Executor-class Star Dreadnought/Legends

Executor-class Star Dreadnought "With the Executor under my command, I will be the ultimate power in the universe!"

- Admiral Kendal Ozzel, only moments before being killed by Darth Vader

The Executor-class Star Dreadnought, also known as the Executor-class Star Destroyer or Executor-class Super Star Destroyer, was a heavy warship class in the Super Star Destroyer league, often used as command ships in the Imperial Navy.

Characteristics
The Executor-class measured 19,000 meters in length. 279,144 Imperial Navy officers and enlisted men were said to have crewed the vessel, while 1,590 gunners were said to have operated its over 5,000 turbolasers and ion cannons. Thirteen engines in five thruster banks gave the Executor-class impressive acceleration for its size. A minimum of 144 starfighters were carried; the massive hangar could hold thousands.

Sensor domes
The geodesic domes located on and around the Executor's bridge tower (similar to those of Imperial-class Star Destroyers) served dual purposes. Inside the dome were hyperwave transceiver coils for supralight active sensors, while vanes jutting out of the dome served as shield projectors for the surrounding area.

These domes were not vulnerable to external attack as long as the shields remained intact, but concentrated bombardment&mdash;such as that ordered by Admiral Ackbar during the Battle of Endor&mdash;could knock out this protective field. The sensors and shield projectors thus became vulnerable to attack, as demonstrated by Rebel starfighter pilots.

There were many such geodesic domes scattered around the ship, probably to ensure that there were no blind spots for her sensors and to provide a good distribution of shield projector coverage. Concentrated fire on a single area would thus not deprive the ship of all her shield-generating ability.

Main bridge
The bridge of the Executor had the same basic layout as standard Star Destroyers. The outer-most part featured nine triangular viewports. The center contained two crewpits which housed the control consoles for the ship. Between them was the command walkway. To the right and left sides of the bridge were two alcoves containing the weapons and defense stations. Behind the bridge were the communications stations, a turbolift, and a HoloNet pod for ship-to-ship communications.

On the level directly beneath the bridge was the main navigation complex.

The design and construction of the Executor-class
The Executor-class was the brainchild of Lira Wessex, the brilliant and ambitious engineer who already had the designs of the Venator-class and Imperator-class (later renamed Imperial-class) Star Destroyers to her credit. Following her work on the already-impressive Imperial-class, Wessex sought to improve on the design. Adhering to Kuat Drive Yards' philosophy of psychological effect in starship design, or "terror styling," she believed that the immense size of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer was largely responsible for its ability to intimidate opponents. Working on that theory, she began designing a starship that would dwarf all her previous designs. Though KDY had designed and built extremely large warships in the past, such as the Mandator-class Star Dreadnought, the result obtained by Wessex was utterly gargantuan.



Wessex submitted the Executor-class design for approval in a period when Imperial tactical philosophy was rapidly becoming organized around the concept of superweapons&mdash;the Death Star was nearing completion at the time, and its very existence surely must have influenced those making the decision to go, or not go, with Wessex's project. For instance, the Imperial Navy felt its position of dominance threatened by the battle station, and its approval of the design may have been meant to keep the fleet in play as Palpatine's first terror weapon of choice. Should the Death Star perform as expected, the navy may have wanted to be able to keep up with it, with a superweapon of their own. Should the station fail to perform as expected (as it eventually did), the navy would have an alternative ready for the Emperor to turn to.

Emperor Palpatine authorized the construction of the first four Executor-class ships even before the Battle of Yavin, but the sudden and unanticipated destruction of the Death Star in that engagement (0 BBY) changed Wessex's production schedule completely. At the urging of Darth Vader, the Emperor ordered her to rush the new ships into production as quickly as possible, to compensate for the loss of the battle station. As certain segments of naval command may have anticipated, a new symbol of intimdation was needed, and as Wessex had believed, the Executor-class fit the need well.

Initially deemed militarily inefficient, the ships served to further the Imperial policy of fear set forth in the Tarkin Doctrine. While the ships of the Executor-class proved effective in driving fear into the hearts of the Rebel Alliance, they were disliked by much of the Admiralty, who preferred to field large numbers of smaller vessels over one larger one.



Though the ship was initially manufactured by KDY, the first vessel of its class, Executor, was built in secret at Fondor rather than the company's home shipyards at Kuat. Executor went on to become the most feared and famous of its class by virtue of its status as Darth Vader's command ship.

In the later years, production on Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts and other Super Star Destroyers accelerated in a display of Emperor's wealth and power. After the death of the Emperor and the fragmentation of the Galactic Empire into feuding fiefs, Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts were popular acquisitions amongst warlords hoping to improve their military power and prestige. Some would fall into the hands of the New Republic, where they would fight against the Empire they had once served.

Trivia

 * Other names used to describe these vessels were "Battlecruiser", "Star Destroyer" and "star cruiser".


 * "Executor" comes from Latin and means "an administrator or executive officer".


 * In the ESB arcade game for Atari, an Imperial ship can be seen searching for the Rebel's secret base after the Battle of Massassi Temple. This crude vector-drawing was quite similar to an early Executor production painting, and could represent a distinct warship class.

Behind the scenes

 * Although G-canon movie visuals established a length of around 11 miles, many official sources have incorrectly stated a length of 8,000 meters. Since then, there has been a general movement towards the true canon length. The Executor's length was later revised to 12,800 meters, the average between the incorrect five-mile length, and the correct canon length. The official databank currently states that the "latest measurements" give this ship class a length of 19,000 meters, which fits within the possible range established by the films. However, it also lists an alternate armament, which is quite small for such a large ship.




 * On March 9th 2006, in addition to clarifying the length of the Executor, the Wizards of the Coast website added information in their Q&A section about the size of other Executor SSDs:
 * Q: In Starships of the Galaxy, the Executor (Vader's Super Star Destroyer) is listed with a length of 8,000 meters, but in the text it's described as being eight times the length of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, which would be 12,800 meters. Which is correct?


 * A: Actually, they're both wrong because the official size of Super Star Destroyers has been revised. Thus, here's some official errata: The Executor is 19,000 meters long, as are all Super Star Destroyers of the same class.


 * Any ships not associated with the Executor stock or referenced as being part of the Executor-class, could thus arguably be part of the Super-class of 8 km long SSDs.


 * When Executor's sensor dome exploded during the Battle of Endor, a crewman said that the bridge shields were down. Most people attributed this to the dome being destroyed, but the causal relationship is the other way around&mdash;the dome exploded because the shields went down. However, the Wraith Squadron books use destroying the domes as a plot point, so this has apparently moved into a level of canon.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Marvel Star Wars
 * Darksaber
 * X-wing: The Krytos Trap
 * X-wing: The Bacta War
 * X-wing: Iron Fist
 * X-wing: Solo Command
 * X-wing: Isard's Revenge
 * Crimson Empire