Star Dreadnought/Legends

Star Dreadnought was a formal designation for some of the largest and presumably strongest warships in the starfleets of regional and galactic governments. The term "Super Star Destroyer" was also applied to some of these ships, often in slang or casual conversation.

Various classes of ships described as "Star Dreadnoughts" are known to have served in the Kuat Drive Yards defense fleet, the Republic Navy, the Imperial Starfleet, and the New Republic Defense Fleet.

Known Star Dreadnought classes

 * Mandator-class Star Dreadnought
 * Mandator II-class Star Dreadnought
 * Executor-class Star Dreadnought

Presumed Star Dreadnought classes

 * Sovereign-class Star Dreadnought
 * Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought

Behind the scenes
The term "Star Dreadnought" (or "Star Dreadnaught") is disliked by some fans who prefer the term "Super Star Destroyer," which has been used to refer to many ships from the 2.2km Allegiance to the 19km Executor. The term 'Star Dreadnought' was first explictly used in Attack of the Clones Incredible Cross Sections for the Mandator, and the Executor was given the formal designation 'Star Dreadnought' in Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy. Inside the Worlds also implied that "Super Star Destroyer" was a "Rebel slang" term – though in fact the passage does not show that the term's currency is limited to "Rebel slang", and in other canon sources, it is used, at least informally, by Imperial officers and other non-Rebels.

Some fans have welcomed what they see as a necessary rationalization, while others consider this redesignation and redefinition contradictory and unnecessary. Although many on both sides of the debate have been quick to attack each other, some opponents of the changes have mainly engaged in ad hominem attacks on Curtis Saxton, who is widely seen as responsible for the change in designations.

The word 'Dreadnaught' (or 'Dreadnought') has actually been in use since the era of the Marvel Star Wars comics and the original DelRey novel contract, although it has been applied to an even wider range of warship classes than "Super Star Destroyer", or even the generic "Star Destroyer":


 * The 3000 year old Invincible-class Dreadnought seen in 1979's Han Solo at Star's End was "over two kilometres long" - slightly longer on the keel than an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, but in a similar tonnage bracket. It can be compared with several other obsolescent battleship types, including the Kumari Battleship, and the 3km Cal-class warship from Cracken's Rebel Operatives (1994). Since these elder warships were constructed at a time when most craft were significantly smaller than CW/GCW-era ships, they would have followed the definition of 'Dreadnaught' more closely back then, rather than compared with modern SW vessels.


 * The 600-meter Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser was invented in 1987 by West End Games for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. Often referred to simply as a "Dreadnaught", and commonly described as the most potent capital ship of the Old Republic Starfleet before the Clone Wars, it is several hundred times smaller than a Star Dreadnought, although it is also known to have been deployed in fleets of several hundred ships. (It should be noted that 'Dreadnaught' is the ship's class-name, not it's designation.)


 * The massive Imperial "dreadnaught" Eye of Palpatine appeared in 1995's Children of the Jedi: dating from the end of the Clone Wars, it was larger than even Executor or Eclipse.


 * The Imperial propulsion testbed EX-F, from 1996's Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy, is described as built on a "Dreadnaught hull", and also as a "Star Destroyer", though her precise size is never given. This ship was apparently not a 600m Dreadnaught-class cruiser, as a Star Destroyer designation would be inappropriate for such a small ship, and the Black Sword Command Order of Battle consisted of of no ships smaller than a 900m Victory-class Star Destroyer (though whether EX-F was actually entered on the OOB is not entirely certain). She may have been significantly larger than an Imperial-class ship, as she was apparently used by both the Yevetha and the Imperial Remnant as the command-ship centrepiece of Star Destroyer formations.

It should be noted that there is currently no direct canonical evidence that the Eclipse-class "Super Star Destroyers" seen in the Dark Empire series, and the Sovereign-class design described in the Dark Empire Sourcebook were ever designated as "Star Dreadnoughts" – although conjecturally, the size and firepower of these two classes would easily fit the criteria used for the Executor-class.