Imperial I-class Star Destroyer/Legends

Imperial I-class Star Destroyer "I maintain that the effectiveness of the Star Destroyer stems from not only its massive firepower, but from its size. When citizens look at a Star Destroyer and then compare it to the craft which might be mustered to attack it, they have a tendency to dismiss such a notion as suicidal rather than approach the problem tactically."

- Moff Wilhuff Tarkin

The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer, also known as the Imperial I-class Destroyer and originally Imperator-class Star Destroyer, was an iconic class of warships designed by Lira Wessex and built by Kuat Drive Yards for the Galactic Republic towards the end of the Clone Wars, but fielded extensively only after the establishment of the Galactic Empire.

The Imperial-class Star Destroyers, along with Imperial stormtroopers, represented the might of the Imperial Military throughout the Galaxy during the reign of the Galactic Empire.

Characteristics
"Half the budget is being spent on those Star Destroyers."

- Bail Organa

Cost
The Imperial I-class belonged to the Star Destroyer family of warship, exemplified by its dagger/arrowhead design. A single Imperial-class vessel cost the Empire more than 3.88 billion Imperial credits, which was the equivalent of several star systems' annual economic output.

Dimensions
The Imperial-class was produced in large numbers and was the premier warship class of the Galactic Empire. All known variants were 1,600 meters long (one mile). Compared to most common frigates and downscaled cruisers known from the days of the Old Republic, the Imperial-class was a huge warship, but in the Imperial Navy it was one of the Empire's smaller vessels.

Crew requirements


According to officially available statistics, Imperial-class Star Destroyers had at least 37,000 officers and crew. Counting the stormtrooper complement (one division or legion, 9,700 men) would total 46,700. This would include a stormtrooper detachment, starfighter pilots, and support craft pilots.

When serving as a flagship, 900 additional personnel were stationed onboard. The Star Destroyer could accommodate up to 1,800 passengers. For those vessels that entered New Republic service, the New Republic reduced the crew requirements by 8,000, to about 28,000 men.

The crew requirements of the Imperial-class were extraordinarily high, relative to similar-sized vessels. New Republic ships of the closest size tended to have a small fraction of the crew. The ISD had a high ratio (over 7:1) between full and skeleton complement&mdash;a more usual ratio seemed to be 4:1 or 5:1 in large vessels.

Offensive and defensive systems


The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer possessed a main battery of twelve heavy turbolasers and four heavy ion cannons, arranged in eight dual mounts flanking the ship's tower structure.

Like with several other Star Destroyer classes, the designers did not take advantage of their wedge shape to give the heavy cannons the ability to focus on targets in the forward firing arc that were level with the ship. This could have been accomplished either by superelevating the aft turrets, or merely by spacing the turrets apart over a longer distance of the ship's length. In any case, this Star Destroyer class could bring all its heavy guns to bear by dipping its bow downward.

Numerous smaller and medium guns were mounted around the ship to ward off attacks against lesser ships not capable of being targeted by the main battery. They varied in size; some were designed as point-defense cannon to destroy incoming missiles and starfighters while others engaged lesser capital ships. Some ships, such as Emancipator (ex-Accuser), were refitted with proton torpedo launchers. Three triple-gun turrets were mounted on the ridge of the ship, just forward of the lowest, forwardmost terrace of the dorsal superstructure.

Mounted just beyond the forward tip of the attack hangar (see fighter complement), were two large ventral turbolasers, which sat near the corners of the massive hangar. The primary function of the turbolasers was to defend the vulnerable docking facilities, but could also be used for planetary bombardment.

The Star Destroyer's weapons were designed to make the vessel a long range warship. The weapons systems were not very capable of targeting at point-blank range, a weakness exploited by the Alliance Fleet at the Battle of Endor.

Complement


Imperial-class Star Destroyers typically carried a standard Imperial wing of 6 TIE squadrons, for a total of 72 starfighters. The standard wing included three TIE Fighter squadrons, one squadron of TIE Interceptors, one squadron of TIE Bombers (lower priority ships had to make do with TIE/gt starfighter-bombers), and one reconnaissance squadron of TIE/rc starfighters. One or two flights in a fighter squadron were TIE/fc starfighters. Sometimes, one of the fighter squadrons was used for training purposes. By the Battle of Endor, one of these fighter squadrons had been phased out in favor of a second squadron of TIE Interceptors.

The attack hangar was guarded by a set of armored doors. TIE fighter service and refueling bays, and TIE launch hangars surrounded the main hangar. TIEs were launched from cycling racks and pilots boarded from overhead gantries and were released into space as they disengaged from the front position in the racks.

Returning fighters landed in separate hangars and then were guided by small tractor beams into receiver-carriers. The receivers carried the TIE to a debarkation station where the pilot would exit. Once moved through the transfer tunnels to a launch hangar, the fighter could be serviced and refueled in a separate bay. In the hangar the TIEs were cycled through a launch rack and ready for the next launch. The small forward hangar was for shuttle craft carrying high-ranking officials. The forward hangar was also used as a back-up to the main hangar.

