The MC75 Star Cruiser, also referred to as the MC75 modified star cruiser, was a model of Star Cruiser in the service of the Alliance Fleet. One such ship, the Profundity, served as Admiral Raddus's flagship during the pivotal Battle of Scarif. Other examples included the Aspiration, the Accordance, the Silver Coronet, and the Temperance.
Characteristics[]
An MC75 Star Cruiser's armament engaging TIE fighters.
The MC75 Star Cruiser,[4] or alternatively the MC75 modified Star Cruiser,[1] was a former Mon Calamari city-ship converted into a war cruiser by the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The enormous vessel stood at 1,204.44 meters in length, and was powered by twelve Kuat Drive Yards Gemon-15 sublight ion drives repurposed to give the massive vessel a cruising speed to match starfighter escorts. These sublight drives were shrouded beneath the engineering plane of the heat-dissipating engineering structure.[1]
The conversion process resulted[4] in refits carried out at deep-space facilities,[1] reinforced the city-ship's hull and further backed it heavy armor,[4] which afforded it battleship hulls and a weapon collar modification to hold primary weapons and shield generators,[1] including superior shielding mounted on the fore and aft of the superstructure.[4] The armored forward hull rendered the ship's concealed deflector shield generators redundant, though a deflector shield emitter array was fitted to the aft. The MC75 boasted twenty point-defense laser cannons, twelve broadside turbolasers, four heavy ion cannons, twelve proton torpedo launchers, and six tractor beam projectors concealed within a port forward of the weapon collar,[1] allowing it to engage the larger warships of the Imperial Navy.[4]
Several ships that were part of the Mon Calamari Exodus Fleet
An armored outrigger fin on the ventral hull held the command bridge pod and receiver array, opposite a dorsal communications transmission mast and sensor cluster. These blade-like fins, coupled with the vessel's tapered profile, were design choices intended to trigger primal fears of predatory fish among the aquatic Mon Calamari. Next to the rear of the ventral outrigger fin was an ordnance pod. The city-ship's former civic atrium was hollowed out and converted into a docking bay and starship service area, overseen by a hangar traffic control suite protected by overlapping shields and magnetic containment fields to keep oxygen and pressure regulated.[1] The docking bay and service area was capable of accommodating ships up to corvette size.[4]
During the Imperial Era, there were at least two variants to the ship class, which included the MC75 Armored Cruiser and the MC75 Ordnance Cruiser, which were similar in appearance.[10]
Role[]
The MC75 Star Cruiser Temperance and its group of support ships.
In civilian capacities, MC75 Star Cruisers served as passenger liners and transports.[1] The MC75 Star Cruisers were the first true command ships of the Alliance Fleet, and with only a handful in service at one point during the war, they were often commanded by Alliance admirals. They were rarely deployed alone, and often had a dozen or more support ships complementing their efforts.[4]
Normal tactics for an MC75 were to remain at long range from enemy warships and attack them with their turbolaser weaponry in minion groups of pairs or trios. If needed, MC75 cruisers could maneuver between ships to unleash broadsides against enemy vessels. If circumstances occurred when more firepower was needed, MC75 cruisers usually moved to medium range to utilize its ion cannons. MC75 Star Cruiser crews were charged with orienting the ship's shields to whichever side was taking the most fire. When facing against smaller warships or starfighters, MC75 Star Cruisers usually fired its laser cannons and torpedoes in minion groups of two or three.[4]
History[]
Early service[]
The Profundity at the Battle of Scarif
When the Galactic Empire occupied the ocean planet of Mon Cala in 18 BBY,[11] the native Mon Calamari began a mass exodus from their homeworld, taking many of their enormous city-ships with them.[1] The MC75 Star Cruiser was the first of the many Mon Calamari city-ships that were converted from civilian to military use. Originally, the MC75 Star Cruisers served as passenger liners, civilian transports, and civic governance towers.[4] The MC75 Star Cruiser Profundity, one of the many spaceworthy structures that operated as transports and passenger liners, was originally the civic governance tower in Nystullum, and was among the vessels converted into warships by the rebellion at deep-space facilities.[1] The MC75 Star Cruisers were only some of the first wave of ships to escape Mon Cala; other waves of starships would follow later.[2] As the Mon Calamari fled their world, they pledged their cruisers to the Alliance war effort.[4]
By 2 BBY when Phoenix Cell had acquired a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier in the Ryloth system, the Telaris rebel stardocks completed its conversion into war production facilities and began refitting the MC75 Star Cruiser Profundity alongside the MC80A Home One Type Heavy Star Cruisers Home One and Nautilian. A report on the operations in the shipyards in the Telaris cometary cloud from Colonel Anj Zavor to Commander-in-Chief Mon Mothma was added to The Rebel Files.[12] In 1 BBY,[13] the Profundity was one of the first battle-ready capital ships and became the flagship of Admiral Raddus, the former mayor of Nystullum,[1] as well as the flagship of the Alliance Fleet.[4]
Alliance service[]
After Rogue One defied orders from Alliance High Command and infiltrated Scarif to steal the Death Star plans, the Rebel Alliance ultimately decided to deploy its forces and assist, culminating in the Battle of Scarif, a pivotal battle of the Galactic Civil War. Admiral Raddus led Alliance forces from the bridge of the Profundity and eventually received a rebel transmission from the surface of Scarif that contained the plans. Before the Profundity and remaining Alliance ships could escape, the Death Star and the Imperial flagship Devastator arrived. As a result, several Alliance ships were destroyed and the Profundity was damaged and unable to escape, succumbing to a boarding action led by Darth Vader. After Imperial forces boarded the ship, Raddus was killed and rebel troops were massacred, although the Death Star plans were brought aboard to the Tantive IV, which was docked in the hangar and escaped.[8]
An MC75 Star Cruiser participates in a battle above Cianap with an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate, GR-75 transports, and CR90 corvettes.
