Interdictor-class cruiser

Interdictor-class cruiser "Sith Interdictor ship! They must've been waiting for us in the hyperspace route. We're caught in their tractor beam."

- Carth Onasi

The Interdictor-class cruiser, also known as the hyperspace interdiction cruiser and the Interdictor-class Sith Destroyer, was among the most numerous capital ships seen in action with the Sith Navy during and after the Jedi Civil War.

Characteristics


The Interdictor-class was 600 meters long and featured a hull that split into two structures, one dorsal and one ventral. The ship was propelled by three main thrusters and four auxiliary thrusters, similar to the Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Each ship was commanded from a sternward tower.

The Interdictor-class cruiser was armed with 5 medium Turbolaser cannon batteries, 6 light Point-defense laser cannon batteries, 3 Tractor beam batteries, and 1 Gravity well projector. The infamous Interdictor-class cruiser and Sith warship, the Leviathan was equipped with 20 Quad laser cannons, 4 Turbolaser cannons, 2 Ion cannons. Despite the timespan between designs, the Interdictor-class cruiser was comparable in power to an Imperial Victory II-class Star Destroyer with all the advantages of the Immobilizer 418 cruiser and served a role similar to that of the more modern Star Destroyer designs.

History
The class name "Interdictor" was first proposed by Admiral Jimas Veltraa. When Veltraa was killed in the Mandalorian Wars, some proposed that the name of the class be changed to honor him, but this was overruled by the Supreme Chancellor. In 3,963 BBY, construction on the Interdictor-class was approved.



The original prototype Interdictors were manufactured by Republic Sienar Systems. Like the Inexpugnable-class command ships, the Interdictor-class cruisers were built at Corellian shipyards, though many more would be constructed by the Star Forge to fuel the growing warfleet of the Sith Lord Darth Revan.

The most notable Interdictor-class Cruiser was the Leviathan, a Galactic Republic warship that was said to be the only vessel in the class that came out of the shipyards in a space-worthy state. It was commanded by Admiral Saul Karath, who defected with the ship to join the Sith Lords Revan and Malak. The ship was duplicated in the Star Forge and produced by the hundreds. The Leviathan itself continued to serve as Karath's flagship up until his death.



Malak, in the Leviathan, brought a fleet of Interdictors to Taris and positioned them around that world in an attempt to stop the Jedi Knight Bastila Shan from escaping. Frustrated that the search for the missing Jedi was taking too long, he ordered his fleet to bombard Taris with their turbolasers, turning the Upper City into slag. Some time later, a number of Interdictors participated in the Battle of Rakata Prime, which bore witness to the destruction of the Star Forge and the mass production of Interdictor-class ships and Sith fighters.

Despite that, many of the remaining Interdictor-class cruisers were later used to form the core of Darth Nihilus's Sith battlefleet and were seen in action at the Battle of Telos IV.

Millennia later, the overall design principles survived in the Galactic Republic and later in the Galactic Empire, in the form of the Star Destroyer line of warships. Sienar, known under the Empire as Sienar Fleet Systems, went on to make the Immobilizer 418 cruiser, which was equipped with a superior form of gravity well projector.



Behind the scenes
According to the Knights of the Old Republic: Prima's Official Strategy Guide, the Interdictor-class was built by Sienar Fleet Systems, a company which would not exist until the formation of the Galactic Empire. The company at the time of the Mandalorian Wars was still called Republic Sienar Systems.

The 1998 PC program Star Wars: Behind the Magic includes a glossary entry for the "Interdictor-class cruiser." However, as this entry notes, the term is intended to apply to the Immobilizer 418 cruiser and should not be confused with the Interdictor-class cruiser of the KotOR series.

Appearances

 * The Betrayal of Darth Revan
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Timeline 8: The Jedi Civil War
 * Timeline 8: The Jedi Civil War