Star Destroyer/Legends

"At that close range, we won't last long against those Star Destroyers!"

- Admiral Ackbar during the Battle of Endor

Star Destroyer was a term used to describe a certain type of large capital ship used by the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, the Imperial Remnant, the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, and the new Galactic Empire.

Characteristics
Star Destroyers dwarfed the frigates and cruisers in the Galactic Empire's standard warship scale, but were smaller in scale than Imperial Star Cruisers. During the Clone Wars, Star Destroyers were considered medium-weight warships. With the extensive increase in warship-sizes during the time of the Empire, Star Destroyers gradually became denoted as smaller vessels in the Imperial Navy.



Their size encompassed ships ranged from about 900 meters to multiple kilometers in length. The standard Imperial Star Destroyer during the peak of the Empire was 1,600 meters in length">Star Wars: Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels,p. 80 name="Attack of the Clones: Incredible Cross-Sections1">Attack of the Clones: Incredible Cross-Sections, p. 11 but even smaller and larger vessels would also have the term applied to them. In the time of the second Galactic Empire, their Star Destroyers were described as the largest and most powerful warships of the time, thus taking over the traditional roles of Star Dreadnoughts and other large battleships of centuries past. Many Star Destroyer classes throughout the different eras doubled as carriers. In many cases, they contained an entire wing of starfighters.

History
The Interdictor-class cruiser, a distant technological predecessor of the Star Destroyer, was in the service of the old Galactic Republic and, later, the Sith Empire, 4,000 years before the Battle of Yavin. It appears the Republic abandoned the design after Malachor V, where they fell into Sith hands. An example of these ships included Leviathan. However, the design of Ravager would survive until later.



Star Destroyers that bore the distinctive wedge-shape, which came to be associated with the ship type, were in the service of the later Republic Navy, around the time of the Clone Wars. The two most famous designs at the time were the Victory I- and Venator-classes, which were considered massive during their time. The design was born from the success of the Acclamator-class assault ship. Later Star Destroyers like the Imperial- and Tector-classes became infamous for their service in the Imperial Navy. Other dagger-shaped ships, such as the Immobilizer 418 cruiser, were described as resembling small Star Destroyers.

During the Clone Wars, larger destroyer and battleship designs based on the Acclamator-class were produced by Rothana Heavy Engineering, though it is unknown if they were ever called "Star Destroyers". Additionally, during the early stages of the war, Grizmallt was one of several worlds researching ways to surpass Rothana's early success-story, but the ship classes resulting from this plan, if any, are unknown.



While Star Destroyers were the heaviest combatants in many fleets composed of down-scaled cruisers and frigates, they performed an escort role when in the presence of larger warships such as the Empire's Executor-class or the battleships found in the Republic Navy.

Larger ship types like Star Cruisers, Star Battlecruisers, and Star Dreadnoughts were referred to in military colloquialism as "Super Star Destroyers" (sometimes omitting the "Super" prefix), based on their similar dagger-shape and the popularity of the name "Super-class Star Destroyer", which was a front used to cover for the construction of the Executor-class Star Dreadnought. The New Republic also adopted the dagger-shape in their later Star Destroyer designs. However, it should be noted that not all vessels known as Star Destroyers adhered to the dagger aesthetic. During and after the Clone Wars, the Republic victories of the war would be attributed to these starships, rather than the Jedi.



The Venator-, Imperial-, Tector-, Executor-, Eclipse-, and Sovereign-class ships were produced by Kuat Drive Yards, mostly at Kuat, but also at countless other facilities around the Galaxy. The Victory- and Republic-classes were produced by Rendili StarDrive, and the Nebula-class was produced by the Republic Engineering Corporation.

Even though the Galactic Alliance continued to use and produce Star Destroyers, they later decided to name their new ships "battle carriers" in order to avoid reminding people of the old Imperial terror symbols. By the time of the Sith-Imperial War, the resurgent Empire utilized the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer, which was described as the most powerful warship of its time.

