Super Star Destroyer Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

A Super Star Destroyer (or SSD) is a fictional type of starship from the Star Wars science fiction universe. The name refers to any ship in the Galactic Empire's Star Destroyer school of design which is larger than the \Imperator-class. Darth Vader's command ship, the Star Dreadnought¹ Executor, lead ship of her class, was the only such vessel featured in the movies. It was involved in the siege of Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back, and the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi. The ship was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Endor, colliding with the second Death Star after its bridge was destroyed by a crashing A-wing fighter.

The miniature Executor used in filming was 283 cm long.

Table of contents

1 Specifications 2 Sensor domes 3 Other Super Star Destroyers 4 References

Specifications

For some years, official literature placed curiously few weapons on ships of the Executor's class: only 250 turbolaser batteries, 250 heavy turbolaser batteries, 250 ion cannons, and 250 concussion missile silos. Some of the later versions also have 40 tractor beam emplacements. 144 starfighters were carried. While her firepower was unmatched until the introduction of Eclipse- and Sovereign-class Star Dreadnoughts, volumetric and surface-area considerations imply a much greater number of weapons, perhaps by an order of magnitude. Similarly, there are very few starfighters despite having an enormous hangar bay. This may be because some literature places it as being 8,000m long -- the weaponry listed as average for that length if not surface area. Evidence from the model and the movies demonstrate that the ship is actually supposed to be 17,600m long.

There is some speculation that there is an 8,000m Super-class Star Cruiser similar in appearance to the 17,600m Executor-class Star Dreadnought, with three thruster banks instead of Executor's five.

Newer source material indicates that the Executor carries over 5000 turbolasers, ion cannons, and wingss of starfighters (how many wings is not indicated, but it would be 144 starfighters at minimum, or two wings). The number of lesser weaponry such as point-defense laser cannon and missile weaponry have not been published. Two prefabricated garrison bases are also stored onboard for rapid deployment. Her shields are said to be able to dissipate power output equal to a medium-sized star. Despite its immense firepower, the ship was designed first and foremost as a mobile command and control center. Some sources have suggested that she may be a battlecruiser.

Sensor domes

The geodesic domes located on and around the Executor's bridge tower (similar to Star Destroyers) serve dual purposes. Inside the dome are hyperwave tranceiver coils for supralight active sensors while vanes jutting out of the dome serve as shield projectors. These domes are not vulnerable to external attack so long as the shield remains intact, but concentrated bombardment -- such as that ordered by Admiral Ackbar during the Battle of Endor -- can knock out this protective field. The sensors and shield projectors thus become vulnerable to attack, as demonstrated by Rebel starfighter pilots.

There are many such geodesic domes scattered around the ship, probably to ensure that there are no blind spots for her sensors and to provide a good distribution of shield generator coverage. Concentrated fire on a single area would thus not deprive the ship of all her shield-generating ability.

When the Executor's sensor dome exploded in during the Battle of Endor, a crewman said that the shields are down. Most people attributed this to the dome being destroyed, but the causal relationship is the other way around—the dome exploded because the shields went down.

Other Super Star Destroyers

Other than the Executor, several SSDs exist in the Expanded Universe canon.

• Lusankya - This was the sister-ship of the Executor. Both ships were built at the same time at separate facilities, both under the name of Executor. When they were completed, one went on to become the ship seen in the movies, the other was renamed Lusankya and somehow ended up buried under the surface of Coruscant, capital of the Empire. The ship was given to Ysanne Isard, who used it to flee Coruscant after it was conquered by the New Republic. The ship was eventually captured by Wedge Antilles over Thyferra, and became a vessel in the New Republic's fleet. Under orders of Mon Mothma, Lusankya was ordered decommissioned, but was reactivated some years before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. She was finally destroyed around 25 years after the Battle of Endor, when it was sent on a suicide mission to ram a Yuuzhan Vong Worldship.

• Guardian - This ship was stationed in the Core regions and was flagship of Fleet Admiral Gaen Drommel, who (like many high-ranking Imperial officers) turned to warlordism after the death of Emperor Palpatine. Three years after the Battle of Endor the ship was severely damaged in battle with the nascent New Republic. She was captured by the New Republic some ten years later, apparently in poor condition and was eventually repaired. Guardian saw operational service in the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.

• Iron Fist - This ship was the flagship of Warlord Zsinj's fleet. It was the symbol of the warlord's power, and he used it to terrorize worlds into submission. Iron Fist was eventually destroyed over the planet Dathomir.

• Razor's Kiss - Although it was built by the Empire at their Kuat Drive Yards, this ship was never seen in service to the Empire. When it was nearly completed, a commando force sent by Warlord Zsinj took control of it, and begain shooting their way out of the Shipyards. When the Imperial ships stationed there moved to intercept it, Warlord Zsinj brought his fleet led by another Executor-class ship, Iron Fist in to protect it until they jumped out of the system. Unfortunately for Zsinj, one of his commando force was a spy, who destroyed the shield generators and planted a program in the ships computers that told the New Republic's fleet where it escaped to. Razor's Kiss was destroyed by the New Republic before ever seeing a real battle.

• Knight Hammer - Seeing the inefficiencies of the Emperor's heirs, Admiral Daala murdered most of the warlords who had risen to power after the fall of the Empire. Consolidating command over the remaining Imperial military, Admiral Daala took command of the Knight Hammer, which had been built in secret by one of the murdered warlords. This ship was outfitted with special stealth armor to reduce her sensor cross section. In an strike against Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy on Yavin 4, the Knight Hammer fell victim to sabotage and was subsequently destroyed when it was pulled into Yavin's gravity well.

After the end of the Galactic Civil War, remnant forces of the Empire commissioned two new classes of Super Star Destroyer, more massive but shorter in length than the Executor-class: The 15 km long Sovereign-class Star Dreadnought and the 16 km long Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought. Both designs differ from the Executor primarily in that they carry superlasers similar to but less powerful than the one carried aboard the Death Star. Limitations on the resources available to the Imperial remnants, though (compared to the vast power available to the New Republic), ended production of ships larger than Vindicator-class frigates until around the time of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, where one Executor-class ship was commissioned in the Imperial Navy. This ship may be HIMS Defiant.

References

1. Ref. Inside the Worlds of the Original Trilogy. Executor-class Star Dreadnought is explicitly established in this source.

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