Appearances*
Television
OVA
- IGLOO 2: TGF: First Seen in Episode #3
Technology & Combat Characteristics
The Dobday was a class of large land battleships[2] that served as mobile command post and artillery platforms. Two versions were known to exist:
The first version featured propulsion by two sets of massive caterpillar treads.[3] It was armed with two twin heavy cannon turrets, as well as a pair of twin machine gun turrets below the bridge. When firing its main cannons, the chassis would be stabilized by four dampers located on each corner of the hull to keep the Dobday from toppling over.[2] Located on its back was a large external deck which functioned as a heliport and could be used as the landing platform for Commu reconnaissance plane, while the hangar housed at least one missile launcher capable of launching thermonuclear weapons.[4][5]
The second version featured propulsion by six triple-row caterpillar treads.[6] The bridge featured a set of three large antenna masts at its rear for enhancing communication, with the center mast could be rotated upwards when the heliport was in use.[7] Besides the twin heavy cannon turrets, it had a total of 6 twin machine gun turrets below the bridge, with three on each side. Instead of dampers, the chassis would be stabilized by four outriggers when firing its main cannons, and its deck was capable of carrying two standing mobile suits.[6]
Both versions of Dobday were mega-sized self-propelled weapons, with their emphases on ballistic weapons rather than beam weapons.[1] Another distinctive features was the protruding forward bridge located at a high position, taking into account of anticipated visual combats in the presence of Minovsky particles.[8] Compared to EFF's Big Tray-class and Heavy Fork-class land battleships, the Dobday was inferior in terms of speed and mobility due to using caterpillar treads instead of thermonuclear jet engine-propelled hovercraft. This was likely due to Zeon Armed Forces' commitment to shorten its development time by selecting a tried-and-true locomotion method.[8]
According to one account, the Dobday was based on the chassis of a command post that was being developed and manufactured by the Russian Weapons Development Bureau.[1] It was said that the Zeon Army was trying to lessen the burden on the production lines in Zeon homeland by utilizing available enemy weapon designs from occupied territories in Eurasia, and the production of Dobday's large cannons could only be possible with the cooperation with Russian technicians.[1]
Armaments
- Twin Large Cannons
- The primary weapons of the Dobday were a pair of twin barreled cannons mounted on the sides of the ship. Since the caliber of the cannons were too large for the Dobday's chassis, it had to be stabilized with dampers (or outriggers depending on variants) when firing to prevent the chassis from overturning. This was one of the reasons for the ship’s immense weight and low mobility. The twin cannons could turn 180 degrees on their mounts and elevate their guns upwards, though they couldn’t point down.[6]
- Twin Machine Guns
- These weapons were used for anti-air and anti-ground defense[9]. Depending on the variants, the Dobday was equipped with either two or six of these weapons. Used in close ranged defensive purposes, these guns could fire standard high caliber rounds against incoming mobile suits or vehicles, or explosive flak rounds against enemy aircraft. Either variant of the Dobday has these guns mounted on the neck of the battleship, protecting the bridge.[2][6]
- Vertical Launching System (VLS)[1]
- Concealed in the hangar at the back, the Dobday-class was equipped with an VLS with with at least one missile launcher, capable of launching a nuclear missile (hydrogen bomb).[4]
History
During the One Year War, units of Dobday-class were assigned to the European Front.[3] One such vessel served as the flagship of Col. M'Quve during Operation Odessa, from which he launched a nuclear missile at the advancing Federal Forces but was thwarted by the combined effort of RX-78-2 Gundam and G-Sky fighter.[5]
Numerous Dobdays also saw action during Operation Odessa.[5][10] During the Battle of Hill 144 on November 8-9, U.C. 0079, two Dobdays appeared and dealt significant casualties to the EFF's 44th Independent Composite Brigade using their large cannons. However, both ships were eventually destroyed by the sacrifices of two RTX-440 Ground Assault Type Guntanks.[9]
During the EFF attack on California Base in December U.C. 0079, a North American Zeon missile base attempted to fire its nuclear payload at California Base to prevent its recapture. A Dobday-class served as one of the missile control centers, but was destroyed by the RX-79BD-1 Blue Destiny Unit 1 along with the other control centers, preventing the missiles from launching.[11]
Gallery
Lineart
Anime
Mobile Suit Gundam
.png "Dobday-Class Front 01 (MSG Ep25).png (3.7 MB)")
_01_(MSG_Ep25).png "Nuclear Missiles (UC) 01 (MSG Ep25).png (3.69 MB)")
Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front
.jpg "Dabude (MS IGLOO).jpg (83 KB)")
Manga
Illustrations & Artwork
Games
Gihren's Greed: Menace of Axis V
Notes & Trivia
Appearances
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 (June 2000) 機動戦士ガンダム MSV コレクションファイル [地球編] (in Japanese). 講談社, 124. ISBN 9784063465518.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 (1991-07-01) 機動戦士ガンダム メカニック大図鑑 [Mobile Suit Gundam Mechanic Encyclopedia] ENTERTAINMENT BIBLE.37 (in Japanese). Bandai, p. 112. ISBN 9784891891688.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mobile Suit Gundam - Complete Record 3 (1980), p.176
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 (July 2010) 機動戦士ガンダム 艦船&航空機大全集 (in Japanese). アスキー・メディアワークス, 99. ISBN 9784048686815.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mobile Suit Gundam Episode 25, The Battle of Odessa
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 (December 2009) 機動戦士ガンダム MS IGLOO Mission Complete (in Japanese). 竹書房, 108. ISBN 9784812440933.
- ↑ (December 2009) 機動戦士ガンダム MS IGLOO グラフィックファイル (in Japanese). アスキー・メディアワークス, 188. ISBN 9784048681773.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 (December 2009) 機動戦士ガンダム MS IGLOO グラフィックファイル (in Japanese). アスキー・メディアワークス, 189. ISBN 9784048681773.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: The Gravity Front Episode 3,
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow
- ↑ Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny
| MS IGLOO 2 Mechanics | |
|---|---|
| edit | |
| Earth Federation | |
| Mobile Weapon | |
| Mobile Suit RGM-79［G］ GM Ground Type | RTX-440 Ground Assault Type Guntank | |
|
| |
| Support Weapon M-101A3 Regina | |
| Land Vehicle 4 1/2t 6x6 Cargo Truck | M353A4 Bloodhound | M72 Lakota | M61A5 MBT | |
| Land Battleship Big Tray-class | Heavy Fork-class | |
| Aircraft / Spacecraft Dragonfly | FF-X7 Core Fighter | |
| Cruiser Salamis-class | |
| Principality of Zeon | |
| Mobile Weapon | |
| Mobile Suit MS-05B Zaku I | MS-06J Zaku II Ground Type | MS-07B-3 Gouf Custom | MS-09B Dom | |
|
| |
| Land Vehicle B.M.C. Z78/2 | Magella Attack | Magella Eins | PVN.3/2 Sauropelta | PVN.44/1 Weasel | Russel 1/12 Zebu | |
| Land Battleship Dobday-class | |
| Aircraft Dopp | PVN.4/3 Wappa | |
| Transporter / Supply Ship H.L.V. | Komusai | Papua-class | |
| Cruiser / Mother Ship Gaw | Musai-class | |