Executor-class Star Dreadnought/Legends

The Executor-class Star Dreadnought was a heavy warship class often used as command ships in the Imperial Starfleet.

Characteristics
The Executor-class measured 19,000 meters in length. Reports of 8,000 meter and 12,800 meter varieties may have been confusion with visually similar but separate classes.

279,144 Navymen were said to have crewed the vessel, while 1,590 gunners were said to have operated its over 5000 turbolaser batteries and ion cannons. Thirteen engines in five thruster banks gave the Executor-class impressive speed for its size. A minimum of 144 fighters were carried; the massive hanger could hold thousands.

Sensor domes
The geodesic domes located on and around the Executor's bridge tower (similar to those of Imperial-class Star Destroyers) served dual purposes. Inside the dome were hyperwave transceiver coils for supralight active sensors, while vanes jutting out of the dome served as shield projectors for the surrounding area. These domes were not vulnerable to external attack so long as the shield remained intact, but concentrated bombardment &mdash; such as that ordered by Admiral Ackbar during the Battle of Endor &mdash; could knock out this protective field. The sensors and shield projectors thus became vulnerable to attack, as demonstrated by Rebel starfighter pilots.

There were many such geodesic domes scattered around the ship, probably to ensure that there were no blind spots for her sensors and to provide a good distribution of shield projector coverage. Concentrated fire on a single area would thus not deprive the ship of all her shield-generating ability.

When the Executor's sensor dome exploded during the Battle of Endor, a crewman said that the shields were down. Most people attributed this to the dome being destroyed, but the causal relationship is the other way around &mdash; the dome exploded because the shields went down.

Main Bridge
The bridge of the Executor had the same basic layout as standard Star Destroyers. The outer-most part featured nine triangular viewports. The center contained two crewpits which housed the control consoles for the ship. Between them was the command walkway. To the right and left sides of the bridge were two alcoves containing the weapons and defense stations. Behind the bridge were the communications stations, a turbolift, and a HoloNet pod for ship-to-ship communications.

On the level directly beneath the bridge was the main navigation complex.

Operational History
Initially deemed militarily inefficient, the ships served to further the Imperial policy of fear set forth in the Tarkin Doctrine. While the ships of the Executor-class proved effective in driving fear into the hearts of the Rebel Alliance, they were disliked by much of the Admiralty, who preferred to field large numbers of smaller vessels over one larger one.

The ship was designed by Lira Wessex and initially manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards, although the first vessel was built in secret at Fondor rather than Kuat. Executor, lead ship of the class, was the most feared and famous of this line of Star Dreadnoughts as Darth Vader's command ship.

In the later years, production on Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts and other so called "Super Star Destroyers" or "Super-class Star Destroyers" accelerated in a display of the Emperor's wealth and power. After the death of the Emperor and the fragmentation of the Galactic Empire into feuding fiefs, Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts were popular acquisitions amongst warlords hoping to improve their military power and prestige.

List of Executor-class ships
There were many Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts serving in the Imperial Starfleet. By the time of the Battle of Hoth, there were at least four Executor-class ships in operation with several more under construction; the exact number of ships of this class that were completed before the Battle of Endor is unknown. After the fragmentation of the Empire, ships of this class were acquired by several ex-Imperial warlords, the New Republic, and the Imperial Remnant.


 * Executor - The lead ship of its class, built at the Fondor Shipyards. Executor was involved in the siege of Hoth and the Battle of Endor. The ship was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Endor, colliding with the second Death Star after its bridge was destroyed by Arvel Crynyd's crashing A-wing fighter.


 * Lusankya - This was the sister-ship of the Executor. Both ships were built at the same time at separate facilities, both under the name of Executor. When they were completed, one went on to become the ship seen in the movies, the other was renamed Lusankya and somehow ended up buried under the surface of Coruscant, capital of the Empire. Lusankya was given to Ysanne Isard, who used it to flee Coruscant after it was conquered by the New Republic. The ship was eventually captured by Wedge Antilles over Thyferra, and became a vessel in the New Republic's fleet. Under orders of Mon Mothma, Lusankya was decommissioned, but was reactivated some years before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. She was finally destroyed around 25 years after the Battle of Endor, when it was sent on a suicide mission to ram a Yuuzhan Vong Worldship.


