Star Destroyer

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. Star Destroyers were produced by Kuat Drive Yards, later Kuat-Entralla Engineering, and serve as "the signature vessel of the fleet" for the Galactic Republic, Galactic Empire, the First Order, and the Sith Eternal in numerous published works including film, television, novels, comics, and video games.[1][2]

A single Star Destroyer could

rebel fleet
.

Notable examples of Star Destroyers include the precursor Venator-class Star Destroyer (

Legends as reflecting the Empire's "Tarkin's Doctrine" military philosophy and originating from Sith
ideological influence, and have been adapted by numerous factions for a wide variety of applications.

Numerous Star Destroyer models and toys have been released. The iconic scene in Star Wars (1977) featuring the Imperial Star Destroyer's first appearance where it pursues a Corellian corvette has been called a milestone in special effects history.

Imperial Star Destroyer

Imperial-class Star Destroyer
Star Wars: A New Hope (1976)
Information
AffiliationGalactic Empire
Made byKuat Drive Yards[3][4]
Combat vehicles
Auxiliary vehicles
General characteristics
ClassBattleship[3]
Armaments
Defenses
Propulsion
Mass40 million tons[6]
Length1,600 m (5,200 ft)[3][4]
Population volume

Concept and design

In draft scripts for the film that would become Star Wars, the term "Stardestroyer" refers to two-man fighters flown by what would become the Galactic Empire.[1] The film's second draft features four Star Destroyers chasing a single Rebel ship,[7] but the tremendous costs incurred by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) when production began helped lead Lucas to use a single "terrifyingly large" Star Destroyer instead of four.[8] ILM built a 91-centimeter (36 in) shooting model that was about half the size of the model for the Tantive IV the Star Destroyer was chasing.[1] Lucas asked ILM to build a larger Star Destroyer model to match the Tantive IV's scale, but ILM convinced him that the Dykstraflex camera invented for the film made this unnecessary.[9] Nevertheless, they added additional hull details to the Star Destroyer model.[9] The 13-second opening shot was the first special effects piece ILM completed,[9] and its success was an essential test for the Dykstraflex.[9]

ILM built a 259-centimeter (102 in) Star Destroyer, equipped with internal lighting to provide a better sense of scale, for The Empire Strikes Back (1980).[1] According to chief model maker Lorne Peterson, the new Star Destroyer model was scaled to appear two and a half miles long, though their official length was revised in later sources.[10]

The Imperial I-class Star Destroyers are white, as shown in A New Hope,

Rogue One, and Solo. The Imperial II-class Star Destroyers in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are grey.[11]

Depiction

The iconic Imperial-class Star Destroyer first appears in the opening scene of

TIE fighters (typically 48 fighters, 12 bombers and 12 boarding craft).[3][4] A single Star Destroyer is considered sufficient to overwhelm a rebellious planet, though major industrialized worlds may be assaulted by a fleet of six Star Destroyers with support cruisers and supply craft.[4] Deep-crust survival bunkers are regarded as a last refuge in the event of planetary bombardment by Imperial Star Destroyers.[12]

Darth Vader's Devastator is the last of the Imperial I-class ships to be built by Kuat Drive Yards before switching to the Imperial II-class, a fleet of which take part in the Battle of Hoth as depicted in

The Force Awakens (2015).[16]

Analysis

Examining what it would take to realistically build an Imperial Star Destroyer, it was estimated in 2016 that such a vessel would cost $636 billion

gigawatts of power, and its engines would produce a combined total thrust of 3.5 million newtons. However getting the parts into space to construct the Star Destroyer would require an additional $44.4 trillion USD in launch costs, suggesting that asteroid mining and refining technologies would have to be developed first to make it more economical.[17][18]

Joe Pappalardo of Popular Mechanics argues that the Imperial Star Destroyer is a poorly-designed spaceship, being asymmetrical with its superstructure jutting out in one direction. Additionally, while its wedge shape would make sense for atmospheric travel, it serves no purpose in space. He argues a more realistic and effective design would be symmetrical and bowl-shaped like a saucer.[19]

Cultural impact

Lego has released numerous Star Destroyer kits, including a 110-centimetre (43 in) 4,784-piece Imperial-class Star Destroyer.[20]

Super Star Destroyer

Concept and design

For The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas wanted Darth Vader's new flagship, Executor, to be huge and to play a greater role in the film. According to chief model maker Lorne Peterson, the Executor's model was 6 feet (1.8 meters) long and constructed with over 150,000 individual lights. The resulting model was so heavy it required additional support to keep from overwhelming the Dykstraflex's mechanical structure. The ship was originally scaled to appear 16 miles (26 km) long according to Lorne, though later sources would amend this figure.[10]

