California Base – MechaBay | Mobile Suit Gundam

California Base was a massive Earth Federation Forces naval installation composed of 20 large bases on the Californian coast. Made up of more than a dozen different naval, aerospace, and weapons development facilities, California Base served as the Federation’s largest naval yards during the Universal Century.

The installation was captured by the Principality of Zeon on 13 March UC 0079 during their second Earth drop operation and became their major terrestrial base for North American operations. After Zeon captured it during the One Year War, the facility was retooled to produce Zeon submarines and served as a crucial staging point for their Earth-based operations.

History

California Base was established by the Earth Federation as their largest naval installation on the West Coast of North America. The complex comprised 20 separate large bases spread along the California coast, making it one of the most significant military installations in the Federation’s arsenal. These facilities included extensive naval yards, aerospace development centres, and weapons research laboratories.

Zeon capture

During the Principality of Zeon’s Earth invasion, California Base was captured on 13 March UC 0079 as part of their second Earth drop operation. The Midnight Fenrir Corps, an elite special forces unit under the command of Lieutenant Commander Garret Schmitzer, played a crucial role in the capture operation. The special forces unit demonstrated the effectiveness of small mobile suit groups carrying out surgical strikes on enemy targets, easily overwhelming the Federation defenders.

The loss of California Base was a significant blow to the Earth Federation Forces, as they were unable to destroy the dozens of submarines housed at the facility before Zeon forces secured them. This allowed Zeon to rapidly establish their own submarine fleet, giving them crucial naval capabilities for their Earth operations.

Zeon operations

After its capture, California Base became the Principality of Zeon’s major terrestrial headquarters for North American operations. The facility was retooled to support Zeon’s military needs, particularly for submarine production and maintenance. The base’s strategic location and extensive infrastructure made it an ideal staging point for Zeon operations throughout the western United States.

The captured naval yards were converted to produce Zeon submarines, whilst the existing aerospace facilities were adapted to support Zeon mobile suit operations. The base served as a regional command centre, coordinating Zeon activities across North America and providing logistical support for their occupation forces.

Failed assault on Jaburo

Following Operation Odessa, the turning point of the war on Earth, the remaining Zeon forces expended much of California Base’s fighting strength in a failed assault on Jaburo. This ill-fated attack significantly weakened the base’s defensive capabilities and left it vulnerable to Federation counterattack.

The assault on the Federation’s primary headquarters was coordinated with other Zeon forces, but proved unsuccessful. The defeat at Jaburo marked the beginning of Zeon’s decline on Earth and set the stage for the Federation’s subsequent counteroffensives.

Federation recapture

California Base was recaptured by the Federation on 15 December UC 0079, marking one of the final major engagements of the war on Earth. Unlike Operation Odessa, there was no formal “Operation California” analogous to the Federation’s European counteroffensive. Instead, the recapture was more of a fighting retreat on Zeon’s part rather than a coordinated offensive campaign by the Federation.

The final battle for California Base involved several significant engagements. Lieutenant Agar, piloting the RX-78-6 Mudrock Gundam, attempted to prevent the Midnight Fenrir Corps from using a Heavy Launch Vehicle (HLV) to escape Earth. This battle left both the Mudrock Gundam severely damaged and the Midnight Fenrir stranded, unable to affect the remainder of the war outside of guerrilla actions.

The recapture also saw the conclusion of the experimental EXAM mobile suit programme, with the destruction of both the RX-79BD-1 Blue Destiny Unit 1 and the MS-08TX(EXAM) Efreet Custom, revealing the truth about the EXAM system.

Design and facilities

California Base was not a single installation but rather a collection of bases of varying sizes and capabilities. This distributed nature was what made it such a powerful stronghold for both Federation and later Zeon operations. The 20 large bases that comprised the complex were interconnected but served different specialised functions.

Naval facilities

The primary component of California Base was its extensive naval yards, which were the largest of their kind in the Federation. These facilities included:

Submarine construction and maintenance docks
Surface vessel repair facilities
Naval weapons testing ranges
Ammunition storage and loading facilities

The naval yards were equipped to handle both conventional warships and the Federation’s newer space-capable vessels. The extensive submarine facilities proved particularly valuable to Zeon forces after capture.

Aerospace facilities

California Base housed more than a dozen different aerospace development and production facilities. These installations were responsible for developing and testing new aircraft and spacecraft designs for the Federation military. The aerospace facilities included:

Aircraft assembly plants
Spacecraft construction yards
Engine testing facilities
Avionics development laboratories

Weapons development

The complex included numerous weapons development facilities that conducted research into new military technologies. These installations worked on projects ranging from conventional weapons to advanced mobile suit armaments.

During the Zeon occupation, these facilities were adapted to support mobile suit operations and the production of Zeon-specific weaponry and equipment.

Strategic importance

California Base’s strategic importance stemmed from several factors that made it crucial to both the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. Its location on the California coast provided access to the Pacific Ocean, whilst its size and infrastructure made it capable of supporting large-scale military operations.

The base served as the Federation’s primary naval centre on the West Coast, giving them significant power projection capabilities across the Pacific. Its capture by Zeon forces provided them with a major staging point for operations throughout North America and access to crucial naval assets.

After the war shifted in the Federation’s favour following Operation Odessa, California Base became increasingly important to Zeon as one of their few remaining major installations on Earth. The base’s HLV facilities made it crucial for evacuating Zeon forces from Earth as the war moved into space.

Legacy

The battles for California Base demonstrated the changing nature of warfare during the One Year War. The initial capture showcased the effectiveness of mobile suit special operations, whilst the final battle highlighted the advanced mobile suit technology that had been developed by both sides.

The complex’s fate illustrated the broader trajectory of the war, from Zeon’s early successes through their eventual defeat. The base’s recapture marked one of the final Federation victories on Earth and helped ensure Zeon’s complete withdrawal from the planet.

California Base’s significance extended beyond its immediate military value. Its capture and subsequent use by Zeon forces demonstrated the importance of industrial capacity in modern warfare and the vulnerability of even the most secure military installations to determined attack.

Behind the scenes

California Base appears in multiple Mobile Suit Gundam media, including Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front, Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny, and Mobile Suit Gundam - Zeon MS Boys: The War of Independence. Each portrayal shows different aspects of the “Assault on California Base”, though the characters from each story do not meet due to the base’s distributed nature across multiple separate installations.

The base’s design as a collection of facilities rather than a single installation explains how multiple different conflicts could occur at “California Base” simultaneously without the various forces encountering each other.

Appearances

Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front
Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Blue Destiny
Mobile Suit Gundam - Zeon MS Boys: The War of Independence

External links

California Base on the Gundam Wiki