These ships carried 9,700 troops, as well as massive war vehicles such as AT-AT and AT-ST walkers. AT-AT barges and other landing craft were used to deliver ground assault forces to a planet's surface. Although larger landing craft could only be carried onboard heavier vessels, the Imperial-class could transfer a large number of heavy walkers to other transports via a detachable rail system.

The Star Destroyer could use its guns and TIE starfighters to support any surface action. If a planet required a lasting presence, a Star Destroyer could quickly deploy a prefabricated garrison base. Like most other Star Destroyer models, the Imperial-class was capable of entering atmospheres and supporting ground operations directly.

Propulsion systems


There were entire planets that, throughout their history, did not expend as much power as an Imperial-class ship did in one hyperspace jump. A massive solar ionization reactor bulged from the ventral spine, annihilating hypermatter as fuel to power the ship. Auxiliary reactors flanked the main reactor and the three reactors were connected to the three main engines. In addition, the backup engines were connected to additional reactors as well.

Catastrophic release braces were located underneath the ventral reactor bulge, in case of emergencies where the core of the main reactor had to be ejected from the ship.

For sublight propulsion, the Imperial-class relied on an array of three primary Destroyer-I ion engines produced by KDY specifically for the vessels. For emergency situations requiring additional thrust, the Imperial-class could use its four Gemon-4 ion engines. The engines were capable of accelerating the ship with a force of several thousand g.

Bridge tower


The command bridge tower of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer was massive, and the command bridge followed a design similar to that of many other KDY warship classes, like the Venator-class and Executor-class. The difference between the deck and the ceiling was three to four meters for the command walkways and one and a half meters more for the control pits. The total number of decks on the bridge tower was somewhere between 20 to 30, with the average spacing of 3 meters.

At a few areas there were portals that appeared at intervals halfway between the main decks. These corresponded to inhabited chambers, rooms, or shafts spanning more than one level.

The sensor array on top of the Mk. I's tower had support beams running diagonally across it. These would later be substituted for vertical ones during a minor refit, which made the array look similar to the one on Mk. II vessels.

History
"I hate the look of these new mass-produced Imperator-class Destroyers. None of the artistry that went into the old Acclamators or Venators&mdash;even the Victory Twos. So goes elegance."

- Brudi Gayn



Republic design
As the Clone Wars were being fought in 19 BBY, the production of new Venator-class ships slowed in favor of other production lines, like the heavier Imperator- and Tector-classes, both of which appeared very late in the Clone Wars. These vessels were designed as massive, powerful, medium-sized warships meant to take the place of older Star Destroyers like the Venator-class.

Following the Great Jedi Purge and the establishment of the Galactic Empire, the class was renamed Imperial-class.

Imperial service
Imperial-class Star Destroyers had a distinguished career in the Imperial Starfleet, where they symbolized the Empire's military might (for better or worse). The Imperial-class was known to be in service as early as a month after the first Empire Day, and were still known as Imperator-class, at the time. The second ship of the class was Exactor, the first personal flagship of Darth Vader. Eventually, they would render Clone Wars-era vessels such as the Venator-class obsolete.

Capable of laying waste to entire worlds (provided those worlds did not have planetary shields), the Imperial-class became infamous as the prime enforcer of Imperial rule, serving as peacekeeping battleships.



Star Destroyers of this class took part in the major engagements of the Galactic Civil War, including the Battle of Hoth, the Battle of Endor, the First Battle of Coruscant, and the First Battle of Mon Calamari.

According to official records, over 25,000 were eventually produced. Many were destroyed in the fratricidal warfare that consumed the Empire after the death of Emperor Palpatine at Endor, while others defected or were captured.

Within sector-level and many regional-level fleets, the ISD served a central battleship role, being the flagship of the unit known as the "Battle Squadron." It was also observed to operate more or less independently and often far from support ships and facilities.

Its role on higher levels was more determined by it being a smaller Imperial vessel. Through most large-scale operations, the ISD functioned as a destroyer, chasing down corvettes and supporting Imperial Star Cruisers and Star Dreadnoughts in fleet combat. In many cases, like at the Battle of Hoth, the Imperial-class Star Destroyers served as escorts for larger battleships.

When assaulting Hoth, Vader commanded Executor and brought along a flotilla of Imperial-class vessels from Death Squadron to assault the planet. The Rebellion's heavy ion cannon, powered by the reactor of a Star Battlecruiser, easily overwhelmed individual Star Destroyer shields and rapidly disabled ships. At the Battle of Endor, at least one ship was of an intermediary size between large-sized classes like the Executor and smaller-sized classes like the Imperial, and its power boosted its jamming equipment to such a degree that it managed to confuse the sensors of an entire Rebel fleet.