Depiction

Within the Star Wars universe, the term "Super Star Destroyer" is a

ion cannons and tractor beam projectors and it can carry more than 1,000 vessels.[21] The crew of the Executor numbers in the hundreds of thousands.[4] Its command tower, rising above the ship's technoscape on a thick stalk, is a standard model found on other Star Destroyers – including a pair of geodesic domes containing communication transceivers, sensors and deflector shield projectors – and allows for an unobstructed view of the battlefield.[22] At least twelve of these vessels were built by the Empire, including the Executor, Annihilator, Ravager and Arbitrator, but the exact number is unknown thanks to Imperial propaganda and black budgets.[22]

From the bridge of the Executor, Darth Vader leads Death Squadron during the

second Death Star's gravity well pulls the ship into its surface, destroying the vessel and damaging the Death Star itself.[21] At Jakku where the Empire made its last stand, the Super Star Destroyer Ravager is one of the wrecks which make up the Graveyard of Ships.[16]

Analysis

centripetal acceleration of 39 G.[23]

If a model of the Executor was built to scale and placed hovering over New York City, it would cast a shadow over the island of Manhattan.[24][25]

Cultural impact

Like the Imperial Star Destroyer, the Super Star Destroyer has also been merchandised. Lego released a 125-centimetre (49 in) 3,152-piece model of the Executor.[26] Kenner wanted to use a less ominous name than Executor for the toy playset of Darth Vader's meditation chamber.[27] An advertisement agency's list of 153 alternatives included Starbase Malevolent, Black Coven, Haphaestus VII, and Cosmocurse;[27] ultimately, the toy was labeled "Darth Vader's Star Destroyer".[27] In 2006, Wizards of the Coast created an Executor miniature as part of its Star Wars Miniatures Starship Battles game.[28] An electronic Super Star Destroyer toy released by Hasbro "is the rarest among Hasbro's Collector Fleet".[29]

Venator Star Destroyer

Venator-class Star Destroyer
A Venator-class Star Destroyer as depicted in Star Wars: The Clone Wars
First appearanceStar Wars: Clone Wars (2005)
Last appearanceStar Wars: The Bad Batch (2021-2023)
Information
Affiliation
Launched22 BBY[a]
Decommissioned19-14 BBY[a][b][31]
Made byKuat Drive Yards[30]
Combat vehicles
  • 192 Alpha-3 Nimbus V-wing Starfighters, 192 Eta-2 Actis Interceptors, 36 Aggressive Reconnaissance 170 Heavy Starfighters[30]
Auxiliary vehicles
General characteristics
ClassBattleship/Carrier[32]
Armaments
DefensesDeflector shields[30]
Propulsion
Length1,137 m (3,730 ft)[30]
Width548 m (1,798 ft)[30]
Height268 m (879 ft)[30]
Population volume7,400[30]

Concept and design

The design of the Venator-class Star Destroyers appearing in

The Phantom Menace (1999) as representing the Republic, but by the end they are colorless.[33]

Depiction

The Venator-class Star Destroyer makes its first theatrical appearance in

Jedi interceptors, from a .5 km (0.31 mi)-long dorsal flight deck. While strong deflector shielding is employed around the armored bow doors, they are slow to open or close, presenting a weakness in the vessel's design.[32][30][34]

During the Clone Wars these Star Destroyers, referred to also as Republic attack cruisers or

Invisible Hand at point-blank range.[30] After the end of the Clone Wars and creation of the Galactic Empire, these Star Destroyers will continue to serve for decades in the Imperial Navy until eventually replaced with the Imperial-class Star Destroyer.[30]

Cultural impact

In 2009, in conjunction with the then ongoing TV show Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Lego released a 1,170 piece model of the Venator. For the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, noted modder Sander van der Velden created a custom-built PC made to look like a Venator Star Destroyer. Built around a fully-functional, liquid-cooled PC, the surrounding case was constructed in the shape of a Venator using aluminum and 3D printed material. The final product required 400 hours of work to complete.[35][36][37][38]

Resurgent Star Destroyer

In

New Republic and the First Order, Resurgent-class Star Destroyers are 2,916 m (9,567 ft) in length with a crew of 19,000 officers and 55,000 enlisted personnel. While evoking the traditional Imperial-class Star Destroyer, the Resurgent-class incorporates a number of fixes to the former's design flaws, including a less exposed command bridge and larger fighter complement.[40] The ship is armed with thousands of turbolasers and ion cannons, sufficient firepower to slug it out with capital ships or reduce planetary surfaces to molten slag.[40] Additional point-defense laser turrets and missile launchers are used to attack more nimble opponents.[39][40] Two wings of TIE fighters can be quickly launched from dorsal flight decks and side hangars, and for planetary assaults, the ship carries a full legion of over 8,000 stormtroopers and over a hundred assault vehicles.[39][40]