 * Guardian - This ship was stationed in the Core regions and was flagship of Fleet Admiral Gaen Drommel, who (like many high-ranking Imperial officers) turned to warlordism after the death of Emperor Palpatine. Three years after the Battle of Endor the ship was severely damaged in battle with the nascent New Republic. She was captured by the New Republic some ten years later, apparently in poor condition and was eventually repaired. Guardian saw operational service in the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and became a Galactic Alliance commandship/Mobile Base.


 * Iron Fist - This ship was the flagship of Warlord Zsinj's fleet. It was the symbol of the warlord's power, and he used it to terrorize worlds into submission. Iron Fist was eventually destroyed over the planet Dathomir. Originally named the Brawl.


 * Razor's Kiss - Although it was built for the Empire by Kuat Drive Yards, this ship was never seen in service to the Empire. When it was nearly completed, a commando force sent by Warlord Zsinj took control of it, and began shooting their way out of the shipyards. When the ships stationed there moved to intercept it, Warlord Zsinj brought in his fleet led by another Executor-class ship, Iron Fist, to protect it until they jumped out of the system. Unfortunately for Zsinj, one of his commando force was a spy, who destroyed the shield generators and planted a program in the ships computers that told the New Republic's fleet where it escaped to. Razor's Kiss was destroyed by the New Republic before ever seeing a real battle.


 * Whelm - This ship was flagship of the Azure Hammer Command in Sector Zero, the Imperial Center Oversector, containing the capital of the Empire. Leading a fleet of fifty-seven capital ships, Whelm served as the personal flagship of Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik.


 * Intimidator - Originally belonging to Black Sword Command together with two other anonymous "Super Star Destroyers," Intimidator would be pressed into service for the Duskhan League after the Yevethan revolt at the BLACK FIFTEEN shipyards over N'zoth as Pride of Yevetha. It was later reacquired by a revolt of the subjugated human crewmen. Intimidator eventually came to rest as a derelict somewhere between the galactic core and the Unknown Regions.


 * Reaper - Originally the flagship of Grand Moff Governor Ardus Kaine, it was eventually acquired by Admiral Pelleaon after consolidating Kaine's former holdings into the Imperial remnant. Reaper was destroyed in combat with the New Republic.


 * Terror - The flagship of Admiral Sarn as part of Grand Admiral Martio Batch's Project PHANTOM at Immdar Alpha involving the mass-use of stygium crystal cloaking devices on V38 assault fighters. Rebel agents managed to use a single fighter to damage key components of Terror. The ship was destroyed, along with the Immdar Alpha facility and the majority of Project PHANTOM.


 * Vengeance - Admiral Senn's flagship in the suppression of the lawless Airam Sector. She was eventually destroyed by in a battle with out-gunned Rebel forces, when Rogue squadron and the Rebels managed to destroy the shields with several Dreadnaughts on suicide runs, then rammed the Vengeance's bridge with the Airam corvette Thunder. The Rebels fired heavy rockets at the heavily-damaged ship, destroying it.


 * Aggressor - Admiral Roek's flagship and stationed in the Inner Rim region prior to the Battle of Endor. Later it was recalled to Corellia to protect the Corellian Engineering Corporation shipyards. It is believed to have been destroyed during a fratricidal battle between warlord Imperial factions, when it collided with a Torpedo Sphere at the Battle Of Tralus. Grand Admiral Pitta used a Torpedo Sphere to defend the planet Talus from Grand Admiral Grunger's fleet of 30 Star Destroyers, 60 Strike Cruises and 100 Carracks, until Grunger rammer the Aggressor into Pitta's sphere killing them both.


 * Knight Hammer - Seeing the inefficiencies of the Emperor's heirs, Admiral Daala murdered most of the warlords who had risen to power after the fall of the Empire. Consolidating command over the remaining Imperial military, Daala took command of the Knight Hammer, which had been built in secret by one of the murdered warlords. This ship was outfitted with special stealth armor to reduce her sensor cross section. In an strike against Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy on Yavin 4, the Knight Hammer fell victim to sabotage and was subsequently destroyed when it was pulled into Yavin's gravity well.