Daedalus

"Sister ship of the Prometheus&mdash;I didn't even know it was finished."

- Rodney McKay

The Daedalus is the first BC-304 produced by the Tau'ri and the second generation of interstellar capital ship developed by the United States military. Assigned to the Fast Attack Wing, her standard mission has been to ferry equipment and personnel between Earth and Atlantis, assisting the Atlantis expedition as needed. It is currently under the command of Colonel Steven Caldwell.

The Daedalus is armed with 32 Railguns, Mark VIII and IX tactical warheads, and a bay of F-302 fighter-interceptors. It also possesses Asgard shields and beaming technology. Unlike its predecessor, the Prometheus, Asgard defensive equipment was installed during the ship's production rather than added after the fact. Following the extinction of the Asgard race, the Daedalus (as well as all other BC-304s) was retrofitted with Asgard plasma beam weapons. Propulsion consists of standard thrusters as well as an Asgard hyperdrive, capable of traveling between Earth and Atlantis in 18 days without the use of a Zero Point Module. Originally, to ensure that their technologies were not abused, an Asgard engineering expert was provided to monitor the ship's systems for the first two years of its operation. Following the Daedalus being put into service, it began acting as the main Tau'ri ship servicing Atlantis though the Apollo occasionally took up this duty and the Odyssey once did on a special occasion.

Commanding Officers

 * Colonel Steven Caldwell (2005- present)
 * Major Laval (temporary)
 * Colonel Sobel (alternate reality)

Known Crew

 * Lt. Colonel Patrick Bishop - Navigator (Allies)
 * Lt. Colonel Melissa Hocken (302 Pilot, transferred to the George Hammond temporarily)
 * Major Evan Lorne - F-302 pilot (First Strike)
 * Major Kevin Marks - Pilot and Weapons Officer
 * Captain/Major Pat Meyers - Navigator (The Siege, Part 3)
 * Captain Megan Cooper - Navigator (Aurora)
 * Captain Dave Kleinman - Weapons Officer
 * Captain Hugh Griffin (Grace Under Pressure)
 * Captain Frank Levine (Adrift)
 * Lt. Mark Stuart - Communications Officer
 * Hutchinson - Daedalus security (The Long Goodbye)
 * Anders - F-302 fighter-interceptor Pilot (No Man's Land)
 * Dr. Peter Kavanagh (Enemy at the Gate)
 * Dr. Monroe - Engineering (The Intruder)
 * Dr. Lindsey Novak - Engineer
 * Hermiod - Asgard Advisor
 * Marine

The Siege of Atlantis
After getting Atlantis' message about the coming Wraith attack, Stargate Command enacted a plan to defend Atlantis by sending a team of Marines led by Colonel Dillon Everett to Atlantis and then beaming a recently-found ZPM to the Daedalus. With the ZPM powering the Daedalus Asgard hyperdrive, the Daedalus could reach Atlantis within four days to aid in the battle. The Daedalus eventually arrives as Major John Sheppard is making a suicide run on one of the hive ships and beams him aboard after learning of his plight and getting him to decloak his Puddle Jumper. The Daedalus is then detected by Atlantis and informs the city of their presence, sending down the ZPM so that the Atlantis shield can be powered up. After sending down the ZPM, the Daedalus engages the remaining hive ship, escorting Wraith cruisers and defending Wraith Darts. At Sheppard's suggestion, the crew fires Mark VIII tactical nuclear warheads at the hive ship, but they are intercepted by Wraith Darts. Instead, on Sheppard's suggestion, Dr. Lindsey Novak gets Asgard engineer Hermiod to beam a nuclear weapon directly onto the hive ship, destroying it. The remaining cruisers retreat into hyperspace before the Daedalus can destroy them, but the surviving Darts make a suicide run on Atlantis with the Daedalus unable to intercept. Luckily, Atlantis is able to raise its shield in time to protect against the attack.

Following the destruction of the Wraith fleet, the Daedalus remains in orbit until twelve more hive ships are detected approaching. At the suggestion of Sheppard, the Daedalus travels 50 light years away to launch a first strike on the incoming Wraith fleet when they emerge from hyperspace. Through beaming nuclear warheads, the Daedalus destroys two more hive ships before the Wraith jam the transport. The Daedalus engages the fleet directly, but after taking damage and having two cruisers move in to send boarding parties, flees into hyperspace. Reaching Atlantis shortly before the Wraith fleet, the Daedalus lands for repairs and the protection of the Atlantis shield. After a plan is created to fool the Wraith into thinking that Atlantis has been destroyed, all non-essential personnel, particularly the injured are sent aboard the Daedalus which beams a nuclear warhead above the Atlantis shield on command. The detonation fakes a self-destruct after which Atlantis cloaks. After a tense wait, the Daedalus sensors inform everyone that the Wraith fleet is breaking orbit and the trick worked.