Mega Star Destroyer

The Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy made its first appearance in

The Last Jedi (2017). Described as the only Mega-class Star Destroyer in the galaxy,[41] the Supremacy is 60,543 m (198,632 ft) wide, 13,234 m (43,419 ft) long and 3,975 m (13,041 ft) high.[42] It has a crew of 2,225,000 personnel, a majority of whom are adolescents training to become officers and stormtroopers.[43] The Supremacy serves as the capital from which Supreme Leader Snoke commands the First Order. Thousands of heavy turbolasers, antiship missile batteries, heavy ion cannons and tractor beam projectors give the ship firepower equivalent to an entire fleet.[42][43] The vessel also possesses an industrial capacity that would rival most planets, with asteroid mining complexes, foundries, production lines, research labs and training centers. Six external and two internal stations allow Resurgent-class Star Destroyers to dock with the Mega-Destroyer. [42][43]

Sith Star Destroyer

In

kyber crystals. Other weaponry includes 40 heavy turbolaser batteries, 40 ion cannons, 40 point-defense laser cannons, 35 warhead launchers, and 10 heavy tractor beam projectors, though the space for a hangar and other storage facilities is taken up by the superlaser.[44][45]

List of other Star Destroyers

Star Wars Legends

In April 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels, games, and comics produced since 1976 (and prior to 2014), were rebranded by

Star Wars Legends; and therefore declared non-canon to the franchise.[48][49]

Star Destroyers feature in numerous Legends publications, with a considerable amount of additional notable information. According to

AT-STs) with dropships for rapid deployment to planetary surfaces, plus a prefabricated base if a permanent planetary garrison is required.[50]

Though the Imperial Navy also has smaller capital ships like Nebulon-B Escort Frigates and CR90 Corvettes (the films show these vessels being used exclusively by the Rebel Alliance), Imperial-class Star Destroyers are usually the default choice for frontline deployments. At the

Yuuzhan Vong War.[52]

Described in A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (1984) as being 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) long, Executor-class Super Star Destroyers were later described as being 19 kilometers (12 mi) long.

Darksaber describes a Super Star Destroyer as being "worth twenty Imperial Star Destroyers".[55]

The description "Star Destroyer" and "Super Star Destroyer" are applied to several another massive dagger/triangle-shaped warships in Star Wars, such as the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer in the Legacy comic series (2006–2010), and the reborn Emperor Palpatine's flagships Eclipse and Eclipse II Super Star Destroyers in the Dark Empire series (1991–1995). The Eclipse-class was perhaps the ultimate Super Star Destroyer or Star Dreadnought in the Expanded Universe, incorporating a Death Star-type superlaser but miniaturized and more advanced, and gravity well projectors to prevent enemies from jumping to hyperspace, and having strong enough shields/armor to be able to ram enemy vessels. Curtis Saxton, in the unofficial Star Wars Technical Commentaries (he has since been the author of the official Star Wars: Attack of the Clones Incredible Cross-Sections and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections), has advocated using the term Imperator-class in lieu of Imperial-class. Saxton argues that "Imperial Star Destroyer" is a somewhat generic term, as the vast majority of Star Destroyer types are operated by the Galactic Empire's Imperial Navy which technically means they are all "Imperial Star Destroyers", although the Imperator/Imperial-class Star Destroyers are by far the most common type. Similarly, the "Super Star Destroyer" moniker has been used for numerous unrelated vessels of varying sizes and classes, so fans have suggested labeling the class instead of by the lead ship such as Executor-class and Eclipse-class, with some referring to them instead as a "Star Dreadnought" (sometimes spelled "Star Dreadnaught") to emphasize their massive size relative to Star Destroyers.[56] Author Jason Fry introduced the "Anaxes War College System" which specifically divide warships into different types depending on their size and power, which explain all the differently sized "Super Star Destroyers" appearing in the Expanded Universe (now Star Wars Legends), supplementing the contradictory classification systems used in Star Wars lore previously, becoming reference material in the Star Wars Sourcebooks by West End Games.

The Victory-class Star Destroyer first described in the early Star Wars novella, was initially designed as a direct predecessor to the Imperial-class during the development of A New Hope, which would make it a follow-up to the Venator-class seen in Revenge of the Sith. The Victory appears very similar in appearance to the Imperial-class which succeeded it; albeit the Victory being considerably smaller in scale (900 meters in length versus 1600 meters), adds atmospheric maneuvering "wings" on the port and starboard sides (according to Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game sourcebooks, the Victory I-class can enter a planetary atmosphere which is a unique attribute not found in the Victory II and Imperial-class Star Destroyers), and a shorter conning tower with different elements on the command bridge. The Victory-class was developed from a prototype Star Destroyer model created by Colin Cantwell for A New Hope, with the final design being used for the basis of the Imperial-class.[57][58]

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    Battle of Yavin
  2. Galactic Civil War
    , but in a reduced role.

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Star Wars: Databank: Imperial Star Destroyer". Lucasfilm. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  2. ^ Battlefront: Twilight Company
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Barr, et al. (2019), p. 314
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Dougherty, et al. (2020), p. 135-137
  5. ^ Lund, et al. (2016), p. 143
  6. ^ Aaron, J. (2017). Star Wars Vol. 4: Last Flight Of The Harbinger. United States: Marvel Entertainment. Pg. 3
  7. ^ Taylor, p. 115
  8. ^ Taylor, pp. 121-22
  9. ^ a b c d Taylor, p. 171-73
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4197-3633-9
    .
  11. ^ "Why the Star Destroyer looks different in the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer". 7 April 2016.
  12. ^ Lund, et al. (2016), p. 139
  13. ^ a b c Barr, et al. (2019), p. 330
  14. ^ Lund, et al. (2016), p. 142
  15. ^ Dougherty, et al. (2020), p. 144
  16. ^ a b Lund, et al. (2016), p. 174
  17. ^ "How Much Would It Realistically Cost to build an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer". Forbes. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  18. ^ "How Much Would It Cost To Build A Star Destroyer". Slate. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  19. ^ "The Problem with The Last Jedi's New Star Destroyer". Popular Mechanics. 18 December 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Imperial Star Destroyer™ - 75252". Lego Shop. Lego. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  21. ^ a b c Walker (2018), p. 197
  22. ^ a b c Lund, et al. (2016), p. 170-171
  23. ^ Allain, Rhett. "Happy May the 4th! Let's Break Down a Super Star Destroyer's Death". Wired. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  24. ^ "Here's What a Super Star Destroyer Would Look Like Parked Over Manhattan". Popular Mechanics. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  25. ^ "The biggest Star Wars ship casts a shadow the size of Manhattan". The Verge. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  26. ^ "Super Star Destroyer™ - 10221". Lego Shop. Lego. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  27. ^ a b c "Super Star Destroyer". Star Wars Databank. Lucasfilm. Archived from the original on 2007-12-13. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  28. ^ "Starship Battles Preview 1". Wizards of the Coast. 2006-10-19. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
  29. ^ "Star Wars: Cargo Bay – Electronic Super Star Destroyer". Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 2007-07-15.
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  31. ^ Respawn Entertainment (2019-11-15). Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (1.0 ed.). Electronic Arts. Scene: Bracca.
  32. ^ a b c d Barr, et al. (2019), p. 303
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  34. ^ a b Walker (2018), p. 194
  35. ^ "CES 2016: Star Wars Star Destroyer PC Case Mod is Jaw-Dropping". IGN. 10 January 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  36. ^ "Modder builds 'Star Destroyer' model containing working PC". UPI.com. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  37. ^ "Up Close with the Star Wars Destroyer Case Mod at CES 2016". GamersNexus. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  38. ^ "3D Printing Used in Creating This Amazing Star Wars Star Destroyer PC Case, Will Be at CES 2016". 3DPrint.com. January 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  39. ^ a b c Barr, et al. (2019), p. 338
  40. ^ a b c d e Dougherty, et al. (2020), p. 192-197
  41. ^ Walker (2018), p. 202
  42. ^ a b c Dougherty, et al. (2020), p. 222-227
  43. ^ a b c Barr, et al. (2019), p. 341
  44. ^ Dougherty, et al. (2020), p. 254-255
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  46. ^ "Review: Star Wars Armada, Wave 2 - Shut up & Sit Down".
  47. ^ "Star Wars: Armada - Victory-class Star Destroyer Tactics | Holo Writing". 7 June 2015.
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  52. ISBN 0-7869-2777-1
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  54. ^ "Isard, Ysanne (Expanded Universe)". Star Wars Databank. Lucasfilm. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
  55. ^
    ISBN 0-553-57611-9
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  56. ^ "TheForce.Net - Jedi Council - Interviews | Curtis Saxton".
  57. ISBN 978-0-307-79548-9
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  58. ISBN 0-87431-199-3
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Sources

External links
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