Star Destroyer and related warship classes
In rough chronological order, the following designs of Star Destroyers and Super Star Destroyers were produced:


 * The Victory I-class Star Destroyer
 * The Venator-class Star Destroyer
 * The Victory II-class Star Destroyer
 * The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer (originally Imperator-class)
 * The Tector-class Star Destroyer
 * The Demolisher-type Star Destroyer (class name unknown)
 * The multi-mile long Star Destroyer (class name unknown)




 * The pre-Yavin Super Star Destroyer (class name unknown)
 * The Imperial II-class Star Destroyer
 * The Interdictor Star Destroyer
 * The Executor-class Star Dreadnought (also referred to as the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer)
 * The Super-class Star Destroyer (a forged profile for the Executor-class)
 * The Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought (also referred to as the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer)
 * The Imperial Star Cruiser (also referred to as a Super Star Destroyer, class name unknown)
 * The Super Star Destroyer Vengeance (class name unknown)
 * The main communications ship (also referred to as a Destroyer, class name unknown)
 * The Harrow, modified Victory-class Star Destroyer
 * The Allegiance-type Super Star Destroyer (class name unknown)
 * The Sovereign-class Star Dreadnought (also referred to as the Sovereign-class Super Star Destroyer)
 * The Republic-class Star Destroyer
 * The Bakura-class destroyer (also referred to as a Star Destroyer)
 * The Nebula-class Star Destroyer (more commonly referred to as the Defender-class)
 * The Rejuvenator-class Star Destroyer
 * The Chiss Star Destroyer
 * The Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer

In addition, Kuat Drive Yards and other ship manufacturers produced several designs with the dagger aesthetic prior to the outbreak of the Clone Wars, but many of these ships lacked the range for any operations outside sector defense and were not designated Star Destroyers. Some examples included:


 * The Praetor-class Star Battlecruiser
 * The Procurator-class Star Battlecruiser
 * The Mandator I-class Star Dreadnought
 * The Mandator II-class Star Dreadnought

There were also ships occasionally compared with and/or referred to as Star Destroyers:
 * The Interdictor-class cruiser
 * The Ravager (class name unknown)
 * The Acclamator I-class assault ship (referred to as a Star Destroyer in the Imperial era)
 * The Providence-class carrier/destroyer
 * The Grizmallt warship (class name unknown)
 * The Rothana destroyer (class name unknown)
 * The Rothana battleship (class name unknown)
 * The Acclamator II-class assault ship (referred to as a Star Destroyer in the Imperial era)
 * The Immobilizer 418 cruiser
 * The Star Destroyer-class battlecruiser
 * The battleship commanded by Admiral Giel (class name unknown)
 * The Star Destroyer (Byss) (class name unknown)
 * The Super Star Destroyer (Byss) (class name unknown)
 * The Doomgiver (class name unknown)
 * The Galactic-class battle carrier (designed as a successor to older Star Destroyer classes)
 * The post-Remnant Imperial frigate

Behind the scenes


On the commentary track of the Revenge of the Sith DVD, George Lucas referred to General Grievous's ship, a Providence-class carrier/destroyer, as a "Star Destroyer." This might mean that the term "Star Destroyer" is not supposed to be restricted to dagger-shaped warships, which fits with the existence of the Bakura-class. However, this was likely just a generalization.

Interestingly enough, the term "Star Destroyer" is used both for different classes of destroyers and as a general term for most dagger-shaped warships in use by the Empire, from smaller frigates like Demolisher to giant dreadnoughts like Executor and Eclipse. This has created some confusion, as many sources often do not specify what kind of warship they are talking about, other than writing "Star Destroyer" or "Imperial Star Destroyer". Since many stories have historically focused on the mile-long Imperial-class, it is used as a default reference unless stated otherwise.

In the subtitles for the movies of the original trilogy, "Star Destroyer" is commonly mistyped as "stardestroyer."

Notes and references
Sternzerstörer