Sovereign-class Super Star Destroyer

Sovereign-class Star Dreadnought The 15-kilometer-long Sovereign-class Star Dreadnought, also known as the Sovereign-class Star Destroyer or Sovereign-class Super Star Destroyer, was one of the largest Imperial warship designs, surpassed only by the Eclipse-class and Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts.

Characteristics
The Sovereign was essentially a smaller cousin to the Eclipse-class design, with fewer weapons, a slower hyperdrive, and a smaller complement of starfighters and crew. Nevertheless, the Sovereign-class ships were vastly larger than almost any other warships they might encounter, and designed to instill fear in any enemies of the Empire. In terms of scale, they could be seen as successors to the Eye of Palpatine and the Kuati Star Dreadnoughts that preceeded the New Republic era. They boasted 500 heavy turbolaser cannons, 500 turbolaser batteries, 75 ion cannons, 100 tractor beam projectors, 5 gravity well projectors, and carried 605,745 crew. They were equipped with an axial superlaser designed to devastate a world, penetrating even the strongest planetary shields.

History
Four Sovereigns were planned, with the first, Sovereign, undergoing construction at the time of the first defeat of the Emperor's clone. The three additional ships were to be Autarch, Heresiarch, and Despot. Only one of these ships was completed enough to move anywhere, but it is believed by the Republic that all four of them were destroyed during construction when Byss was accidentally destroyed by the Galaxy Gun.

Behind the scenes



 * The only official image of the Sovereign is a silhouette in the Dark Empire Sourcebook.


 * Designs reminiscent of slim Sovereigns and Eclipses, can be seen in various locations in Dark Empire. Whether there is any actual design-relationship with the superlaser-wielding vessels is unknown.


 * Some fans dislike the description of Sovereign-class ships as Star Dreadnoughts, feeling that the term "Star Destroyer" adequately covers all types of dagger-shaped warships and have questioned the necessity for any additional classifications (especially ones that fit into similar patterns of real navies). However, as many sources throughout the history of the Expanded Universe have shown, "Star Destroyer" is not the sole term available, and is often used interchangably with real-life terms. For more on the issue, see Super Star Destroyer and Star Dreadnought.