Two months later, the Daedalus ferries the Atlantis senior staff and new personnel to Atlantis. At the edge of the Pegasus galaxy, only a few days away from Atlantis, Doctors Monroe and Lindstrom are killed investigating a series of technical malfunctions and its discovered that the Daedalus was infected with a Wraith computer virus during the Daedalus engagement with them. After discovery, the virus broadcasts a distress signal to draw in the Wraith, forcing Sheppard to destroy the Daedalus long-range transmitter and consequently, Asgard sensor array. A full system shutdown and reboot from backups is performed, but the virus survives by uploading itself to the Daedalus F-302s and sends the ship on a course for the coronasphere of a nearby star in order to kill the crew and take full control of the ship. After Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay remove the navigation computers from all of the F-302s in the Daedalus fighter bay, a second shutdown is attempted and also fails. Finally, after Sheppard and McKay destroy a rogue F-302 controlled by the virus, a third system shutdown successfully eradicates it and the crew regains control of the Daedalus. The Daedalus then finishes ferrying the Atlantis expedition members back to the city.

Duties in Pegasus
While returning to Earth from a routine resupply mission, Colonel Caldwell decided to divert the Daedalus to drop by and check on Sheppard and McKay's efforts to harness the ultimate power source. After the power source started to overload, Sheppard and McKay fled in a Puddle Jumper to escape through the Stargate before the explosion wiped out 5/6 of the solar system. However, the power source's weapon made a run on the Stargate very dangerous as Sheppard had to fly zigzag to avoid the weapon's blasts. As Sheppard tried to figure out a safe way through the Stargate, the Daedalus positioned itself between the blasts and his ship and Colonel Caldwell told Sheppard to get through the Stargate as the Daedalus ran interference for him. Thanks to the Daedalus, which suffered several hits from the weapon but no visible damage, Sheppard and McKay were able to make it through the Stargate to safety. Moments later, the Daedalus jumped to hyperspace just before the explosion.

After Sheppard's team and Doctors Radek Zelenka and Miko Kusanagi disappear, the Daedalus is sent to search for them with Major Lorne and Doctor Beckett. Despite the crew's best efforts, they are unable to locate any sign of the team before the Quantum Mirror activates and spits out destroyed Wraith Darts and pieces of a destroyed scout ship. Novak then detects what Hermiod confirms is a Puddle Jumper just before the Mirror's singularity starts to detach and close which will destroy the Mirror. The Daedalus is unable to reach the Jumper which they speculate is on automatic pilot so at the urging of Hermiod, Caldwell has the Daedalus fly in closer and pull the Puddle Jumper into the 302 bay via tractor beam. As a hive ship arrives, the Daedalus escapes into hyperspace before the hive ship can scan it. The Daedalus then carries the injured team back to Atlantis.

When Atlantis picked up a signal from the Ancient warship Aurora, the Daedalus is sent to carry Sheppard's team to the Aurora as its nowhere near any Stargates. Upon arrival, the Daedalus destroys a Wraith scout ship and stays in close proximity while Sheppard's team investigates the derelict ship. The Daedalus eventually detects two Wraith cruisers approaching but is prevented from destroying the Aurora by Sheppard's continuing presence on board. When Sheppard and McKay beam back, they have the Daedalus pull back to a safe distance as Sheppard has activated the Aurora's self-destruct. As the Daedalus monitors, the explosion destroys the Aurora and the Wraith cruisers. Before returning to Atlantis, the Daedalus crew is able to determine that the Wraith were not able to gain access to any of the information on the Aurora before it was destroyed.

After the disappearance of Sheppard's team, the Daedalus crew pushed their engines to get to Atlantis a bit earlier than they normally would've arrived to lend a hand. By the time the Daedalus arrived, McKay had returned, though nearly incoherent from a massive dose of Wraith enzyme he had taken to escape. After recovering, McKay directed the Daedalus to Edowin where the hive ship Sheppard and the others are on is going to cull. Upon arrival, the Daedalus discovers two hive ships and is unable to make contact with Sheppard. Unwilling to risk information about Atlantis falling into the wrong hands, Caldwell has the Daedalus engage the hive ships in battle. The Daedalus once more proves to be outmatched, but Sheppard is able to get the Wraith to fire upon each other. After the Wraith destroy themselves, the crew finds no sign of survivors and search with no luck for Sheppard.

Some weeks later, the ship was returning to Earth from another resupply mission when it was used to relay a warning to Atlantis that a Trust operative had planted a bomb in the city. Dr. Elizabeth Weir ordered the Daedalus to return to Atlantis to assist in locating the Agent, and assisted in an evacuation of the city before the operative was revealed to be Caldwell -- actually a Goa'uld. After Atlantis was saved, Hermiod used the Daedalus Asgard transporter to remove the Goa'uld from Caldwell.

During one of the Daedalus trips to Atlantis, the ship was near Jovian planet's atmosphere testing new hydrogen ram scoop technology when it was diverted to the planet Halcyon where Sheppard and his team were attempting to destroy a Wraith hive ship. When the Daedalus arrived, McKay realized the shape on the hive ship's sensors was wrong to be another Wraith ship and realized it to be the Daedalus. However, the Daedalus came in primed for battle and the Wraith Scar activated a self-destruct program in the hopes of destroying the Daedalus as well as his ship. As the self-destruct began, McKay tried to reach the Daedalus and warn them off to no avail. The arrival of the Daedalus sparked fear in the locals who believed it to be another Wraith ship before Caldwell contacted Doctor Beckett to let him know it was them and they had survived the explosion. The Daedalus had been able to beam out Sheppard's team and the Halcyonites before the explosion, but the explosion was powerful enough to flip the Daedalus over, blow out the shields in a single surge of power, cause numerous hull breaches and injuries, damage many systems and almost destroy the ship. Colonel Caldwell commented that they needed to thank General Hank Landry for insisting on shield upgrades which had saved the ship. Afterwards, the Daedalus off-loaded supplies meant for Atlantis to help the people of Halcyon and some of the ship's engineers began helping the locals with plans for new irrigation systems, water supplies and similar things to aid in improving the Halcyonites' standard of living.

Following the destruction of the Prometheus, the Daedalus was briefly used in the Milky Way as well. The vessel was sent to Tegalus after contact was lost with the people of that world; there they found evidence that the two rival nations on that world had all but destroyed each other.

On one visit to Atlantis, Hermiod eventually felt the need to affect repairs to the ship's hyperdrive that involved traveling in a wide orbit around the solar system.

When the planet Taranis came under threat from a supervolcano, the Daedalus was dispatched once the Stargate was destroyed to help evacuate the residents. However, the size of the population meant the Daedalus would have to make four trips with the ship unlikely to have enough time for all of them. Upon the ship's return from Atlantis on its second trip, the crew could only detect a small group of lifesigns and beamed them aboard, saving the lives of Teyla, Ronon and a group of villagers who were in danger of suffocating in the toxic atmosphere. However, as the Ancient base was shielded, the Daedalus couldn't detect the rest of Sheppard's team or rescue them. The Daedalus remained in orbit and monitored the eruption of the supervolcano. To the crew's relief, the Ancient ship Orion emerged from hyperspace moments later with the rest of the team and villagers aboard. The Daedalus then helped to ferry the people back to Atlantis.

Alliance with the Wraith
Three weeks later, the Daedalus held position just out Atlantis' sensor range in anticipation of the arrival of a Wraith Hive ship, which carried a proposal for an alliance against other factions of rival Wraith. During the ensuing efforts to weaponize Dr. Carson Beckett's retrovirus for use against a Wraith Hive ship, the Daedalus observed one attempt by the Wraith to infiltrate another ship. When the other Hive opened fire, Daedalus came to the friendly Hive's aid as the attempt failed. During the next attempt, in which the Daedalus was to hide in close proximity to the friendly Hive so as to deliver the retrovirus using its Asgard transporters, the Wraith had provided them a means to break through their countermeasures. This proved to be a trap resulting in the Daedalus' ambush by two Hives with the transporters still ineffectual. After an intense battle, the two Hives simply jumped away, leaving the Daedalus behind.

Colonel Steven Caldwell then took his ship back to Atlantis for emergency repairs, where Dr. Elizabeth Weir ordered him to pursue and destroy the Wraith ships at any cost. Aided by the Orion, which destroyed one Hive ship before being destroyed itself, the Daedalus managed to severely cripple the second, but was disabled before it could be destroyed thus resulting in a stalemate. As life support had failed, but Asgard transporters were still operational, a plan was devised to deliver the retrovirus onto the Hive, thus resulting in breathable air and the Hive ship's capture. Using the hive ship's hyperdrive, the Daedalus returned to Atlantis where it could be repaired. Later, the repaired Daedalus went to check on Sheppard's team at M8G-352 and found the captured hive ship destroyed. However, to the crew's relief, they located the team floating in a cloaked Puddle Jumper amongst the wreckage and carried them back to Atlantis.

Further duties
Again operational, the ship ferried Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team to Sateda, where a Wraith had taken Ronon Dex and was in the process of hunting him; as Colonel Steven Caldwell was unwilling to engage the Wraith directly, the Daedalus departed immediately after releasing Sheppard's team in a Puddle Jumper. After rescuing Ronon, the team returned to the Daedalus in their Puddle Jumper to return home.

On another trip, the ship ferried Dr. Rodney McKay and his sister, Jeannie Miller, to Atlantis as part of efforts to recreate McKay's ultimate power source. When McKay's alternate reality self "Rod" returned home, he had the Daedalus beam him into the matter bridge for the trip.

The vessel was also dispatched to recover Sheppard's team after the Dial Home Device on M1B-129 was destroyed by sabotage.

While observing the first test of the McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge, the Daedalus detected the Ancient warship Tria, and provided transport for the Ancients on board back to Atlantis. Some weeks later, after the Ancients had retaken control of the city and then lost it to the Asurans, the Daedalus was dispatched to destroy Atlantis with a nuclear weapon to protect Earth. Sheppard, McKay, Ronon, Teyla, Weir and Beckett had returned to the city to retake it and used the approach of the Daedalus to their advantage, modifying the city's shield so that it emitted a disruptor wave when the Replicators raised it against the approach of the Daedalus. With the city retaken, the team then contacted the Daedalus to have them call off their attack. Though reluctant, Colonel Caldwell eventually agreed to send a team of Marines to Atlantis to assess the situation before destroying the city and the attack was called off.

Following the return of the Atlantis expedition to the city, the Daedalus was present during an apparent onslaught by the Lantean whale-fish Flagisallus. Caldwell recommended simply shooting them all, but when it was discovered that the animals were simply reacting to an imminent Coronal mass ejection by the Lantean Star, the ship was equipped with Atlantis' Zero Point Module and sent to deflect the blast using its shield. In doing so, the Daedalus sustained considerable damage and came seconds away from destruction, but the mission was a success.

As part of the plan to destroy the Ori, the Daedalus was recruited to beam a Mark IX Gatebuster behind the Stargate in the Pegasus galaxy keeping the Supergate blocked. After the mission was approved, the Daedalus was dispatched to the black hole where the connecting Stargate was located to await the signal to beam the weapon. Finally, General Jack O'Neill signaled the Daedalus from the Odyssey through the Supergate connection to destroy the Pegasus Stargate. The Daedalus beams the Mark IX behind the Stargate and destroys it, allowing Doctor Daniel Jackson to send the hijacked Ori warship through the Supergate to the Alteran Home Galaxy with the Sangraal on board and destroy the Ori.

The Daedalus also assisted Sheppard's team in halting a war between two nations whom Sheppard and McKay had unwittingly been influencing through a piece of equipment on Atlantis that they had believed to be a game. In order to frighten the two sides out of confrontation, the Daedalus' weapons were used to simulate bomb explosions on the planet's surface.

Battle of Asuras
The Daedalus returned to Atlantis accompanied by the Apollo, the newest ship of the Tau'ri fleet. The two launched an attack against several Asuran Aurora-class battleships using their new Asgard plasma beam weapons, which causing them to retreat back to Asuras. The Daedalus, Apollo, seven Wraith Hive ships, five Traveler generational ships and a Traveler controlled Aurora-class battleship later launched an all out attack against Asuras in an attempt to destroy the Asurans for good. The fleet, led by the Daedalus and the Apollo, held off the Asuran fleet long enough for Dr. Rodney McKay to implement the plan and left when Asuras exploded destroying most the Asurans. During the battle, the Daedalus protects Todd's hive ship, flying between it and an Asuran ship and destroying the enemy ship before the hive ship can be destroyed.

Destruction of Midway
When the Midway space station was destroyed, the surviving crew boarded a Puddle Jumper to await rescue by the Daedalus on its return to Atlantis which would take a couple of weeks. On Earth, unable to reach Midway, Ronon Dex beamed to the Daedalus, still in orbit for a return trip to Atlantis during which time the Daedalus would check on Midway. Arriving at Midway, the Daedalus discovered the station destroyed and the Puddle Jumper floating in the wreckage. Unable to raise the Jumper as Sheppard was asleep with headphones on, the Daedalus pulled the Jumper into the 302 bay where the survivors were greeted by Ronon before the Daedalus ferried them back to Atlantis.

Skirmishes with Michael
After learning the possible location of Teyla Emmagan, the Daedalus was dispatched to investigate. It picked up Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Dr. Rodney McKay and Major Evan Lorne and his team at a nearby planet and headed to the location given to them. Upon their arrival, the two teams were beamed into the base while the Daedalus remained in orbit. Michael Kenmore showed up in his cruiser and engaged the Daedalus in battle. The Daedalus' shields held and the cruiser proved to be no match for the powerful warship. After learning from a guard that Teyla was probably on board the cruiser, Sheppard asked Caldwell not to destroy it. Realizing that the cruiser had sustained heavy damage, the Daedalus tried to disable it, firing at its engines as it ran. However, the cruiser escaped into hyperspace before any damage could be done.

Several weeks after this incident, the Daedalus was sent to retrieve the survivors of a building collapse that occurred while Sheppard's team was searching for Teyla, leaving them trapped under the rubble. The Daedalus arrived and exited hyperspace over the planet, and found itself in orbit along with Michael's cruiser. Michael realized that the Daedalus had arrived, and attempted to jump into hyperspace. However, Colonel Steven Caldwell ordered Major Kevin Marks to disable the cruiser's hyperdrive, stranding it in the star system. Just as Michael's Hybrids are were about to retrieve Sheppard and Ronon, they were beamed out by the Daedalus. As the Daedalus had to drop its shields to beam the survivors, Michael's ship was able to cause considerable damage to it, disabling sublight and hyperdrive engines as well as Asgard plasma beam weapons. As only the shields were going to hold for a short time, the Daedalus launched an F-302 fighter-interceptor strike against Michael's cruiser to which Wraith Darts were launched in response. This attack disabled the cruiser's main weapons as well as allowing a cloaked Puddle Jumper with Sheppard, Ronon and McKay to board. The strike team was able to disable the cruiser's hyperdrive and rescue Teyla (with the help of Kanaan). As soon as the team was confirmed safe, the repaired Daedalus destroyed Michael's cruiser.

Additional duties and Hijack
In the following weeks and months, the Daedalus continued it's ferrying and courier duties between Earth and Atlantis. On one occasion, it brought Richard Woolsey to his new assignment as the base commander.

The next confirmed trip to the Pegasus Galaxy was bringing Jeanie Miller, Dr. Rodney McKay's sister, to Atlantis when he was infected with the parasite causing Second Childhood.

When the team disappears on Admah and they can't connect with the Stargate again, Woolsey contacts the Daedalus to rescue them. However, the Daedalus crew determines they won't reach Admah in time to save the team. Instead, Woolsey diverts the Daedalus to M3T-842 where he sent Major Lorne's team after they received a message from McKay that Sheppard's team will make their way there. The Daedalus detects a hive ship landed on the planet and informs Woolsey they can't beam the team out as a result, but instead offers to lay down covering fire for a brief time. When Sheppard's team arrives, they find Lorne's team under attack by the Wraith. As the two teams attempt to retreat through the Stargate, McKay and Sheppard get cut-off before the Daedalus opens fire from orbit, driving the Wraith back and allowing them to escape through the Stargate. The Daedalus then flees the planet before the Wraith can send serious pursuit after it. Following the resolution of the crisis, the Daedalus later broadcasts the destruction of Admah to Atlantis.

Later, when Dr. Jennifer Keller developed a drug that enabled Wraith to be sustained on actual food, the Daedalus was sent to meet a Wraith delegation to discuss the matter. However, after believing he had been betrayed, Todd commandeered the ship and subdued the bridge crew, as well as initiated a ship-wide lockdown.

