n0rmAl m0dE


EqUIppEd wIth spAcE b00stEr

While the Earth Alliance plays a game of catch up with ZAFT on mobile suit development, it also designs a new type of battleship to complement their mobile suits. Developed in conjunction with Orb's Morgenroete company, the design of the Archangel class is based on that of Orb's Izumo class. In addition to carrying mobile suits, the Archangel features many new technologies not seen in other Alliance vessels. The Archangel is capable of atmospheric entry, thanks to an ablative gel that can be spread across the hull. The Archangel also features laminated armor, making it very difficult to seriously damage in battle. In terms of weaponry, the Archangel is a mobile fortress. Its main weapon is the dual "Lohengrin" positron blaster cannon housed in the 'legs' at the forward end of the ship. The Archangel's armament includes an array of other weapons, such as "Gottfried" beam cannons, "Valient" linear cannons, "Igelstellung" vulcan guns as well as missile launchers.

The first of its line, the Archangel enters combat when Heliopolis is attacked by ZAFT on January 25, C.E. 71. As a result of ZAFT's surprise attack, the captain and most of the crew are killed, leaving only a few junior officers. Following the initial battle, Murrue Ramius takes command of the ship as the most senior surviving officer. With a crew made up of Alliance soldiers and Heliopolis volunteers, the Archangel departs the destroyed colony and heads for more friendly territory. After a disastrous orbital battle, the Archangel descends to Earth and unfortunately lands in ZAFT-controlled North Africa. After a long trek, the ship finally arrives at Alliance headquarters JOSH-A in Alaska.

Unfortunately, the Alaska base is the target of ZAFT's Operation Spitbreak. With the crew separated, the damaged Archangel is forced into battle against overwhelming numbers. When Murrue learns that the Alliance plans to use her ship and others as a decoy to deploy their deadly Cyclops System, she violates orders by retreating from the battlefield. The Archangel then heads to Orb for repairs and joins its forces to fight an invasion by the Alliance. After the fall of Orb, the Archangel heads to space and joins with the Orb battleship Kusanagi and the ZAFT ship Eternal to form the Three Ships Alliance, a faction independent of ZAFT and the Alliance that is dedicated to ending the war. In space, Archangel is pursued by the second Archangel class ship Dominion, captained by former Archangel second officer Natarle Badigiruel. In the last battle of the war on September 27 C.E. 71, the Archangel destroys the Dominion. After the war, the Archangel is hidden by Orb for two years and re-enters service as an independent vessel in late C.E. 73. On several occassions throughout the Second Earth/ZAFT war, the Archangel intervenes in battles between the Alliance, ZAFT and Orb. In C.E. 74, the Archangel is formally adopted as a ship of the Orb Union's space fleet. At the end of the war, the Archangel engages in a ship-to-ship duel with the ZAFT battleship Minerva and inflicts heavy damage upon it.