Alliance Fleet/Legends

The Rebel Alliance Fleet, also called the Alliance Fleet and the Rebel Fleet, was the space fleet of the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

With the advent of the New Republic, the Rebel fleet became the New Republic Defense Fleet.

Early history
The Rebel Alliance fleet was originally quite small, composed of small to mid sized cruisers, converted freighters, and outdated starfighters. It terms of organization, the Rebel fleet was scattered and under various command structures. All ships in service of the Rebel Alliance in the early years before the Battle of Yavin were owned and operated by each individual Alliance member, such as the Sullustans, Corellians or Chandrilans.

These scattered units would coordinate from time to time, like during the Battle of Ylesia, but overall the space forces of the Alliance were not properly organized and equipped to seriously deal with the Imperial Navy.

A proper fleet
As the Galactic Civil War dragged on, the fleet began to grow, as Imperials defected and planets declared their support for the Alliance. By far the most vital ships were the Star Cruisers of the Mon Calamari. When the Mon Calamari officially joined the Rebel Alliance shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the Alliance finally had access to large capital ships to seriously challenge an Imperial fleet.

Mon Mothma realized the need for a single and organized Rebel armada, and decided to appoint the Mon Calamari Ackbar to the rank of Admiral. With the rank came the position of Supreme Commander of the Alliance Fleet.

Father of the Alliance Navy
"The Fleet is firmly under the control of one being: Admiral Ackbar. He is the father of the Alliance Fleet. He created it from virtually nothing and wields as if it was an extension of his own body."

- Voren Na'al

Admiral Ackbar organized and trained the fleet into a first rate combat unit. The once scattered Rebel space forces were organized and assembled into a actual fleet, broken down into battle lines and task forces. Training was standardized and new line admirals were created to help command the elements of the fleet. Another benefit of the Mon Calamari joining was their sizable shipyards, which began producing new Star Cruisers, frigates, and corvettes. As the size of the fleet grew, so did the experience of its crews and officers.

Mon Mothma had given Ackbar seven orders when he was appointed commander of the fleet. The first was 'Avoid Battle.' The second was 'Send a Detailed Report on the State of the Fleet.' The third was 'Complete the Training of the Fleet.' The fourth 'Reorganize Fleet Replenishment.' The fifth 'Maintain a High Level of Morale in Your Command.' The sixth was 'Organize Raiding Forces'. The seven, and final order was 'Be Prepared to go to Battle within a Month's Notice'.

While the fleet was never committed to full battle, elements and battle lines of the fleet were regularly detached from the main fleet to raid Imperial installations, attack isolated convoys, and ambush small detachments of the Imperial fleet. This tactic of seasoning a fleet through many small engagements served Ackbar well. Years later during the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion, a retired and ailing Ackbar would organize a similar plan to train the newer units of the New Republic fleet before they had to commit to a major engagement.

Between Hoth and Endor
The Alliance fleet was ordered away from Hoth prior to the evacuation, though some isolated and detached units did aid in the evacuation or create diversions. For much of the following year, the Rebel fleet remained hidden from the Empire, slowly building itself up and preparing for the inevitable conflict with a full Imperial fleet. Such a conflict would happen over the forest moon of Endor.

Battle of Endor
Following the discovery of the Death Star II, the majority of the fleet gathered at Sullust. Following a summit on the Rebel flagship Home One, the fleet launched towards Endor, intent to destroy the superweapon before it was completed. In what became known as the Battle of Endor, the Rebel fleet distinguished itself in facing down a sizable Imperial battle fleet, consisting of the SSD Executor and around forty Star Destroyers.

Against incredible odds the fleet prevailed, securing a major victory for the Alliance and the birth of a new Republic. After the battle, one-fifth of the fleet was destroyed, but was able to rebuild itself when more worlds left the Empire once word of Emperor Palpatine's death spread.

Command and Control
The fleet was controlled under the auspices of Fleet Command, the branch of the Alliance military that oversaw all fleet operations. Fleet Command was headed by the admiral of the fleet, which was Ackbar for the entire history of the Rebellion. While Ackbar was head of the fleet, he was assisted in command by a series of line admirals, who each were responsible for components of the fleet. Due to the importance of the fleet to the Alliance, Fleet Command was considered one of the most important Supreme Allied Commands.

When the Alliance became the New Republic, the Rebel Alliance Fleet became the New Republic Defense Fleet. Also under the New Republic military structure, starfighters were under Starfighter Command.

Organization
The Fleet's starships were organized into lines of battle. Each line of battle was composed of four elements: heavy cruisers, support ships, picket craft, and starfighter squadrons. A battle line's size and composition differed depending on available units or the mission. In practice, the standard line consisted of three heavy warships like MC80 Star Cruisers, supported by several escort frigates, corvettes and starfighter wings. Yet, battle lines ranged in size from as few as one and as many as ten heavy warships. By direct order from Mon Mothma, the Rebel fleet was never to have more than one quarter of its forces deployed as roving battle lines, such as the Alliance 14th Roving Line. All lines were commanded by line admiral appointed directly by Admiral Ackbar, though in reality there were few Alliance admirals. To remedy this, battle lines not posessing of a admiral were commanded by the senior captain of the line's cruisers.

The Fleet also maintained Fleet Regiments to assist in ship security, boarding actions and supplement Alliance and Sector Forces in ground actions. Fleet Regiments wore grey coveralls, black vests and white streamlined blast helmets.

Starfighters

 * B-wing starfighter
 * BTL Y-wing starfighter
 * BTS-A2 Long-Range Strike Fighter/Bomber
 * H-60 Tempest bomber
 * LAAT/i Alliance Assault Craft
 * R-22 Spearhead
 * R-41 Starchaser
 * RZ-1 A-wing interceptor
 * T-65 X-wing starfighter
 * Z-95 Headhunter starfighter

Support ships

 * Action VI transport
 * Corellian heavy lifter
 * GR-75 medium transport
 * Lambda-class T-4a shuttle
 * Limpet ship
 * Muurian transport
 * Sentinel-class landing craft
 * Spiral-class assault ship
 * YT-1300 light freighter
 * YT-2000 light freighter
 * YT-2400 light freighter

Corvettes

 * Assassin-class corvette
 * CR90 corvette
 * DP-20 gunship
 * Marauder Corvette

Frigates

 * Acclamator I-class assault ship
 * Assault Frigate Mk. I
 * Assault Frigate Mk. II
 * CC-9600 frigate
 * CC-7700 frigate
 * Class II Frigate
 * EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate
 * Nebulon-B2 frigate
 * Neutron Star-class bulk cruiser
 * Quasar Fire-class bulk cruiser

Destroyers

 * MC40a light cruiser
 * Mon Calamari Star Cruiser (stubby)
 * Mon Calamari Star Cruiser (striped)
 * Recusant-class light destroyer

Cruisers

 * Dauntless-class heavy cruiser
 * Liberator-class cruiser
 * MC80 Star Cruiser
 * MC80a Star Cruiser

Battlecruisers

 * Bulwark-class battlecruiser

Battleships

 * Home One

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Empire
 * Classic Star Wars
 * Star Wars: Rebellion (game)
 * Star Wars: Rebellion (comics)
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * X-Wing
 * TIE Fighter
 * X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter
 * X-Wing Alliance