Star Destroyer/Legends

"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, and the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

Characteristics
Although they dwarfed the frigates and cruisers in the Galactic Empire's standard warship scale, Star Destroyers 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 in 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, but even smaller and larger vessels would also have the term applied to them.

Many Star Destroyers also acted as carriers, containing, in many cases, an entire wing of starfighters.

History


The Interdictor-class cruiser, a distant technological relative of the Star Destroyer, existed in the service of the old Galactic Republic and, later, the Sith Empire, 4,000 years prior to 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 dagger-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, born out of 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.



Larger ship types like Star Cruisers, Star Battlecruisers, and Star Dreadnoughts were referred to in slang as "Super Star Destroyers" (sometimes cutting out the "Super"), 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. After the Clone Wars, the Republic victories of the war would be attributed to these starships, rather than the Jedi.

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.

The Venator-, Imperial-, Tector-, Executor-, Eclipse-, and Sovereign-classes 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.



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.

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 several new Star Destroyer classes.

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




 * The Acclamator I-class assault ship (referred to as a Star Destroyer in the Imperial era)
 * The Victory I-class Star Destroyer
 * The Venator-class Star Destroyer
 * The Providence-class carrier/destroyer
 * The Acclamator II-class assault ship (referred to as a Star Destroyer in the Imperial era)
 * The Victory II-class Star Destroyer
 * Harrow, modified Victory-class
 * The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer (formerly Imperator-class)
 * The Tector-class Star Destroyer
 * Demolisher-type Star Destroyer (class name unknown)
 * The Immobilizer 418 cruiser (referred to as a Star Destroyer)
 * The multi-mile long Star Destroyer
 * The pre-Yavin Super Star Destroyer
 * The Star Destroyer-class battlecruiser
 * The Imperial II-class Star Destroyer
 * The Executor-class Star Dreadnought (also known as the Executor-class Super Star Destroyer)
 * The Super-class Star Destroyer (actually a cover for the Executor-class)
 * The Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought (also known as the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer)
 * The Imperial Star Cruiser (referred to as a Super Star Destroyer, class name unknown)
 * The Super Star Destroyer Vengeance (class name unknown)
 * The battleship commanded by Admiral Giel (class name unknown)
 * The Main communications ship (class name unknown)
 * The Interdictor Star Destroyer
 * Doomgiver (class name unknown)
 * The Gauntlet Star Cruiser
 * The Super Star Destroyer (hunchbacked) (class name unknown)
 * The Super Star Destroyer (sleek) (class name unknown)
 * The Sovereign-class Star Dreadnought (also known as the Sovereign-class Super Star Destroyer)
 * The Republic-class Star Destroyer
 * The Bakura-class destroyer (referred to as a Star Destroyer)
 * The Nebula-class Star Destroyer (more commonly known as the Defender-class)
 * The Rejuvenator-class Star Destroyer
 * The Chiss Star Destroyer
 * The Galactic-class battle carrier (not officially designated a Star Destroyer)
 * The Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer
 * The Legacy era Imperial frigate (not a Star Destroyer, but had a similar dagger shape)

In addition, Kuat Drive Yards 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. Some examples include:
 * The Praetor-class Star Battlecruiser
 * The Procurator-class Star Battlecruiser
 * The Mandator I-class Star Dreadnought
 * The Mandator II-class Star Dreadnought

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