Zanzibar-class
Unit Type Mobile Assault Cruiser
Profile
Namesake	The African Zanzibar Islands
Developed into	CCM-91 Chimaira Zanzibar II-class
Ships of the Line	CCM-91 Chimera, Kerguelen, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Ingolstadt, Keraunos, Ragnarok
First Seen	0076 U.C.
Manufacturer	Principality of Zeon
Operator	Principality of Zeon
Known Captains	Char Aznable M'Quve Ramba Ral
Known Crew	Crowley Hamon Tokwan Cozun Graham Lalah Sune
General Characteristics
Overall Height	70.5 meters7,050 cm 2,775.591 in 231.299 ft
Overall Length	255 meters836.614 ft
Overall Width	211.8 meters21,180 cm 8,338.583 in 694.882 ft
Accommodation	MS Hangers: 1 MS Capacity: 6
Armaments 2-barrel main gun turret Mega particle cannon x 4 Large missile launcher x 2 2-barrel machine gun x 5
Special Equipments and Features Booster
Mobile Weapons MS-06F Zaku II MS-09R Rick Dom MS-07B Gouf MAN-03 Braw Bro MAN-08 Elmeth MS-14S Gelgoog Commander Type MA-05 Bigro MA-04X Zakrello MS-07H8 Gouf Flight Type

In the Universal Century Gundam universe, the Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is a carrier utilized by the Principality of Zeon. These ships are functionally equivalent to the Earth Federal Space Force's Pegasus class assault carriers, and fill a similar role in the battlefield.

Technology and Combat CharacteristicsEdit

The Zanzibar class is designed for mobile suit transportation, and as such the ship relies on its mobile suits for most of its offensive and defensive power. This is also the only Zeon ship that can undergo atmospheric re-entry and return to space. Unlike the Federation's Pegasus-class ships, the Zanzibar class does not have an integrated Minovsky Craft system, so it must depend on sustained thrust to operate. These ships have appeared several times, usually in support of major operations. Some were even used as flagships by high ranking Zeon members (like Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi) when a battleship was unavaible or ill-suited for the role. Perhaps the most creative use of a Zanzibar class ship was in MS Gundam: The 08th MS Team, when Ginias Sahalin used one as a power plant for his Southeast Asia base. Also some of the Zanzibar's had been modified to replace the hangar space of four of their mobile suits by a mobile armor. It was more balanced in terms of weapons, since it was equipped with machine gun turrets for point defense. But Zeon space commanders were not as eager to use the class since the Zeon space navy had been built around mobile suit transportation and combat; additionally, the Zanzibar's were more expensive so the Zanzibar-class ships took a back seat to the Musai.

One detail that is easily overlooked are the Zanzibar's two Giant Missile Tubes which are probably used for Anti-Ship work. They are removed in the Zanzibar II refit to allow for more Armor Plating and additional mountings of two-barrel beam turrets.

In the strategy game series Gihren's Greed, the Zanzibar is one of the most expensive vessels the Zeon forces can build, but on the other hand it is arguably the most useful as well. As it can enter the Earth's atmosphere independently, it can be used to spearhead land-drop operations and function as a supplier for the mobile suit forces (as opposed to relying solely on HLVs which, in addition to being defenseless, do not resupply units).

In the manga Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Deleted Affair: Portrait Of Young Comet, the Ingolstadt, which is named after a city in the Free State of Bavaria, is a Zanzibar-class cruiser refitted with additional booster propellant tanks.

ArmamentsEdit

• 2-Barrel Main Gun Turret

The Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is equipped with one 2-barrel main gun turret.

• Mega Particle Cannon

The Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is equipped with four mega particle cannons.

• Large Missile Launcher

The Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is equipped with two large missile launchers for anti-ship combat.

• 2-Barrel Machine Gun

The Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser is equipped with five 2-barrel machine gun turrets.

HistoryEdit

The Zanzibar-class ship is a Zeon battleship that was introduced during the One Year War as a multi-environment mobile suit carrier. Despite being produced in limited numbers the Zanzibar-class performed in several important operations. Notably the Zanzibar was placed under command of Char Aznable during his pursuit of the Earth Federation ship White Base. Another important use for the Zanzibar-class was to act as escape craft for Zeon forces on Earth after Operation Odessa.

Near the end of the One Year War, Zeon launched its United Maintenance Plan in an attempt to increase the performance of existing machines while streamlining construction to make construction and maintenance cheaper and easier. The Zanzibar-class was one of the ships classes put through the Plan, leading to the development of the Zanzibar II-class mobile cruiser.

DescendantsEdit

CCM-91 Chimaira

Zanzibar II class

Zanzibar-Class Task Force Battle Cruiser (Keraunos)

Zanzibar-Class Interplanetary Type (Ingolstadt)

GalleryEdit

Zanzibar-Class Task Force Battle Cruiser (Keraunos)

Ingolstadt

Zanzibar class (Zanzibar)

Zanzibar class (Keraunos)

Mobile Cruiser Kerguelen

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

External linksEdit

• Gundam Naval Museum
• The World-Wide Gundam Informational Network
• Mecha Anime Headquarters (MAHQ)
• Library of Londonion (ship names & fates)