Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser

Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser "These are built from Mandalorian design. Not the most modern, but very strong."

- Supreme Chancellor Palpatine

The Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser, or simply the Dreadnaught, was a capital ship built for planetary occupation and space combat used by the Galactic Republic, Galactic Empire, New Republic, and various other organizations and governments.

Characteristics
The Dreadnaught-class heavy cruiser was designed and developed by Rendili StarDrive for the Republic Judicial Forces at least 80 years prior to the Clone Wars and was based off a Mandalorian design, apparently by Rendili Star Systems. The keel ran nearly 600 meters with the bow overlapping to produce a clamshell-like appearance.



Weapon systems included twenty quad laser cannons (six bow, seven port, seven starboard), ten laser cannons (five port, five starboard and mounted in blisters), and ten turbolaser batteries (five bow, five stern). Some ships were later customized to feature a warhead launcher for anti-starfighter defense.

While technologically advanced at the time, the Dreadnaught-class lacked in sublight and hyperspace speeds (a Class 4 rating), suffered computer failures, and could not compete with comparable designs in terms of firepower and shielding.

In addition to these technical drawbacks, Dreadnaught-class ships also required over 16,000 crewmembers to run at optimal performance&mdash;perhaps the highest crew per keel meter ratio of any modern starship. This high crew requirement put strains on recruitment efforts and turned supplying a Dreadnaught into a logistical nightmare.

History
Dreadnaughts were in use since at least 100 BBY. After being commissioned, the Dreadnaughts saw use in ending major conflicts, but its shortcomings were quickly apparent. To counter the most glaring flaw of the Dreadnaught fleet, the Galactic Republic military developed a technology to reduce the crew requirements. By installing a full-rig slave circuitry system, the crew requirements could be reduced from 16,000 per ship to a more manageable 2,200.

Two hundred of the heavy cruisers were outfitted with this new technology and dubbed the Katana fleet. The project failed when the crew were driven insane by a hive virus, slaved the fleet together, and made a random jump into hyperspace before the virus killed off every crew member.



Six Dreadnaughts were used in Outbound Flight, an ill-fated project aimed at extragalactic exploration. During the Clone Wars, the Dreadnaughts saw heavy use in many battles, including the Battle of Duro, the Battle of Rendili, and the Second Battle of Coruscant.

In addition to galactic governments and organizations, local forces also used these ships, as they constituted a cheaper alternative to the large warships available to the rich and heavily industrialized sectors. For instance, the armed forces of Utapau used at least one as an anti-piracy vessel. Dreadnaught cruisers also composed the Rendili Home Defense Fleet.

Dreadnaughts saw extensive use in the Imperial Navy due to their abundance. Battle squadrons assigned to unimportant systems were often assigned a Dreadnaught cruiser in place of a more modern cruiser. To increase its field potential, the Imperial Starfleet upgraded the ships' hyperdrive to Class 2 and converted cargo space into a hangar. With the hangar modification, a Dreadnaught could carry a squadron of TIE/ln starfighters. These upgraded cruisers now saw use as patrol ships, who maintained Imperial dominance over primitive worlds.



Fifty years after the Katana fleet was lost, Grand Admiral Thrawn recovered 178 ships of the lost fleet. They proved critical in his assault against the New Republic, since he had an abundance of cloned navy crewmen.

Garm Bel Iblis maintained a personal fleet of six Katana fleet Dreadnaughts, which he used to capture 15 of the Katana ships, including Katana herself; the final ship of the fleet was destroyed in the battle for the Katana fleet. Some of Bel Iblis's Dreadnaughts were observed to use ion cannons, but it is unknown whether this was a modification his forces implemented or a standard feature of the Katana fleet.

The still fledgling fleet of the New Republic used donated, captured or recovered Dreadnaught cruisers until the New Republic Defense Fleet formally decommissioned them after the New Class project. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Dreadnaughts would continue to be used by the New Republic and its successor government, the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

Many Dreadnaught cruisers were converted by the Alliance and later the New Republic into assault frigates, which were much less manpower-intensive than standard Dreadnaughts and carried a heavier armament.

Behind the scenes



 * The Dreadnaught-class might be named after the British pre-WWI battleship HMS Dreadnought, which was the first true battleship to have a uniform main battery, rather than having a secondary battery of similar sized guns. In its day, it sparked quite a revolution in terms of battleship-design and all subsequent battleships would be called "dreadnoughts" as they followed her "all-big gun" design. Dreadnought was also revolutionary in that it was the first battleship to be powered by a steam turbine rather than a triple-expansion engine. The name HMS Dreadnought was then again used for Britain's first nuclear powered attack submarine (SSN), showing the meaning and importance the name holds for the Royal Navy.


 * Due to the variety of sources used and the common use of modified Dreadnaught-class vessels, the statistics listed in the infobox may not accurately represent a stock Galactic Republic Dreadnaught.


 * The original Imperial Sourcebook listed a lighter armament than most later sources. Both sets of specifications are listed here.


 * Though Dreadnaught-class starships were first shown in action in Dark Force Rising, they are first mentioned in Heir to the Empire as providing the main hull of Nomad City. Like many of the ships and vehicles in the Thrawn Trilogy, the Dreadnaught originated in the Imperial Sourcebook.

Notes and references
Dreadnaught