With the loss of Admiral Raddus and the Profundity, Admiral Gial Ackbar had command of the other Alliance Fleet elements that were not dispatched to Scarif. Prior to the Battle of Yavin, Admiral Ackbar sent a report to Commander-in-Chief Mon Mothma on the defense of Yavin 4, as well as the grave threats possible from Imperial actions. Also in the report, Admiral Ackbar assured that while the Profundity's loss was felt, the fight went on with the Home One as the new Alliance flagship. Ackbar's report was also included in The Rebel Files.[12] By this point, several other MC75 Star Cruisers completed their retrofits and were assigned to Alliance areas of operations.[4]
After the mutiny of the Mon Cala Mercantile Fleet, at least five MC75 Star Cruisers were present at the Mako-Ta Space Docks.[14] At some point during the Galactic Civil War, at least one Rebel Alliance MC75 star cruiser participated in a battle above Cianap against the Imperial forces led by Darth Vader.[15] At one point, an MC75 Star Cruiser was damaged in an engagement and hid from Imperial reinforcements in a protostar's cloud. The ship's navicomputer was damaged, and needed an new navigational database to jump to lightspeed before the cloud irradiated the entire ship.[4]
Also during the Galactic Civil War, an MC75 Star Cruiser with red livery engaged an Interdictor-class Star Destroyer and other Imperial forces. The MC75 Star Cruiser participated alongside at least two EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigates and starfighters.[16] The MC75 Aspiration at one point participated in a battle and damaged an Imperial Victory-class Star Destroyer.[17]
An MC75 Star Cruiser and other Alliance ships fight against Imperial craft.
On the same day as the pivotal Battle of Endor, the MC75 Star Cruisers Temperance and Accordance participated in a battle in the Hosnian system when an Imperial armada attempted to attack the Core Worlds. The battle resulted in an Alliance victory, although the Accordance was destroyed, with its survivors being rescued by the Temperance.[18]
New Republic service and after[]
After the Battle of Endor, the Alliance transitioned into the New Republic, and the New Republic Defense Fleet continued to use MC75 Star Cruisers. One ship was the Temperance which was placed under the command of New Republic General Hera Syndulla after her flagship, the Acclamator-class assault ship Lodestar was destroyed during a campaign in the Cerberon system. The Temperance was deployed during the Troithe operation, where it bombarded the Scar of Troithe.[7] Around this time, the Temperance served as the headquarters of Vanguard Squadron,[19]which were deployed around the Bormea sector to defend the New Republic's Project Starhawk, its shipbuilding project to construct Starhawk-class battleships.[20]
In 34 ABY,[21] after The Rebel Files were recovered by the Resistance, Ackbar and Ushos O. Statura wrote annotations on the report Zavor wrote to Mothma about the Telaris rebel stardocks and the status of the Profundity.[12]
In the year 35 ABY, Imperial Galactic Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious had returned and threatened the galaxy with the destruction of every major world who resisted him. In response, Lando Calrissian and the Resistance led a massive fleet, which included dozens of MC75 Star Cruisers and subvariants in the climactic Battle of Exegol over the Sith world of Exegol. When the Resistance returned to Ajan Kloss to celebrate their victory, at least one MC75 was present on the planet.[9]
Behind the scenes[]
Variations of the MC75 Star Cruiser
The MC75 Star Cruiser first appeared in the 2016 live-action film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.[8] The ships reappear in the 2019 movie Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker, although with several variants, such as some without towers or some with extra engines.[9] The reason for this is because when creating the Galaxy Fleet, the designers had trouble designing 16,000 ships before the movie premiered, so they reused the model and computer programs began mixing up component parts for certain ships to make each ship more unique.[22]
