Super Star Destroyer/Legends

"Concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer!"

- Admiral Ackbar, referring to Executor, during the Battle of Endor

Super Star Destroyer was a term used by Imperial and Rebel/New Republic personnel about several Imperial warship types larger than Star Destroyers, ranging from Star Cruisers up to Star Dreadnoughts.

Darth Vader's command ship, Executor, was one such vessel and one of the most famous Super Star Destroyers fielded, as was the even deadlier Eclipse, which served as one of Galactic Emperor Palpatine's flagship.

Characteristics


Because these dagger-shaped vessels were larger and more heavily armed than Imperial destroyers and frigates, the mission profile of most vessels in the Super Star Destroyer-range differed from that of smaller and more common warships like the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, the Victory-class Star Destroyer and the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate. They were used to provide heavy firesupport during engagements, similar to the Republic Mandator-class Star Dreadnoughts of the Clone Wars, and had extensive command and control functions over large forces, similar to earlier command ships like the Old Republic's Inexpugnable-class tactical command ship.

While any vessel with a working communications and sensor array could act as a command ship, a vessel like the Executor had vastly improved abilities compared to smaller ships. The Executor had dedicated communications and sensor arrays, which included multiple sensor globes in addition to the ones situated on top of the bridge, as well as the adequate space for multiple "fleet captains" to act as RTO and staff.

A single Imperial Executor-class Star Dreadnought wielded enough armaments to rival a fleet of Imperial-class vessels, and the Eclipse-class was built around a superlaser that could destroy individual Star Destroyers and Rebel Star Cruisers in a single blast or sear entire continents in a flash.

These vessels were much larger than most other navies's ships-of-the-line, were capable of projecting power across entire Oversectors and served as command ships for galaxy-spanning campaigns. With this, they were a good expression of the Tarkin Doctrine, which argued that galactic peace could be achieved by developing the ability to project overwhelming firepower against any enemy, rendering all resistance futile before it even began.



Categorization
The task of cataloguing most of the types was made difficult due to limited information being available outside the Imperial Navy. One complication was the extensive use of the term "Super Star Destroyer", in informal slang, much like "blockade runner" was for CR90 corvettes.

In design terms, some classes were massive up-scalings of the Star Destroyer concept, and the formal designation for Executor and her sister ships, as used by the New Republic's military recognition systems, was a mix of Executor-class Star Dreadnought, Executor-class Star Destroyer, and Executor-class Super Star Destroyer. Additionally, the Executor-class was originally referred to as "Super-class Star Destroyer" in official Imperial documents. When first observed by Rebel agents shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the Executor was also thought to be an abnormally large battlecruiser or a large Star Destroyer.

Ships with similar power and size as Star Dreadnoughts were designated as Star Battlecruisers, making any possible difference between the two types dependent on mass. Like Star Dreadnoughts, this ship-type was first used in local security fleets exclusive to the rich, Republic sectors in the Core, before entering Republic and Imperial naval service as a result of the Clone Wars. The smallest Super Star Destroyers were designated as Star Cruisers, and given the change in all ship-board systems that came with different sizes, had less power-generation and armaments than the other types.

In addition to this, was the use of upper-case/lower-case differences, where a Star Destroyer could be defined as a "star cruiser", while a Super Star Destroyer could be defined as a "star dreadnought", regardless of its type.

History
"From Super Star Destroyers to torpedo spheres, it has been nearly impossible to overestimate the amount of destructive force available to the average Moff or Sector Group Commander"

- Arhul Hextrophon, on the Empire's obsession with super weapons.

The history of term "Super Star Destroyer" spanned many decades, from the earliest reference shortly after the end of the Clone Wars, to the era of the New Jedi Order, almost sixty years after its original use.

Origin


The research and development of heavy, conventional warships, which had begun in rich, Republic sectors centuries before the Clone Wars, continued under the Galactic Empire with larger and more refined designs, like the Executor- and Eclipse-class. Requesting funds for construction of the Executor-class, the Imperial Navy forged a profile on the vessel, calling it a Super-class Star Destroyer and making it out to be less than half its intended size. This was done to avoid arousing suspicion in the Imperial Senate about the true nature of the class as well as capitalize on the popularity of the dagger-shaped Star Destroyer type, which dated back to the Clone Wars.

The name was shortened to "Super Star Destroyer", and both it and the fake designation, remained in colloquial use even long after the real name and designation had been revealed and the first vessel made operational. The terms later carried over to different warship classes bigger than Star Destroyers, in the following decades.

Additionally, a vessel constructed as part of the Sarlacc Project some time after the end of the Clone Wars, was referred to as a Super Star Destroyer prototype. This ship, which was an early prototype for a new generation of heavy warships, was 12 kilometers in length and was destroyed by early rebel elements before it could be completed.

Early service
Before the Battle of Yavin, four ships of a class referred to as Super-class Star Destroyers were undergoing construction, with at least one additional vessel completed at the time. Ships of this class were decribed as looking like pie-sliced wedges, 8 to 10 times bigger than the Imperial-class Star Destroyer and being covered with armaments. The Imperial Master chief gunnery officer Tenn Graneet hoped he would be able to get transferred to the next ship of this class scheduled to roll out of the Kuat Drive Yards.

Onboard one of the Death Stars, a Super Star Destroyer underwent construction alongside several Imperial-class Star Destroyers. The drydock was visited by Darth Vader at some point, though if it was related to the ship's construction or some other matter, is unknown, as is the vessel's fate.



The most famous Super Star Destroyer, and the lead ship of its class, was Executor, constructed at the Fondor shipyards and commissioned several months after the Battle of Yavin as the flagship of Darth Vader's Death Squadron. The squadron was charged with hunting down and destroying Rebel activity in the Outland Regions. The command ship's size and firepower overshadowed even the Mandator-class of decades past.

Simultaneously, a sister-ship was built by Kuat Drive Yards: named Lusankya, she was secretly buried beneath the cityscape of Imperial Center, in a massive display of Palpatine's strength in the Force and the Empire's technological capabilities. Once hidden, she served as a high-security prison, secret Imperial headquarters, and ultimately, an emergency escape-craft.

Around the same time, the prototype for the Eclipse-class had also begun construction, being fitted with a superlaser and gaining unwanted attention from the crimelord Tyber Zann, who sent out spies to study the vessel. Its sister ship, the Eclipse II, also began construction around this time.

In the years between 0 ABY and 4 ABY, a steady stream of Executor-class ships and other Super Star Destroyers left the Empire's shipyards. Many of the larger vessels served as powerful flagships within designated areas&mdash;for instance, the Reaper served as flagship of Oversector Outer under Wilhuff Tarkin's successor, Grand Moff Kaine and led his Scourge Squadron; the Guardian served as command ship for the twenty-four Imperial-class Star Destroyers of the Coruscant Sector Fleet; the Terror was befitted with a cloaking shield and was commanded by Admiral Sarn, who oversaw the Empire's TIE Phantom project on Imdaar; the Annihilator, commanded by Admiral Gaarn, patrolled the space around the Kuat system; and the Iron Fist was assigned to Admiral Zsinj.

The Dark Jedi Jerec had a specialized SSD design made for his own command at some point following the Battle of Yavin. The resulting Vengeance, served as head of the Vengeance Battle Group, which searched for clues to the Valley of the Jedi.

Admiral Mils Giel commanded another SSD vessel in 3 ABY, which served as flagship of an immense armada tasked with bringing a Teezl creature safely to Coruscant.

In addition to the vessels that served as regional and sector command ships, some Super Star Destroyers would serve as either mobile repair bases, starfighter carriers or communications ships.

After Endor


Right after the Battle of Endor, the Annihilator was lost in the Second Battle of Kuat, and the Eclipse was severely damaged, setting its construction back by years. This would only be the start of the problems facing SSDs in the following years.

As independent warlords seized control of elements of Imperial infrastructure following the collapse after Endor, fleet elements were recalled to the Deep Core, and major industrial concerns such as Sienar Fleet Systems sought to negotiate an independent path between the Empire and the emergent New Republic.

SSDs became valuable assets to those factions that could afford them and they required increasingly high logistics, when the regular supplies and maintenace from a unified Imperial state were no longer guaranteed. For instance, in 5 ABY, the commanding officer of the Vengeance Battle Group noted that due to the collapse of the Empire in the previous year, his battle group could not obtain more than half its entitled ordnance.

The last Executor-class ship known to have been commissioned by legitimate Imperial forces was Razor's Kiss, destroyed by the New Republic soon after her launch from Kuat in 7.5 ABY. With the years passing, the number of Super Star Destroyers dwindled as the older ships left in service were either destroyed, captured or kept in isolated, Imperial enclaves. By the time Grand Admiral Thrawn took command of the Empire five years after Endor, his naval forces could not gain access to Executor-class ships at all.

Final construction


In secret, however, the so-called "Dark Empire" based in the Deep Core and ruled by the Emperor's clones, had laid down a number of new Super Star Destroyers, including the 15 kilometer long Sovereign-class, and finished construction on the Eclipse.

In keeping with a design trend observed in the ships of the "Dark Empire", both designs were bulkier than their predecessors, lacking open hangar-bays. They also carried superlasers similar to but much less powerful than the one carried aboard the Death Star. Two consecutive Eclipse-class ships, designated Eclipse and Eclipse II, were completed to serve as fleet flagships, but the four Sovereign-class ships seem never to have been finished.

Alongside these, the "Dark Empire" and the later Deep Core warlords also owned a number of warships larger than the Imperial-class design. These were also described as Super Star Destroyers. Many came from existing Imperial fleets and had been summoned to Byss to swear loyalty to the reborn Emperor. Ships representing a wide spectrum of classes in between Executors and Imperials formed an enormous procession in orbit above the throne-world.

Some of these intermediate scale vessels resembled beefed-up Imperial Star Destroyers, with approximately symmetrical dorsal and ventral hulls, three main engines, and a command tower carried well aft on a terraced superstructure. Examples included Allegiance and Shockwave, both of which served as command ships for respective fleets. However, between the completion of Eclipse and Eclipse II, Executor Sedriss, acting as regent and Supreme Commander, coordinated Operation Shadow Hand from an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, with the increasingly paranoid and delusional Palpatine keeping the heaviest fleet-elements constantly circling his secluded domain.



Perhaps the last Super Star Destroyer to be built was Knight Hammer, constructed by the warlord Superior General Delvardus and seized after his death by Admiral Daala: like Razor's Kiss, this was an Executor-class ship, modified with modern innovations like stealth armor and slave-rig circuits. She too was destroyed by New Republic forces soon after completion.

One as yet unidentified SSD was later observed in the fleet of the Imperial Remnant during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, but there is no direct evidence that she was newly-constructed: as the later history of the Executor-class shows, even these behemoths could disappear for years in obscure corners of the Outer Rim.

The last Super Star Destroyers
After the destruction of Eclipse II and Razor's Kiss, the Imperial Remnant was able to return Reaper to front-line service, and to counter her, the New Republic retained Lusankya. The clash of Reaper and Lusankya at the Battle of Orinda was one of the few known ship-to-ship duels between Super Star Destroyers, but following Reaper's destruction the next year, Lusankya was taken out of service and scheduled for breaking up.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the Galaxy at large, at least three more Super Star Destroyers had survived: Pride of Yevetha (ex-Intimidator) had become the flagship of the reclusive and xenophobic Duskhan League, while ex-Imperial warlord Gaen Drommel was still lurking on the Outer Rim with Guardian.

The Black Fleet Crisis shocked the New Republic into action. Not only had the Yevetha used Intimidator as the centerpiece of their fleet, but she had been unexpectedly recaptured by Imperial forces at the end of the campaign, and remained at large along with Guardian. Two further Super Star Destroyers of unknown class from Black Sword Command were also apparently unaccounted for, one of which was called the Aramadia.