In the New Republic era, Imperial-class Star Destroyers continued to support larger vessel in operations like Operation Shadow Hand. The Super Star Destroyer Allegiance led a task force of Imperial-class ships and World Devastators during the First Battle of Mon Calamari. This was one of many fleets that struck out from the Core as part of the operation, which was aimed at taking back most of the Galactic Empire's former territories. Operation Shadow Hand saw a relatively heavy use of different types of Super Star Destroyers supported by Star Destroyers.

Foreign service


This particular class of vessel saw extensive service in other navies, including that of the successor-state New Republic. The refits implemented by that government appeared to have involved deletion of the quadruple heavy trench guns, installation of proton torpedo launchers and use of a much smaller crew. The ability to embark planetary-assault soldiers appears to have been ignored as well (the Republic choosing to use dedicated troopships).

Endurance was reduced from six years to six months; New Republic Defense Force doctrine operates ships on relatively short patrols before returning to base. The Hapan Cluster was able to seize some vessels when the Galactic Empire prepared to abandon their fleet yards near Hapan space. Ships of this class saw widespread service in the New Republic Defense Force; by 13 ABY, it was almost considered a common warship class under New Republic colors.

Despite their stellar qualities, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, to many, was apparently too much of a symbol of Imperial might. The New Republic chose to procure Mon Calamari Star Cruisers instead; what few Imperial-class Star Destroyers they possessed may have been from defectors or captured. Descendants of the Victory-class Star Destroyer were procured in quantity; however, as the Victory was a symbol of the Galactic Republic's military machine, it may have been more politically acceptable.

Some New Republic Imperial I-class Star Destroyers, like Mon Mothma, would be refitted to include gravity well projectors.

Private service


One Star Destroyer operated in private hands&mdash;Errant Venture (ex-Virulence), captained by Booster Terrik. It was captured and claimed by Booster several years after the Battle of Endor, but was in poor condition for many years owing to the great cost of maintaining such a large vessel. In addition, she was stripped of the vast majority of her armament: only ten (presumably light) turbolasers were permitted, and even those were not always functional.

Years later, she received a comprehensive refit in exchange for use in a New Republic special-operations raid on an Imperial base. The most notable part of this refit was a deep red paint job instead of the classic Imperial white. While Captain Terrik was not permitted to keep all of his weapons after the operation, they were reinstated when the Yuuzhan Vong War occurred. During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, she served as a temporary Jedi sanctuary and also as squadron flagship.

No other private Imperial-class Star Destroyers are known to have existed.

Behind the scenes

 * There has been some disagreement over the name of the class. Early material by Geoffrey Mandel, now considered unofficial, showed the Star Destroyer model smaller than they later appeared. The class-name Imperator was used for these drawings, and the ships were to be produced at the Gyndine shipyards. Many of the designs were greatly upscaled shortly before production began. Some critics suggest that naming one of the Empire's class of ships Imperial is redundancy in name. However many books of the Expanded Universe argued that the 700m ship is a distinct class. Revenge of the Sith: Incredible Cross-Sections eventually put the debate to rest, by clarifying the issue&mdash;while the class was originally named Imperator, it was renamed Imperial at some point after the Great Jedi Purge.


 * Based on an animatic of a Revenge of the Sith TV spot, an Imperator-class Star Destroyer was scheduled to make an appearance during the final scenes of the film, but was apparently cut out and replaced with a Verator-class in post-production.


 * Other sources would later on reference Imperator, including the novel Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader and the EU-section on the Venator-class Star Destroyer's.


 * The word "Imperator" is Latin and was used as a title for "An army commander in the Roman Republic". Later, during the Roman Empire, it became a title worn by the Emperors and signified "The supreme power of the Roman emperor".


 * Imperial-class Star Destroyers have featured prominently in many Star Wars computer games. However, they have generally been "toned-down" to allow the player some chance of defeating them with a starfighter.


 * Imperial-class Star Destroyers have sometimes been referred to as cruisers. This is most likely due to their ability to operate independently and not just as part of a group, something which modern destroyers are also capable of, thus making the real-life difference between cruisers and destroyers more an issue of scale. Ships of this class have also been mentioned as battleships (and more specifically, "peacekeeping battleships"). This would presumably be because of limited conflicts where they were the largest combatants participating, especially during peacetime, as well as the fact that one Imperial constituted a line on its own. RotS:ICS also mention warships being "downscaled", thereby showing at least two separate classification systems being in use, one where the Imperial-class ships are destroyers and another where they are battleships.


 * Numerous Expanded Universe sources state that the Imperial I is armed with 60 identical turbolasers and 60 identical ion cannons. However, analysis of the Star Destroyer models used in the films shows that this is a flawed description. The Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections factbook followed the movie model more closely, describing three twin-barreled heavy turbolasers and one ion cannon on each side of the command tower, one quad-laser cannon in each side trench, three cannons in front of the terrace superstructure, and numerous smaller guns lining each trench, as well as several tractor beam projectors located inside the vessel.

Notes and references
Sternenzerstörer der Imperiums-Klasse Imperial I-klass stjärnjagare