Todd took the Daedalus to communications range with Atlantis and forced Lt. Colonel John Sheppard to tell him where the Attero Device was. Once he had that information, he set course for M6H-987 where the device was. Meanwhile Ronon Dex and Keller managed to avoid capture and set out to disable the ship. The two made it to engineering and Ronon disabled the hyperdrive, weapons and shields by shooting the control crystals for them. Todd's crew managed to repair shields and hyperdrive, but couldn't get weapons back up. As a result, Todd had the ship programmed to search for the facility where the Attero Device was and to crash into it once the ship dropped out of hyperspace. They then held up in their Wraith scout ship and waited for the Daedalus to drop out of hyperspace, at which time they departed the ship. Meanwhile, Ronon rescued Keller and the rest of the Daedalus' crew and they try to regain control over the ship's systems as it descended through the atmosphere of M6H-987 on a collision course for Janus' research outpost. Sheppard, piloting a Traveler generational ship, flew it in front of the Daedalus and opened a hyperspace window large enough for the two ships, jumping them safely to the other side of the planet where the Traveler ship destroyed the remaining Vanir spaceship. Major Kevin Marks then finally managed to regain control over the ship's systems. The Daedalus then beamed up Dr. Daniel Jackson and Dr. Rodney McKay and, after the facility and Attero Device were destroyed, returned to Atlantis. It also later retrieved a new Stargate for Atlantis to replace the one destroyed by the Attero Device, taking one from the, currently inactive, McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge.

Super-hive
"Ready missiles. We're gonna throw everything we have at this guy."

- Steven Caldwell

In 2009, Todd contacted Atlantis and revealed that his underling mutinied and managed to use several Zero Point Modules to power a formidable new Super-hive. He urged Richard Woolsey to attack and destroy it before it became a threat to Atlantis. Onboard the Daedalus, Colonel Steven Caldwell, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and the rest of the team rushed to engage the new Hive ship. However, the ZPM powered vessel proved itself an impressive opponent, crippling the Daedalus before it made a sudden jump into hyperspace to Earth. The Daedalus was eventually repaired to the point that it could return to Atlantis, but Caldwell stated that it would take "weeks" before they could make the trip back.

Atlantis' Return to Pegasus
After the IOA decided not to allow Atlantis to go back to Pegasus, it was decided that the Daedalus and the George Hammond would instead be going in shifts to battle the Wraith. After the IOA changes their minds, the Daedalus follows close behind Atlantis though it is nearly two weeks slower, first seeing the city off from a lower orbit with the George Hammond. After Atlantis is forced to land on the frozen planet due to a hyperdrive malfunction, they contact Earth to inform them of where to divert the Daedalus to since the crew expects them to be going back to Lantea. The Daedalus is able to reach the planet thirteen days after leaving Earth, with Colonel Caldwell stating that the new trip takes twelve days rather than eighteen though the ship took a day longer due to the crew having to change course. The Daedalus brings Atlantis the priority medical supplies they needed, but is unable to bring the new MANPAD systems due to a lack of room. The crew is allowed to take leave on Atlantis while the Daedalus is landed there and the ship departs soon afterwards for Earth. Though Caldwell offers to have the Daedalus stay for awhile due to a recent crisis with the Genii, Richard Woolsey refuses the offer, stating that if they had the Daedalus stay after every crisis, the ship would constantly be in orbit. The Daedalus departs as per the new ship schedule with Caldwell promising to return in a month.

The Daedalus eventually returns to Atlantis after Rodney McKay's capture, bringing Jean Miller back to help install safeguards against anything McKay could do to the city's systems. It is called into action alongside the George Hammond to defend the city against an attack by a hive ship and Wraith cruiser sent by Queen Death and equipped with shields outfitted by the now-Wraith McKay. During the battle, the Daedalus engines are disabled and the Hammond has to face the hive ship alone as the Daedalus works on repairs. As the Hammond attempts a suicide run, the Daedalus crew finally fixes her engines and the Daedalus resumes her attack. Taking advantage of the distraction, Colonel Samantha Carter uses the last of the George Hammond's power to fire her ship's railguns into the hive ship's damaged stern as it faces the Daedalus, destroying the hive ship. The battle leaves the Hammond without power, leaving Carter facing death due to lack of life support. However, the Daedalus beams her out and saves Carter's life. Repairs begin on both ships with the Daedalus being repaired more quickly. As a result, Caldwell takes the Daedalus back to Earth to report as Atlantis no longer has a ZPM and the Hammond's hyperdrive is still down. When the Daedalus leaves, the ship takes the most critically injured from the battle to send to the SGC through the first Milky Way Stargate they find and leave behind their F-302 wing to help in the coming battles as the Hammond was launched without one.

When Atlantis learns of Queen Death's impending attack, the Daedalus is determined to be too far away to reach Atlantis in time to help so an attempt is not made.

Alternate realities

 * In an alternate reality to which Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter was accidentally transported in 2007, the Daedalus and Prometheus were the only ships Earth that had. The Daedalus detected and monitored the approach of five Ori warships.
 * In an alternate reality, an alternate Daedalus was commanded by Colonel Sobel. The ship was equipped with the Alternate reality drive, which allowed the ship to shift to several parallel universes (including ours). Sobel was eventually forced to abandon the ship and left a message, hoping that her people would find her and her crew. The ship had also jumped over M35-117 in this reality. This Daedalus ended up having two versions of the team trapped on it: one died of starvation, while the other managed to figure out how to put the drive in reverse and abandoned ship when this Daedalus returned to their reality. In their time on board the ship, they encountered a reality where Atlantis wasn't at M35-117 for whatever reason, a reality in which an alien race attacked Atlantis but were stopped when the team took out their weapons with Asgard plasma beam weapons and were later saved by a F-302 fighter-interceptor attack launched by that Atlantis, a red giant sun and an asteroid field where M35-117 had been destroyed millions of years ago by an impact.
 * In one of the alternate realities encountered by the Daedalus that Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team were on, Daedalus was destroyed in 2006 during a battle with the Asurans.

Major campaigns

 * Battle of Atlantis
 * Battle of Edowin
 * Battle of the Void
 * Fall of the Ori
 * Battle of Asuras
 * Battle of M2S-445
 * Battle of M35-117 (alternate Daedalus)
 * Battle of M6H-987
 * Battle of the Super-hive
 * Battle over the Outer Rim Planet

Behind the scenes

 * In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a cunning inventor. He was the most technologically advanced man in the ancient world. It is told that he invented moving images and was the first man to fly. According to legend, Daedalus was imprisoned by King Minos. The king ordered Daedalus to build the mythical labyrinth containing the minotaur. After Daedalus completed his task he demanded that he and his son be released. When Minos refused, Daedalus thought of ways to escape the island. Finally he decided to fashion a pair of wings made of feathers bound together with wax, and taught his son, Icarus, to fly. Unfortunately Icarus failed to listen to his father's warning of not flying too close to the sun. The wax in his wings melted, the wings came apart and he fell into the ocean and drowned. Daedalus did escape, but mourned the death of Icarus for the rest of his life.
 * In the anime series Macross (adapted in the U.S. as part of Robotech), one of the super carriers attached to the SDF-1 Macross was named the Daedalus. Perhaps not coincidentally, the other carrier was called Prometheus.
 * In "Be All My Sins Remember'd", the Daedalus only ever fires two Asgard plasma beam weapons, from either side of the ship's nose.
 * Given the known distance from the Milky Way galaxy to Pegasus galaxy, three million light years, and the canon information presented in-show of the Daedalus traveling from Earth to Atlantis in 18 days, the top cruising velocity of the Daedalus' intergalactic hyperdrive would be 6944.44 light-years per hour (or 1.93 light-years per second). When equipped with a ZPM, the Daedalus traversed the same distance in four days, making the Daedalus' top cruising velocity with a ZPM 31250Ly/hour (8.68Ly/second).
 * While the Daedalus appears in the Legacy series, it is generally replaced by the George Hammond as the defensive ship for Atlantis. However, this was because one of the ships needed to report in to Earth and the Daedalus was in the best shape and was unable to return in time for the later battles.
 * Even after the introduction of the Apollo, the Daedalus is indicated to remain Atlantis' primary ship. Dialogue indicates that more often than not, its the Daedalus that comes to Atlantis rather than the Apollo which "Remnants" shows does make at least occasional trips to Atlantis. Given that the Apollo is mainly shown coming to Atlantis during "First Strike" and "Be All My Sins Remember'd", its likely the Apollo generally only comes for special missions while the Daedalus handles most if not all of the normal trips.