Confederate Navy

"Our problem is simple&mdash;the Separatist navy has four times the number of ships we do. We must slow down their ship production or this war will end quickly, and not in our favor."

- Mace Windu

The Confederate Navy was a large collection of warships and other starships provided for the Separatists' armed forces by the contributing members of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

History
The navy was organized around flotillas of destroyers and frigates built by hundreds of aggressively-independent star systems, who often donated them to the various commercial organizations frontlining the war. The main battleships were donated by the Trade Federation.

During the early days of the Separatist Alliance, the fledging Confederate Navy was complemented by Sabaoth Squadron, pledged to the Separatist cause by Cavik Toth just prior to the Clone Wars. Toth led his squadron during the First Battle of Geonosis.

Although the ships were often commanded by droid officers, many fleets and blockades were placed under the command of organic Captains and Admirals. While Dooku's most trusted Commanders, such as Durge and Asajj Ventress, retained leadership positions even within the Navy, Admirals like Pors Tonith, Kirst, and Trench were responsible for leading entire fleets and were important tacticians during the war. Trench in particular was a feared admiral whose tactics tore apart Republic fleets. The famed Admiral was presumed to have perished during the Battle of Malastare Narrows prior to the Clone Wars but had survived the battle and joined the Separatist Alliance at the outset of the Clone Wars. Trench was defeated and again believed to have been killed during the Battle of Christophsis in the second year of the Clone Wars. Trench actually survived the battle thanks to cybernetics which were used to replace much of the left side of his body.

At the beginning of the war, the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence used its deadly ion cannons to great effect, terrorizing Republic supply lines and making short work of multiple naval task forces, such as Plo Koon's fleet whilst stationed in the Abregado system. The ship was destroyed by a Jedi strike team, who reprogrammed the ship to collide into the Dead moon of Antar. The separatists did not give up on the Malevolence, however, and it was succeeded by its sister ship, the Devastation, which Dooku placed under the command of Nightsister Sai Sircu. Grievous would later attempt to rebuild his fallen flagship, dubbed the Malevolence II.

The navy depended on large shipyards administered by Overseers who watched over the slaves whom they depended on to build the massive warships quickly. They made use of organic workers rather than droids so that the Republic could not bomb their shipyards without immense civilian casualties. In an effort to halt production, a team consisting of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano infiltrated the Gwori shipyards and liberated the facility's slaves, allowing a strike team to bomb the shipyards. The destruction of the shipyard tipped the balance of the war away from the Separatists, allowing the Clone Wars to rage on.

During the course of the war, Separatist warships participated in various engagements, notably during the Quell, Kamino, and Umbara. Other times, such at Ryloth, Lola Sayu, and Serenno, Confederate ships served defensive purposes or blockades.

One of General Grievous's flagships, the Invisible Hand, led the navy on a hit-and-fade campaign that disrupted travel, communication, and commerce in the Rim regions, as well as mass invasions on vulnerable Outer Rim worlds.

Towards the end of the war, while hundreds of thousands of Separatist warships battled the Republic in vast Outer Rim campaigns, a task force led personally by General Grievous and amounting to several thousand ships made a fast snatch at Coruscant in an attempt to capture Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. This task force was defeated in the Battle of Coruscant and its remnants retreated into hyperspace.

Aftermath
At the end of the war, the Confederacy still had many more armadas of ships in its holdings in the Outer Rim Territories, but these were made redundant after the deactivation of most of the droid armies.

Years later, some remaining ships appeared in Gizor Dellso's Remnant Navy, a starfleet created by Gizor Dellso for his Separatist holdout on Mustafar. This fleet was destroyed in the 501st Legion's conquest of the volcanic world.

Organization
Throughout its existence, the Confederate Navy was composed of six levels to its command structures. The structure was as follows:

Section
The Section was the smallest group in the Separatist admiralty. It was commanded by a captain and was composed of 2-4 vessels, plus maintenance and support crews.

Flight
The Flight was composed of 2-4 sections, and by extension, 4-16 vessels. It was commanded by a commodore.

Squadron
The Squadron was made up of three to four flights, and by extension, 6-12 sections and 12-64 vessels. It was commanded by a commodore.

Task group
The task group was composed of three to ten squadrons, with 36-640 vessels for each task group. It was commanded by a rear admiral.

Task force
The task force was composed of two task groups, with 72-1,280 vessels for each task force. It was commanded by a vice admiral.

Fleet
The highest of the levels, the fleet, was composed of three task groups, and 200-4000 vessels among them. It was commanded by an admiral. At least a hundred fleets were comprised of the Confederate Navy.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Star Wars: Republic Commando
 * Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars PhotoComic
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars novel
 * The Clone Wars: Shakedown
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 film
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * The Clone Wars: Act on Instinct
 * The Clone Wars: Hunting the Hunters (Part I)
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars: Obsession
 * Reversal of Fortune
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith junior novel
 * Star Wars: Dark Times: Parallels
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
 * The Clone Wars: Act on Instinct
 * The Clone Wars: Hunting the Hunters (Part I)
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds: Clone Campaigns
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars: Obsession
 * Reversal of Fortune
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith junior novel
 * Star Wars: Dark Times: Parallels
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
 * Reversal of Fortune
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith comic
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith junior novel
 * Star Wars: Dark Times: Parallels
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron