Broadside-class cruiser kdb-1

Broadside-class cruiser kdb-1 The Broadside-class cruiser kdb-1, also known as the Broadside-class corvette, was an Imperial capital warship.

Characteristics
The Broadside-class shared a common hull design with the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer. Designed for long-range engagements, this ship had unimpressive acceleration and maneuverability, light armor, two turbolasers, and launchers.

Early models were armed with expensive diamond boron missiles that could be used to deadly effect against formations of tightly-packed ships. The range of the missiles made them very useful in long-range attacks. These weapons were replaced by more economical concussion missiles in later models, though some of the cruisers still kept their lethal armament.

History
The Broadside-class was first produced by Kuat Drive Yards in the early days of the Galactic Civil War. It was conceived as a long-range missile ship, and was based on the Gladiator-class. The design was stripped of passenger compartments, the hangar bays were turned into torpedo bays and the vessel lost some of its armor. Due to the lack of self-sufficiency, the Broadside-class was redesignated as a "cruiser" instead of a "Star Destroyer".

Kuat engineers also decided that great maneuverability was not necessary for the class, thus leaving the Broadside slower than the Gladiator. This was the cause of its vulnerability to other capital warships, and as a result ships of this class were in practice almost never deployed without an escort. However, its missiles proved lethal against fighter squadrons and small space stations.

In addition to its design-problems, a number of Broadsides were stolen or otherwise acquired by the Zann Consortium during the Civil War.

Behind the scenes
This type of ship has many similarities to the Demolisher, a Star Destroyer that appeared in the Star Wars: Droids episode "The Pirates of Tarnoonga". In The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide, the two designs were given an in-universe connection.

There is some debate in the online community as to the actual size of the Broadside-class. Concept art made available by the game designers suggested that they envisaged a size of around 50-60 meters in length, comparable to small picket cruisers like the Guardian-class light cruiser, but the StarWars.com Databank established the canonical size of the vessel to be 500 meters long, placing them within the standard cruiser category.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption

Notes and references
Broadside-Klasse Kreuzer