Lucrehulk-class Battleship

"Their deflector shield is too strong! We'll never get through it!"

- Ric Olié during the attack on the Droid Control Ship

The Lucrehulk-class Battleship, also known as a Droid Control Ship or a Trade Federation battleship, was a modified Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighter that was used by the Trade Federation and the Confederacy of Independent Systems and manufactured by Hoersch-Kessel Drive Inc.

Characteristics
Illegally modified from Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighters, and produced by Hoersch-Kessel Drive Inc., the most notable difference in Lucrehulk-class Battleship was the large communications array on its dorsal hull. The sensor arrays of the starship encircled the command centerspheres, while giant Central Control Computers designed to radio commands to the massive droid armies from remote locations helped Trade Federation officials command battles far from danger. At over three kilometers in diameter, the Control Ship featured a massive sphere in the center of the craft that contained the control bridge for usually Neimoidian officers along with its reactor assemblies. The outer half-circle featured large hangars lined with forward docking claws.

Designed to haul massive droid armies, Droid Control Ships featured a complement of 6,520 AATs, 550 MTTs, 50 C-9979 landing craft, 1,500 Vulture-class starfighters and 139,000 B1 battle droids. For space defense capabilities, it featured approximately 42 quad turbolaser batteries and point-defense laser cannons.

History
Originally designed to haul freight, the Droid Control Ship was at first modified in secret to house the droid armies of the Trade Federation, with the addition of 42 quad turbolasers and upgraded sensor arrays.

The Trade Federation eventually brought a Droid Control Ship to the Mid Rim planet of Naboo over disputes about plasma exports and the taxation of Free Trade Zones during the Invasion of Naboo. After the planet was secured, the blockade was disbanded, leaving the Control Ship as the only ship left in orbit around the planet. It was soon attacked by Bravo Flight, but its deflector shield was too strong. In the midst of the battle, the young Force-sensitive pilot Anakin Skywalker accidentally flew inside the ship's hangar. As Skywalker attempted to make his escape, he fired upon the droids attacking his fighter and inadvertently fired two proton torpedoes into the starboard main reactor. The Control Ship started blowing up from the inside to Bravo Flight's surprise as Skywalker flew from the hanger bay. Finally, the ship's sphere exploded from the main reactor overloading, saving the Gungan Grand Army from destruction by disrupting the Control Ship's signal, shutting down the B1 battle droids below. The ship's port-side ring survived its destruction.

Years later, the battleships were secretly converted for war, as a war with the Republic was becoming inevitable, although the conversion was not perfect as turbolasers did not cover every angle. The battleships became part of the fleet of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and saw action in various battles. Several battleships were part of the Christophsis blockade, and Captain Mar Tuuk commanded a battleship as head of the Ryloth blockade. General Grievous used Lucrehulk-class Battleships in his fleet during the Battle of Kamino. The General organized all ships into attack formation Echo-3 to protect his command ship, as the fleet was only a distraction for an underwater invasion force. K2-B4 commanded the Lola Sayu defense fleet from a Lucrehulk-class Battleship during the Battle of Lola Sayu. The ships were also used in the Battle of Coruscant, the final major CIS offensive of the Clone Wars.

During the Galactic Civil War the Rebel Alliance utilized a Lucrehulk-class Battleship, Lucrehulk Prime, as a flight academy, and was commanded by General Hera Syndulla from Alliance Starfighter Command.

Behind the scenes
The Lucrehulk-class Battleship first appeared in the 1999 film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and was first identified in the 2017 video game, Star Wars Battlefront II. Although Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know states that it holds 139,000 B1 battle droids, Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles states that it has a capacity to carry 329,000. The Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles also states that the Lucrehulk-class Battleship holds 6,250 Armored Assault Tanks, while Star Wars: Ships of the Galaxy establishes 6,520. Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles also states that it is 3,170 meters in length, while previous sources such as the databank established 3,356.9 meters.