Battleship/Legends



Battleship was a name widely used for types of capital ship. Often, it was reserved as a term for the largest and strongest warships in a navy, broadly comparable with dreadnought, but sometimes, smaller vessels in the same navy were described as performing the duties of a peace-keeping battleship. At times, it was synonymous with "warship" and simply described larger combat ships.

Republic records


The earliest known battleships, were the vessels created in the long-running Kumauri Battleship line. Culminating with the Cal-class battleship, the line was popular with several governments, most notably the Galactic Republic.

Throughout the Great Hyperspace War, the primary combatant ships in both Sith and Republic fleets, were denoted as "battleships".



During the Great Sith War and the Mandalorian Wars, the Mandalorian factions used Kyramud-type battleships in their fleets. The Republic maintained fleets of large, blocky battleships that slowly became outdated and replaced. The Mandalorian Wars saw the Galactic Republic constructing and fielding the Inexpugnable-class tactical command ships which were sometimes referred to as "battleships."

In the final stages of the New Sith Wars, the term "battleship" for capital ships like the corsair battleship and Republic battleship, fast-moving vessels which, along with starfighters, served in a picket/attack role, and provided support for other warships like Sith Destroyers and Hammerhead-class cruisers.

Clone Wars and beyond


The "battleship" designation was again used by the Trade Federation for the militarized version of their LH-3210 cargo freighter. Though very large ships, and at least sometimes heavily shielded, the original militarized version of these ships was more of a starfighter carrier and battle droid assault ship than a combat warship, with a relatively light defensive armament of quad lasers. Later versions used during the Clone Wars, however, lived up to the "battleship" designation with a massive armament of turbolasers. During the Clone Wars, the Republic also faced the threat of the battleship Malevolence, Grievous's flagship and the strongest vessel in the Separatist fleet.

Cruisers and battleships


During the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War, ships such as the Venator-class, Victory-class and Imperial-class Star Destroyers could be referred to as either "battleships" or "peacekeeping battleships".

At the same time, the Venator-class was also contrasted with battleships in the Republic fleet, for which they acted as escorts. Little else is known about these battleships, except that they were heavier in some sense than "medium-weight" warships like the Venator-class. This would be mirrored in the Imperial Navy, with Star Destroyers of the day acting as escorts for larger vessels, like Star Dreadnoughts.

During the Galactic Civil War, the Imperial Navy described ships bigger than Imperial Star Destroyers as its largest battleships, built for the Imperial Navy by shipwrights like Kuat, Rendili and Loronar.

In the Alliance to Restore the Republic, the Mon Calamari MC80 Star Cruiser Home One-type Home One served in a battleship role for the Rebels, alongside vessels known as Corellian battleships. In the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic, at least one model of Corellian gunship, could be described as a "battleship" or a "ship of the line".

Cal-class battleship
The Cal-class was a 3km long cylindrical battleship derived from the Kumauri Battleship design, and last in this line of battleships. Like the others, it was armed with a Mass-driver cannon, which was made obsolete with the development of stronger planetary shields.

Core Galaxy Systems Dreadnought
The CGS Dreadnought was a 900 meter long battleship that served in the Republic Navy at some point prior to the Great Sith War. By this time it was obsolete and most ships were scrapped.

Corellian battleship
This type of battleship was used by the Rebel Alliance in their attack on the second Death Star battle station.

Corellian Dreadnaught
The Corellian Dreadnaught was built by Corellia in secret in the lead-up to the Second Galactic Civil War. Three of these blue, oval battleships fought in the conflict, wrecking many ships before being destroyed.



Corsair battleship
This Sith battleship was a warship used during the New Sith Wars.

Derriphan-class battleship
The Sith-built Derriphan-class was the primary battleship of the Sith Empire. It was used during the Great Hyperspace War, where the ships were defeated by Republic designs. One was used as Exar Kun's command ship during the Great Sith War and more were built by the Empire ruled by Darth Revan and used as picket ships, against Republic frigates.

Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser
The Dreadnaught-class cruiser was one of the first designs made as part of a return towards heavier weapons-platforms in Republic Navy fleet doctrine. Despite its classification, the class was frequently referred to as the Rendili Dreadnaught and had a long career thanks to its heavy armor, which made many factions favor the ship even after it became outdated. The class was even produced by private companies in the Outer Rim, as trade barriers in the time before the Clone Wars barred rimward planetary governments from buying heavier material and warships from the Core.

Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought
The 17,5km long Eclipse-class was one of the largest and most heavily armed warships in galactic history. Shaped to resemble sea-going naval vessels of ages past, the black warships were infamous among New Republic personnel, particularly due to their superlaser main armament, lining the main dorsal hull.

EX-F
The EX-F was an Imperial dreadnaught used as a testbed for various weapons.

Executor-class Star Dreadnought
The 19km Executor-class was a heavy battleship design built to command and coordinate fleets throughout a sector, and was armed with over 5,000 weapons-systems.



Eye of Palpatine
The Eye of Palpatine was a heavy battleship shaped like an asteroid, designed as a stepstone from torpedo platforms to battle stations like the Death Stars.

Inexpugnable-class tactical command ship
The Inexpugnable-class was a heavy warship used during the Mandalorian Wars, 3.1km in diameter. It could coordinate up to 64 smaller cruisers, but had several shortcomings, which were hoped to be solved by the production of the Centurion-class battlecruiser.

Invincible-class Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser
The Invincible-class was among the largest warships of the time of its construction and was classified both as a "dreadnaught" and a "heavy cruiser". At 2,011 meters, the cylindrical dreadnaught was covered with weaponry and heavy armor. Later, it was used as a picket ship by the Republic and Corporate Sector Authority, and had several shortcomings compared to newer designs.

Keldabe-class battleship
The Mandalorian-made Keldabe-class had a design reminiscent of Mandalorian battleships of eras past, and was used by several fringe parties.



Kor Chokk
The Kor Chokk was a battleship-analog usually 8,180 meters in length, that looked similar to a collection of spheres consisting of various parts, grafted together after each won battle. They moved little in battle, but were equipped with many Yaret-Kor cannons. These ships fought in the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Koros-Strohna
The Koros-Strohna were the huge colony vessels which the Yuuzhan Vong travelled in between galaxies. They were also used as heavy carriers and battleships, and were on average 10km in diameter.

Kyramud-type battleship
The Kyramud type was a 752 meters long battleship-design shaped like insects used by the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders.

Loronar battleship
Loronar provided some type of battleship to the Galactic Empire. These were warships larger than the ubiquitous Star Destroyers.

Lucrehulk-class battleship
The Lucrehulk-class was a Trade Federation battleship with a 3km-long diameter converted from an existing freighter design. It carried armies and fighter squadrons and was heavily armed by the Separatists during the Clone Wars, being covered with gun batteries.



Mandator-class Star Dreadnought
The Mandator-class was one of several designs preceding the Executor and Eclipse classes, built for the defense of the Kuat Sector, and later the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars.

MC80 Home One type Star Cruiser
The Home One type Star Cruisers, of individual designs, were used as battleships and command ships of the Mon Calamari self-defense forces, which later joined with the Rebel Alliance.

Rendili battleship
Known for their heavy warship designs, Rendili created more for the Galactic Empire. These were larger than the standard Star Destroyers.

Republic battleship (Clone Wars)
This type of battleship was used by the Republic during the Clone Wars, and was often escorted by the medium-weight Venator-class Star Destroyer.

Republic battleship (Great Sith War)
This type of battleship was used as the main capital ship during the Great Sith War, participating in the First Battle of Empress Teta.

Republic battleship (New Sith Wars)


This type of battleship was a warship used to support the Hammerhead-class cruisers during the New Sith Wars.

Republic command ship
This heavy command ship was a predecessor of the Inexpugnable-class and fought during the Great Sith War.

Rothana battleship
This was a battleship design based on the Acclamator-class assault ship at the start of the Clone Wars.

Ship of the line
The ship of the line was a Corellian gunship design, much larger than other known designs, like the DP20 frigate. It saw service in the fleets of the Rebel Alliance.

Sienar Battleship
Sienar Battleships were built for the Empress Teta system and fought the Sith Empire during the Great Hyperspace War.

Sovereign-class Star Dreadnought
The Sovereign-class was a mass-produced, compact version of the Eclipse design, at 15km in length. All known hulls were destroyed during the fall of the resurrected Emperor.

Strident-class Star Defender
The Strident-class was a heavy warship made to complement the Mon Calamari-made Viscount-class Star Defenders in the final years of the New Republic.

Subjugator-class heavy cruiser
The Subjugator-class was a heavy cruiser design used by the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Despite its classification, it eclipsed pre-war battleship designs used in the same navy and was often referred to as a battleship in its own right. It was infamous for its heavy ion cannons that were capable of disabling entire fleets of mainline Republic cruisers.



Uro-ik v'alh
The Uro-ik v'alh was a oblong battleship design averaging 2,240 meters in length. It was used by the Yuuzhan Vong during their invasion of the galaxy.

Viscount-class Star Defender
The 17km long Viscount-class represented a new direction of the New Republic Navy, of heavy dreadnaughts that could withstand an assault by Imperial Remnant Super Star Destroyers. Although they rarely saw action against rogue Imperial forces, their value became apparant against the Yuuzhan Vong.

Wooden-hulled battleship
The wooden-hulled battleship Fairwind was used by the Jedi Valenthyne Farfalla to carry a group of Jedi Knights to the battlefields of Ruusan towards the end of the New Sith Wars. It was also referred to as a "gunship".

Behind the scenes


In real life, the term "battleship" emerged with a precise meaning in the late nineteenth century, as an abbreviation of "line-of-battle ship". It denoted a ship that could fight in the "line of battle", the main fleet formation. The early battleships were contrasted with cruisers, which while at this time were similar in size and speed, but were designed for longer-range patrol missions, and carried less armor. Over the following decades, cruisers became faster, with more speed but less armor than a battleship.

The term dreadnaught (or in UK English, "dreadnought") became synonymous with "battleship" after the introduction of the revolutionary "all-big gun" battleship HMS Dreadnought in 1906. Overnight, all battleship classes prior to HMS Dreadnought were made obsolete, and two modern eras in battleship history would later be considered: Classes made before HMS Dreadnought were referred to as "pre-Dreadnoughts" while classes made afterwards, based on its design-principles, were referred to as "Dreadnoughts". However, this was not a fixed nomenclature, and didn't replace the term "battleship" (for instance, the US Navy referred to its largest ships as Battleships: ).

Alongside the dreadnaught, a type of large cruiser with a similar armament of heavy guns was introduced, called the battlecruiser. These retained the traditional of less armor and greater speed, but they quickly came to be perceived as closer cousins to Dreadnoughts than to normal cruisers, a situation that was formalized in the international naval treaties after World War I, which limited the size of cruiser guns.

In the twentieth century, battleships were often only slightly larger than contemporary cruisers, even the limited post-WWI types, and usually smaller than battlecruisers; but they were much heavier in tonnage, due to their massive armor.

The SW galaxy diverges somewhat from the real-world terminology by having a mix of "battleships" and "dreadnoughts" in the same cultures and eras.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Golden Age of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Fall of the Sith Empire
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Flashpoint
 * Cloak of Deception
 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * Star Wars: Episode I Jedi Power Battles
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Outbound Flight
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Republic 50: The Battle of Kamino
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars (novel)
 * The Clone Wars: Prelude
 * HoloNet News — A Galaxy Divided
 * The Clone Wars: Shakedown
 * The Clone Wars: Procedure
 * Star Wars: Battlefront
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars: Republic Commando
 * Obsession
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Han Solo at Stars' End
 * Marvel Star Wars
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Children of the Jedi
 * X-wing: The Krytos Trap
 * X-wing: The Bacta War
 * X-wing: Iron Fist
 * X-wing: Solo Command
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Dark Empire
 * Empire's End
 * Darksaber
 * Crimson Empire
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * Vector Prime
 * The Unifying Force
 * Betrayal
 * Vector Prime
 * The Unifying Force
 * Betrayal

Notes and references
Slagskib