Imperial-class Star Destroyer

"Oh, my. I could've sworn the hangar was down this hallway. Oh, why do they build these infernal ships so absurdly large?"

- C-3PO

The Imperial-class Star Destroyer (ISD) known generally as the Imperial Star Destroyer, was a product line of massive dagger-shaped capital ships of the Imperial Navy and later the Navy of the First Order. It consisted of two variants, the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer and the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer.

History
"With shipyards turning out Imperial-class Star Destroyers, any revolt will be hard pressed to make so much as a dent in the Emperor's armor."

- Artoz

The Imperial Star Destroyer replaced the smaller Venator-class used by the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars and was generally the Empire's star cruiser of choice.

At the height of its power, the Galactic Empire operated over 25,000 of these ships. The distinctive profile of the Imperial-class instilled fear into the soldiers of rebelling factions, and the name of a Star Destroyer could be preceded by the ship prefix ISD (standing for Imperial Star Destroyer). In a report to an admiral, Senior Commander Alecia Beck referred to the ISD Vehement.

After the Battle of Endor, the New Republic destroyed or captured Star Destroyers in a number of engagements. For example, in the aftermath of the Liberation of Kashyyyk the Neutralizer surrendered to the New Republic and the Dominion had been captured by insurgents led by Han Solo. A third destroyer named Vitiator was destroyed after Solo's team had gained control of the Dominion and turned that ship's weapons on the Vitiator.

Roughly thirty years after the Battle of Endor, the new Resurgent-class Battlecruiser would be constructed to replace the aging Imperial-class by the Empire's first successor state, the First Order, and would borrow design philosophies from the highly respected ship.

Behind the scenes
While working on the Imperial-class Star Destroyers of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, model maker John Knoll worked from Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections to make sure that what the audience would see inside the ship matches what was known about Star Destroyers.

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Puzzle Droids