Lesseps class

For the occupation of Earth, ZAFT developed two classes of land battleships: the Lesseps class and the Petrie class. The Lesseps employed a scale propulsion system that liquefied sand and allowed it to sail across the desert. This scale system also allowed the Lesseps to travel across the open sea. The Lesseps‘ heavy armament included three 40cm dual cannons, as well as 32 missile launchers and 10 torpedo launchers. The internal storage hangar also provided space for several mobile suits.

The original Lesseps served as the flagship of Andrew Waltfeld’s North African occupation forces in C.E. 71. When not in the battlefield, the Lesseps was stationed at Andy’s center of operations, the occupied city of Banadiya. After several encounters with the Earth Alliance battleship Archangel and Desert Dawn guerillas, Andy ordered his second officer Martin DaCosta to abandon the heavily damaged Lesseps. Afterward, the Lesseps was salvaged and repaired by the Junk Guild. The Junk Guild replaced the dual cannons with three manipulator arms to handle cargo and other salvaged items. The refit Lesseps was used by Lowe Guele and the crew of the former H.O.M.E. to travel across the Earth. During the Second Bloody Valentine War in late C.E. 73, the battleship Desmond assisted the Minerva in attacking the Alliance’s Middle Eastern base in the Gulnahan ravine.