Starship/Legends

"A starship is a weapon, but it's the crew that makes it deadly."

- An old spacer's line

A starship, also known as a starcruiser, was a spaceship designed for interstellar travel, specifically between star systems.

Starships were commonly powered by ion engines, the most common form of sublight drives, and many - usually the larger vessels - were equipped with hyperdrive generators, used to reach Hyperspace as Lightspeed wouldn't be fast enough. Light-years would take years to travel across using sublight drives. Across the galaxy, many starships were armed, usually with laser cannons. Capital ships often featured turbolaser emplacements or missile launchers, and some featured hangar bays that could carry starfighters. Weapons helped defend against star pirates and military forces. Deflector shields countered the effects of laser weaponry, protecting the starship from attack. Once these shields fell the captain would surrender to their attackers.

A starship's bridge was its control room, most often seen at the stern of large vessels such as Star Destroyers and other capital ships. Smaller ships, like transports and fighters, had cockpits rather than actual bridges.

The bridge was an essential part of the craft. Most of the time, the controls to a starship's subsystems were located here. The bridge was therefore usually the first area of a starship to be targeted when under attack. Knocking out the bridge usually rendered the starship useless for the duration of the battle. For example, when the Imperial Star Dreadnaught Executor had its bridge obliterated by an out of control RZ-1 A-wing interceptor during the Battle of Endor, she plunged out of control into the second Death Star, and was destroyed.

Intergalactic starflight became possible with the invention of the dual-drive system, which included an anti-grav drive to exit a system's gravity well, allowing inter-system travel, and a hyperdrive system for faster-than-light travel.

Notable starships

 * A-wing starfighter
 * ARC-170 starfighter
 * B-wing starfighter
 * Bes'uliik
 * Banking Clan communications frigate
 * Commerce Guild support ship
 * Dreadnaught heavy cruiser
 * droid starfighter
 * droid tri-fighter
 * E-wing starfighter
 * Ebon Hawk
 * escape pod
 * escape pod, Yoda's
 * escort frigate
 * Geonosian fanblade starfighter
 * Geonosian solar sailer
 * Geonosian starfighter
 * Hammerhead-class capital ship
 * K-wing starfighter
 * Imperial Lambda-class shuttle
 * Imperial landing craft
 * Imperial Star Destroyer
 * Imperial Theta-class shuttle
 * Imperial Tanker
 * Invisible Hand
 * Jabitha
 * Jade's Fire
 * Jade's Sabre
 * Jade Shadow
 * Jedi starfighter
 * Jedi starfighter, Anakin Skywalker's customized
 * Leviathan
 * Millennium Falcon
 * Mon Calamari Star Cruiser
 * Naboo N-1 Starfighter
 * Naboo Royal (Queen's) Starship
 * Naboo Royal Cruiser
 * Naboo star skiff
 * Naboo yacht
 * Neimoidian shuttle
 * Outrider
 * P-38 starfighter
 * Ravager
 * Rebel Medium Transport
 * Republic assault ship
 * Republic attack cruiser
 * Republic carrier
 * Republic Cruiser
 * Rogue Shadow
 * Scimitar assault bomber
 * Scythe-class main battle cruiser
 * shieldship
 * Sith fighter
 * Sith Infiltrator
 * Skipray blastboat
 * Slave I
 * Slave II
 * Slave III
 * Slave IV
 * starfighter, General Grievous's
 * starfreighter
 * Super Star Destroyer
 * Tantive IV (Rebel blockade runner)
 * Tartan patrol cruiser
 * Techno Union Starfighter and Utapaun Starfighter
 * TIE Advanced x1 Starfighter
 * TIE avenger
 * TIE defender
 * TIE/ln starfighter
 * TIE/In interceptor
 * TIE Scout
 * Trade Federation Battleship
 * Trade Federation cruiser
 * Trade Federation Droid Control Ship
 * Trade Federation landing ship
 * V-19 Torrent starfighter
 * V-wing starfighter
 * Virago
 * X-wing starfighter
 * Y-wing starfighter
 * Z-95 Headhunter

Notable starship types

 * Starfighter (small one- or two-man vessels used for dogfighting)
 * Transport (cargo or passenger carriers)
 * Capital Ship (the largest of starships, often used as warships)
 * Space station (these include the Death Star)
 * Shuttle (small craft used to transport personnel, usually at least partially though space)

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi