Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser

The Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser, or simply Dreadnaught, was a starship built for planetary occupation and space combat used by the Galactic Republic, Galactic Empire, and New Republic.

The Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser was designed and developed by Rendili StarDrive for the Republic Judicial Department prior to the Clone Wars and was based off a Mandalorian design. The keel runs 600 meters with the bow overlapping to produce a clamshell like appearance. Weapon systems include twenty quad laser cannons (six bow, seven port, seven starboard), ten laser cannons (five port, five starboard), and ten turbolaser batteries (five bow, five stern). Some ships were later customized to feature a warhead launcher for anti-starfighter defense.

While technologically advanced at the time, the Dreadnaught lacked in sublight and hyperspace speeds (a Class 4 rating), suffered computer failures, and could not compete with competing designs in terms of firepower and shielding. In addition to these technical drawbacks, the Dreadnaught also required over 16,000 crewmembers to run at optimal performance – perhaps the highest crew per keel meter ratio of any modern starship. This high crew requirement put strains on recruitment efforts and turned supplying a Dreadnaught into a logistical nightmare.

History
After being commissioned, the Dreadnaughts saw use in ending major conflicts, but its shortcomings were quickly apparent. To counter the most glaring flaw of the Dreadnaught fleet, the Galactic Republic military developed a technology to reduce the crew requirements. By installing a full-rig slave circuitry system, the crew requirements could be reduced from 16,000 per ship to a more manageable 2,200. Two hundred of the heavy cruisers were outfitted with this new technology and dubbed the Katana fleet. The project failed when the crew were driven insane by a hive virus, slaved the fleet together, and made a random jump into hyperspace.

Six Dreadnaughts were used in Outbound Flight, an ill-fated project aimed at extragalactic exploration. During the Clone Wars, the Dreadnaughts saw heavy use in many battles including the Battle of Duro and the Second Battle of Coruscant. Dreadnaughts also composed the Rendili defense fleet.

Dreadnaughts saw extensive use in the Imperial Starfleet due to their abundance. Battle squadrons assigned to unimportant systems were often assigned a Dreadnaught in place of a more modern cruiser. To increase its field potential, the Imperial Starfleet upgraded the ships' hyperdrive to Class 2 and converted cargo space into a hangar. With the hangar modification, a Dreadnaught could carry a squadron of TIE Fighters.

Fifty years after the Katana fleet was lost, Grand Admiral Thrawn recovered 180 of the lost Katana ships. They proved critical in his assault against the New Republic, since he had an abundance of cloned navy crewmen. Garm Bel Iblis maintained a personal fleet of six Dreadnaughts, which he used to capture 15 of the Katana ships.

The still fledgling fleet of the New Republic used donated, captured or recovered Dreadnaughts until the New Republic Navy formally decommissioned them after the New Class project. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Dreadnaughts would continue to be used by the New Republic and its successor government the Galactic Alliance.

Note that, though "Dreadnought" is the most common spelling in the real world, the class name for this ship is spelled "Dreadnaught."

Known ships

 * RSS Mas Ramdar - engaged the Invisible Hand during the Battle of Coruscant.
 * RSS Atrisian Iron - destroyed during Operation Durge's Lance
 * Famulus - ship in the personal fleet of House Vandron
 * RSS Katana - lead vessel of the Katana fleet after which the fleet is named
 * Nomad City
 * Peregrine - flagship of Garm Bel Iblis during the Thrawn crisis
 * RSS Prominence - destroyed during Operation Durge's Lance

Appearances

 * Star Wars Republic: The Dreadnaughts of Rendili
 * ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (novel)
 * Star Wars Republic 78: Loyalties
 * Dark Force Rising
 * The Last Command
 * Survivor's Quest
 * The Unifying Force