Tector-class Star Destroyer/Legends

Tector-class Star Destroyer The Tector-class Star Destroyer was a hangarless Star Destroyer design that was first produced in the final days of the Galactic Republic and would go on to serve the Galactic Empire for decades.

It was near a mile long, similar to the Imperial-class Star Destroyer. These two classes would go on to replace the less robust Venator-class Star Destroyer.

The Tector-class was especially well-armored, using space that would otherwise have been taken up by the hangar. This had several probable consequences for its use.

It would have been especially effective at combat with other capital ships. However, it would have been incapable of the versatile range of operations which an Imperial-class Star Destroyer could undertake, such as boarding actions or planetary deployments. It would also require other ships to provide starfighter support during larger engagements.

Behind the scenes


To date, the only official reference to the Tector-class Star Destroyer occurs in ROTS - Incredible Cross Sections. It is believed that the inspiration for the Tector-class was a ship that was briefly spotted in Return of the Jedi. During the Battle of Endor, the Millennium Falcon flew over the ventral side of an inverted warship which did not appear to have a hangar. Curtis Saxton, the author of the ROTS - Incredible Cross Sections, had catalogued this ship as anonymous star destroyer #5 long before his contributions to canon.

Other sources, such as the Return of the Jedi novelization, support the idea that the Millennium Falcon did in fact fly over the underside of a hangarless ship. The concept art featured in this book corresponds with the scene in the film itself, with the text showing both matching dialogue and action between the film and novelization.



In addition, the 'External links' section of this article shows DVD screencaps depicting Rebel fighters passing the brim notches of the ship seen in ROTJ, as well as the Falcon perched behind the Avenger´s command tower in The Empire Strikes Back. In the ESB-frame, the first "terrace" of the Avenger starts right after the brim notches, while no such structure is seen in the ROTJ-footage, even long after the fighters have passed these notches. This is evidence that the ship seen in ROTJ is not an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, if the complete lack of a hangar doesn't already prove that.

Trivia
The word "Tector" is Latin for "coverer" or (note the root) "protector". This is fitting for a ship with extra-heavy armor.

In the Roman army, a Tector was a type of cavalryman carrying an exceptionally large shield. In the most common usage, however, the word referred to the Roman equivalent of a housepainter.