Izumo, Kusanagi, Susanoo, and Tsukumiya. Izumo was used by the Sahaku family, while the Kusanagi was commanded by Cagalli Yula Athha and Ledonir Kisaka and became part of the Clyne Faction. It is possible that the other two Izumo class battleships were in the possession of the other noble families of Orb or were commissioned under the Athha name.

Components of the Izumo class' design were adapted to the design of the Earth Alliance's Archangel class assault ships. Among the adopted design elements are the Lohengrin positron blaster cannons (the Archangel accommodates two of these weapons, down from the Izumo's four) and Gottfried Mk. 71 dual beam cannons. The Izumo class ships still retained their unique modular configuration, however.

Characteristics

The Izumo class battleships were designed as modular battleships. This special design feature allows them to jettison the forward and rear modules (which contain most of the weaponry) and replace them with a separate forward module for atmospheric reentry and launching back into space, where the weapon modules would then be recovered.

At the time of their launch, Izumo class battleships were among the largest warships in the Cosmic Era universe, armed with two large-bore "Gottfried Mk. 71" beam cannons in forward, 16 75 mm "Igelstellung" CIWS turrets, and packs of missile launchers; however, their most powerful weapons were their quadruple Lohengrin positron cannons. This heavy defensive and offensive armament, combined with laminated armor, rendered the typical Izumo class ship immune to all but the most determined assaults (at least in theory).

In addition, the Izumo class battleships had a large mobile suit hangar with room for more than 12 mobile suits, such as Orb's MBF-M1 Astray units. While they could not launch as quickly as suits carried by Archangel class assault ships or Agamemmnon class carriers, this large MS complement made the Izumo class ships among the most powerful vessels of their time. At the same time, the hangar makes them difficult to be classified as pure battleships, as they are a hybrid of battleship and aircraft carrier design.

In Service

At least two Izumo class ships were constructed in time for the First Bloody Valentine War: the Izumo and Kusanagi. The former was used by the Sahaku family, while the latter was commanded by Cagalli Yula Athha and Ledonir Kisaka and became part of the Clyne Faction. It is unknown whether the other noble families of Orb also possess Izumo class battleships, but it seems likely that they do.

Izumo

The Izumo was used by the Sahaku family, under the command of Rondo Mina Sahaku. This ship is mainly shown in the manga Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray.

Kusanagi

The Kusanagi was commanded by Cagalli Yula Athha and Ledonir Kisaka and is best known as part of the Three Ship Alliance. Before the Archangel was officially commissioned as part of the Orb Union's Space Fleet, she was the Orb Union Space Fleet's official FlagShip.

She was launched to space from Earth during the Battle of Orb along with the Archangel. In space, the Eternal joined The Two ships, forming the Three Ship Alliance. She helped end the Bloody Valentine War.

Towards the end of the Second Bloody Valentine War, after Chairman Gilbert Durandal revealed the Destiny Plan, the Kusanagi staged an attack on the Requiem space cannon. She and two other Izumo class ships fired their Lohengrins at the Requiem, only to have their attacks blocked by multiple positron deflector shields deployed over the superweapon's mouth. The Kusanagi ultimately survived the end of the war.

Other Izumo-class battleships

In PHASE 48 of Gundam SEED Destiny, a pair of Izumo class ships (the Susanoo and the Tsukumiya) departed from the lunar city Copernicus alongside the Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi to stop ZAFT forces, who had just fired the Requiem at the Earth Alliance's Arzachel lunar base. The three Izumo class ships fired their Lohengrins at the Requiem, only to have their attacks blocked by multiple positron deflector shields deployed over the superweapon's mouth. Amazingly, none were lost during the final battle around the mobile space fortress Messiah, despite the fact that they were fired upon twice by the Neo-GENESIS superlaser installed in the space fortress.

Related development

The Earth Alliance Archangel-class assault ship, shares certain design features with the Izumo-class.

Trivia

• Izumo is named for a region of Japan where the storm god Susanowo supposedly descended to Earth when banished from heaven. For other uses, see Izumo.
• Kusanagi is the second name of the sword, the Ame-no-Murakumo, which Susanowo pulled from the tail of the slain Yamato no Orochi and presented to his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, as a reconciliation gift. Kusanagi is also the sword of the Japanese Imperial regalia. See Kusanagi.
• Susanoo refers to the Storm God Susanoo. The Tsukumiya is a possible reference to the Japanese Moon God, Tsukuyomi (brother of Amaterasu and Susanoo).

ja:イズモ級