In response, Lusankya was returned to active service, while Guardian was captured, refitted and taken into the New Republic fleet. Intimidator herself disappeared into the Unknown Regions, and was discovered adrift in a battle-damaged derelict state several years later; it is possible that she may have been employed by the Empire of the Hand.

During this time, the aftermath of the Koornacht Crisis also led to the development of New Republic dreadnoughts that could potentially fight large Super Star Destroyers. The Viscount-class Star Defender was the end-product, and would have its weaponry tested in several conflicts. The development of the design would stall for some years, due to the New Republic aquiring many Super Star Destroyers in the intermittent years, leading to doubts as to the point of developing a new heavy ship class.

By the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War, the New Republic thus had many SSDs of their own, including two of the biggest Super Star Destroyers in commission. Lusankya was destroyed during the siege of Borleias, while Guardian survived the war, serving as the Supreme Commander's flagship and a mobile government HQ. Shortly after Lusankya's destruction, however, another Super Star Destroyer, apparently an Executor-class ship, was briefly observed as a guardship at Bastion, the capital of the Imperial Remnant. This ship's origins are unknown, and it is unclear if she survived the war.

During the events surrounding the Swarm War, Gilad Pellaeon would travel in Megador, a Super Star Destroyer equipped with sixteen engines. Whether this was an old Imperial design or built by the Galactic Alliance is unknown.

During both the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and the Swarm War, some of the alien warships would be compared with some type of 8 kilometer long Super Star Destroyer. It is unknown if this was an Imperial or a New Republic design.

Known classes

 * Admiral Giel's flagship (class unknown)
 * Allegiance-type Super Star Destroyer
 * Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought
 * Executor-class Star Dreadnought
 * Mandator-class Star Dreadnought
 * Praetor-class Star Battlecruiser
 * Procurator-class Star Battlecruiser
 * Sovereign-class Star Dreadnought
 * Star Cruiser (Imperial)
 * Star Dreadnought (pre-Yavin)
 * Super-class Star Destroyer (fake, originator of the term)
 * Super Star Destroyer (8km long, class unknown)
 * Super Star Destroyer (seen over Byss, class unknown)
 * Super Star Destroyer (Death Star, class unknown)
 * Super Star Destroyer (pre-Yavin, class unknown)
 * Super Star Destroyer prototype
 * Vengeance (class unknown)

Known ships

 * Aggressor
 * Allegiance
 * Annihilator
 * Aramadia
 * Autarch
 * Despot
 * Eclipse
 * Eclipse II
 * Executor
 * Guardian
 * Heresiarch
 * Intimidator
 * Iron Fist
 * Knight Hammer
 * Lusankya
 * Megador
 * Razor's Kiss
 * Reaper
 * Sovereign
 * Terror
 * Vengeance (Executor-class)
 * Vengeance
 * Whelm

Behind the scenes
The use of the term "Super Star Destroyer" is somewhat similar to the use of slang made by real-life military personnel to describe various vehicles. Some examples include: large American aircraft carriers being called "supercarriers" and B-52 bomber crews calling their planes "BUFF" (acronym for "Big Ugly Fat Fellow"), both terms being non-technical and with no definite meaning.

Another possibility may be that the term is based on real-world modern terms "super battleship", "super dreadnought", and "super (aircraft) carrier" to denote larger-than-average ships of those respective classifications.

A similar in-universe military term is the use of the phrase "super battle droid" to denote the B2 super battle droid.

While some sources declare "Super Star Destroyer" to be "Rebel slang", Darth Vader also referred to his flagship Executor as a Star Destroyer. As such, it is possible that the term actually originated within the Imperial forces, or made its way into the Imperial military lingo. The Starship Battles Preview 1 article on Wizards of the Coast confirmed this, as well as its use as popular slang.

Notes and references
Supersternzerstörer