Mon Calamari Star Cruiser

"Make no mistake, the Mon Calamari saved the galaxy. Their cruisers protected our fleet at the Battle of Endor, allowing the starfighters to penetrate the second Death Star's core. Without Admiral Ackbar and his people, we would all be the Emperor's slaves."

- Mon Mothma

Mon Calamari Star Cruisers were the main cruisers in the Rebel Alliance/New Republic fleet for a significant portion of the Galactic Civil War.

History
Designed by the Mon Calamari and primarily built in their shipyards, they were the first large capital ships available to the Alliance Fleet, giving it for the first time the ability to face the larger Star Destroyers of the Imperial Navy. The latest versions of Mon Calamari warships continued to be major parts of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances fleet.

Early beginnings


The Mon Calamari cruisers were originally built for civilian purposes, serving in numerous peaceful roles like passenger ships and deep space exploration vessels by the Mon Calamari species. Yet, when the Galactic Empire invaded and conquered their home system and enslaved their people, the Mon Calamari converted their ships to capital ships. Admiral Ackbar convinced his people to join the Rebellion. They in turn donated their fleet of cruisers to the Rebel Alliance, while many Mon Calamari joined to serve in the Rebel Fleet.

In addition to these original retrofitted civilian ships, the Mon Calamari also designed military variants of the cruisers. The plans for these models, however, were annexed by the Galactic Empire sometime before the Battle of Yavin. They were held on Carida to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, until Rebel leader Mon Mothma enlisted the assistance of freelance smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca to steal the schematics for the new Mon Cal cruisers. After encountering much resistance, the duo made their way off-world with the plans in tow.

While they were exceedingly durable starships, Mon Calamari Star Cruisers were also notoriously difficult to repair, in part because of their individualized design. Rebellion-era Mon Calamari ships had very powerful shields for ships of their size, in part because their civilian-spec hull structure was somewhat weaker than a true military starship. The hallmark of the design was typically very strong shielding with a respectable battery of turbolasers and ion cannons, although they did not have as much firepower as an Imperial-class Star Destroyer.



Another distinguishing feature of Mon Calamari cruisers was the redundancy of weaker shield generators contributing to the shielding system. Mon Calamari cruisers carried three times the usual amount of generators for ships of their size. Although each generator was weaker than the Imperial standard unit, the quantity of shield generators allowed for faster energy replenishment. Fighter squadrons were carried onboard in a series of hangar bays.

New Republic designs
By the time of the New Republic, the Mon Calamari had begun to produce military-optimized designs that were no longer modified civilian designs. The individualization that marked the Rebellion-era designs all but disappeared in an effort to simplify the New Republic's logistics.

By the Yuuzhan Vong War, the New Republic Defense Fleet fielded several new and more powerful variants of the Mon Cal cruiser, including the Mediator-class battle cruiser and the Viscount-class Star Defender. These new warships would play key roles in defending the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances as well, with numerous vessels serving in the various fleets of the Galactic Alliance Defense Force.

Characteristics
All Mon Calimari cruisers were handcrafted, ensuring that each vessal was different. The ships have a distinct organic look that directly conradicts the stark, harsh factory lines that signifies the Imperial star ships. Each vessel has a unique, seemingly random assortment of lumps and bumps dotting its surface. These were in fact highly modular capsules that could be retrofitted to house crew's quarters, maitenance facillities and, in time of conflict, sheild generaters, turbolasers and ion cannons. Due to the fact that the modules are interchangeable, the cruisers were very versatile, able to be fitted for pleasure cruises, scouting missions and frontline capital ships. Howver, due to the fact that the ships' designs were so varied, mantainance and repairing a damaged cruiser was often a long and difficult process.

Known designs



 * Calamarian Tanker
 * M-class luxury liner
 * MC40a light cruiser
 * MC80 Star Cruiser
 * MC80 evacuation cruiser
 * MC80 Star Cruiser (Liberty type)
 * MC80 Star Cruiser (Home One type)
 * MC80a Star Cruiser
 * MC80B Star Cruiser
 * MC90 Star Cruiser
 * Mediator-class battle cruiser
 * Miscellanous designs
 * Mon Calamari frigate
 * MC30c frigate
 * Mon Calamari heavy carrier
 * Recusant-class light destroyer
 * Viscount-class Star Defender

Behind the scenes

 * There is some debate amongst fans to the various sizes and powers of the assorted Mon Cal cruisers. Fans of the West End Games stats compose one camp, while the other is composed of fans of the work of Dr. Curtis Saxton and his Star Wars Technical Commentaries.


 * This page does not go into the various arguments of each group, instead serving as a basic coverall for the various Mon Calamari cruisers. For more information on these debates, see the various WEG sourcebooks or the online Technical Commentaries.