Carrier/Legends

A carrier was a type of military starship specifically designed to focus on the transportation of small starships. They were generally considered separate from the warship, any vessel honed to be a weapons-platform on its own.

Characteristics
The term carrier can be divided into two main types: dedicated carriers, generally with few weapons and weak shielding, the other type being warships which also had a substantial capacity for carrying starfighters.

History


In the Clone Wars era, the Venator-class Star Destroyer was used as a dual destroyer/carrier. By contrast, the Victory-class Star Destroyer was assigned to strictly a destroyer role, as it had a small complement of fighters relative to its size. This tradition of using similar hull design, but with a separate carrier and a destroyer version, was carried on in the New Republic's New Class modernization program, with the Endurance-class carrier sharing the same hull as the Nebula-class Star Destroyer.

Due to the pre-existing communication and coordination capabilities of carriers, they were often used as command ships. The New Republic's Fifth Fleet flagship during the Black Fleet Crisis was an Endurance-class carrier. In contrast, the Galactic Empire used different Super Star Destroyers for command and carrier purposes, respectively.

EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigates and Strike-class cruisers regularly had a small complement of fighters. Additionally, some other ships such as Corellian corvettes could be modified to carry a handful of fighters. Carrack-class light cruisers did not have an internal hangar, so exterior rack was added for up to five TIEs for use on reconnaissance or courier duties.

The carrier concept was not limited to the Republic, Empire, and New Republic, as at least the Ssi-ruuk and the Yuuzhan Vong had their own carrier analogs.

A-vek Iiluunu
A Yuuzhan Vong carrier type, 800 meters long on average.

Acclamator-class assault ship
A type of troop carrier used during the Clone Wars.



Defender-class assault carrier
The 700 meter Defender-class was originally developed for the Defender program in the early New Republic, but was taken up by the New Class Modernization Program and improved upon. The design also became an inspiration for the Majestic-class heavy cruiser, using its hull as basis.

Endurance-class fleet carrier
Based on the Nebula-class Star Destroyer hull, the 1,040 meter Endurance-class carried a large complement of fighters.

Escort carrier
A 500 meter Imperial support carrier design, it could carry up to 72 starfighters, like the Imperial-class Star Destroyer.



Galactic-class battle carrier
The 1,600 meter Galactic-class was based on earlier Star Destroyer designs, but with a larger mass, and extensive carrier facilities. It held several squadrons-worth of fighters.

Imperial escort carrier
This escort carrier design was used exclusively by the Storm Commandos during the Galactic Civil War. In addition to a large, central hangar, the craft also had several heavy cannons lining its hull.

Kalla's Stanchion
This vessel resembled an oversized EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate and had several hangars lining its hull.

Mon Cal heavy carrier
This was a heavy warship class built by the Mon Calamari in the lead-up to the Second Galactic Civil War.



Quasar Fire-class bulk cruiser
This bulk cruiser design was retrofitted to serve as a dedicated fighter carrier.

Republic carrier
These vessels served the Republic Navy as dedicated carriers rather than warships, during the Clone Wars.

Sh'ner-class planetary assault carrier
This 750 meter carrier design was used by the Ssi-ruuvi Imperium and could store landing craft in its 12 launching bays.

Starfighter carrier
The Galactic Empire employed some Super Star Destroyers as dedicated fighter carriers.

Providence-class carrier/destroyer
The 1,088 meter Providence-class had an extensive hangar system lining its sides. On modified ships like the Invisible Hand, this was enlarged even further.

Venator-class Star Destroyer
The 1,137 meter Venator-class Star Destroyer served the dual purpose of both a fighting ship and a carrier, being capable of holding 420 small Republic starfighters inside its dorsal hangar bays that ran along much of the ship's length.

Appearances

 * Knight Errant

Notes and references
Portanaves