Zanzibar class

Class: Zanzibar
Ships of the line: Kerguelen, CCM-80 Zanzibar, Ragnarok, Madagascar, Sangre Azul, CCM-91 Chimaira, Keraunos, Ingolstadt
Unit type: mobile cruiser
Manufacturer: Principality of Zeon
Operator: Principality of Zeon
Rollout: UC 0079
First deployment: UC 0079
Dimensions: overall length 255.0 meters; overall width 221.8 meters; overall height 70.5 meters
Weight: unknown
Propulsion: 4 x jet/rocket engine, total output unknown
Equipment and design features: sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments: 2-barrel main gun, mounted on main body; 4 x mega particle gun, mounted on main body; 5 x 2-barrel machine gun, mounted on main body
Mobile suits: 6

The Principality of Zeon’s closest answer to the Earth Federation Forces’ Pegasus class carrier, the Zanzibar class mobile cruiser replaced the  vulnerable HLV for the purpose of ferrying mobile suits to Earth and back to space. With a capacity of six mobile suits and a battery of bow-mounted mega particle guns, the Zanzibar was often used as the command ship for smaller fleets when a Gwazine class battleship was either unavailable or unsuitable. The Zanzibar class, like most Zeon warships of the One Year War, lacked launch catapults, instead deploying its complement of mobile suits through a simple hatch on the ventral hull. Lacking the Pegasus class’ integral Minovsky craft system, the Zanzibar could only operate for short periods in Earth’s atmosphere using sustained thrust. When being launched back into space, the Zanzibar class required a special rocket booster to supply the necessary thrust to break free of Earth’s gravity. Several Zanzibar class vessels carried the bulk of the remaining Zeon forces at Odessa into space, including a large shipment of resources mined in the mineral-rich region. Multiple ships survived the One Year War, including one from the refit Zanzibar II class that was used by the Cima Fleet during Operation Stardust in UC 0083.

Captain(s): Ramba Ral, M’Quve, Char Aznable
First appearance: Mobile Suit Gundam
Original mechanical designer(s): Yoshiyuki Tomino (principal design, Mobile Suit Gundam version), Kunio Okawara (cleanup, Mobile Suit Gundam version), Yasuo Ohtagaki (Gundam Thunderbolt manga version)

Rear view (Version 1)