Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction

Executor-class Star Dreadnought

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Image:Executor Star Dreadnought.jpg

Executor-class Star Dreadnought
Manufacturer Kuat Drive Yards
Product Line Super Star Destroyers
Model Executor-class Star Dreadnought
Class Capital ship
Length 19,000 meters
Max Acceleration 1230 G
Hyperdrive Class 2
Cargo Capacity (minimum)
Crew (minimum) Crew members (279,144), Gunners (1,590)
Weapons
Affiliation Galactic Empire, Imperial Remnant, New Republic, Galactic Alliance

The Executor-class Star Dreadnought was a heavy warship class often used as command ships in the Imperial Starfleet.

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Characteristics

The Executor-class measured 19,000 meters in length. Reports of 8,000 meter and 12,800 meter varieties may have been confusion with visually similar but separate classes.

279,144 Navymen were said to have crewed the vessel, while 1,590 gunners were said to have operated its over 5,000 turbolaser batteries and ion cannons. The front arc of the ship was covered by 200 heavy and light turbolaser batteries, 50 concussion missile launchers, 100 ion cannons, and 10 tractor beam projectors. Each of its side arcs were dotted with 75 light turbolaser batteries, 50 heavy turbolaser batteries, 75 missile tubes, 50 ion cannons, and 10 tractor beam projectors. The rear arc, usually the least denfended area of the vessel, included an array of 50 heavy turbolaser batteries, 50 missile tubes, and 50 ion cannons.

Thirteen engines in five thruster banks gave the Executor-class impressive speed for its size. A minimum of 144 fighters were carried; the massive hanger could hold thousands.

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Sensor domes

The geodesic domes located on and around the Executor's bridge tower (similar to those of Imperial-class Star Destroyers) served dual purposes. Inside the dome were hyperwave transceiver coils for supralight active sensors, while vanes jutting out of the dome served as shield projectors for the surrounding area. These domes were not vulnerable to external attack so long as the shield remained intact, but concentrated bombardment — such as that ordered by Admiral Ackbar during the Battle of Endor — could knock out this protective field. The sensors and shield projectors thus became vulnerable to attack, as demonstrated by Rebel starfighter pilots.

There were many such geodesic domes scattered around the ship, probably to ensure that there were no blind spots for her sensors and to provide a good distribution of shield projector 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 during the Battle of Endor, a crewman said that the shields were 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.

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Main bridge

The bridge of the Executor had the same basic layout as standard Star Destroyers. The outer-most part featured nine triangular viewports. The center contained two crewpits which housed the control consoles for the ship. Between them was the command walkway. To the right and left sides of the bridge were two alcoves containing the weapons and defense stations. Behind the bridge were the communications stations, a turbolift, and a HoloNet pod for ship-to-ship communications.

On the level directly beneath the bridge was the main navigation complex.

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Operational history

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The design and construction of the Executor-class

The Executor-class was the brainchild of Lira Wessex, the brilliant and ambitious engineer who already had the designs of the Venator-class and Imperator-class (later renamed Imperial-class) Star Destroyers to her credit. Following her work on the already-impressive Imperial-class, Wessex sought to improve on the design. Adhering to Kuat Drive Yards' philosophy of psychological effect in starship design, or "terror styling," she believed that the immense size of an Imperial Star Destroyer was largely responsible for its ability to intimidate opponents. Working on that theory, she began designing a starship that would dwarf all her previous designs. Though KDY had designed and built extremely large warships in the past, such as the Mandator-class Star Dreadnought, the result obtained by Wessex was utterly gargantuan.
Image:SW Executor 01.jpg
Executor, lead ship of the class, and several escorting Star Destroyers

Wessex submitted the Executor-class design for approval in an period when Imperial tactical philosophy was rapidly becoming organized around the concept of superweapons - the Death Star was nearing completion at the time, and its very existence surely must have influenced those making the decision to go, or not go, with Wessex's project. For instance, the Imperial Starfleet felt its position of dominance threatened by the battle station, and its approval of the design may have been meant to keep the fleet in play as Palpatine's first terror weapon of choice. Should the Death Star perform as expected, the navy may have wanted to be able to keep up with it, with a superweapon of their own. Should the station fail to perform as expected (as it eventually did), the navy would have an alternative ready for the Emperor to turn to.

Emperor Palpatine authorized the construction of the first four Executor-class ships even before the Battle of Yavin, but the sudden and unanticipated destruction of the Death Star in that engagement (0 BBY) changed Wessex's production schedule completely. At the urging of Darth Vader, the Emperor ordered her to rush the new ships into production as quickly as possible, to compensate for the loss of the battle station. As certain segments of naval command may have anticipated, a new symbol of intimdation was needed, and as Wessex had believed, the Executor-class fit the need well.

Initially deemed militarily inefficient, the ships served to further the Imperial policy of fear set forth in the Tarkin Doctrine. While the ships of the Executor-class proved effective in driving fear into the hearts of the Rebel Alliance, they were disliked by much of the Admiralty, who preferred to field large numbers of smaller vessels over one larger one.

Though the ship was initially manufactured by KDY, the first vessel of its class, the Executor, was built in secret at Fondor rather than the company's home shipyards at Kuat. The Executor went on to become the most feared and famous of its class by virtue of its status as Darth Vader's command ship.

In the later years, production on Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts and other so called "Super Star Destroyers" or "Super-class Star Destroyers" accelerated in a display of the Emperor's wealth and power. After the death of the Emperor and the fragmentation of the Galactic Empire into feuding fiefs, Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts were popular acquisitions amongst warlords hoping to improve their military power and prestige.

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List of Executor-class ships

There were many Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts serving in the Imperial Starfleet. By the time of the Battle of Hoth, there were at least four Executor-class ships in operation with several more under construction; the exact number of ships of this class that were completed before the Battle of Endor is unknown. After the fragmentation of the Empire, ships of this class were acquired by several ex-Imperial warlords, the New Republic, and the Imperial Remnant.

  • 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. Lusankya 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, the Lusankya was decommissioned, but was reactivated some years before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. She was finally destroyed around 29 ABY, 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. The Guardian saw operational service in the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and became a Galactic Alliance command ship/mobile base.
  • 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. The Iron Fist was eventually destroyed over the planet Dathomir. Originally named the Brawl.
  • Razor's Kiss—Although it was built for the Empire by 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 began shooting their way out of the shipyards. When the ships stationed there moved to intercept it, Warlord Zsinj brought in his fleet led by another Executor-class ship, the Iron Fist, to protect it until they jumped out of the system. Unfortunately for Zsinj, one member of his commando force was a spy, who destroyed the shield generators and planted a program in the ship's computers that told the New Republic's fleet where it escaped to. The Razor's Kiss was destroyed by the New Republic before ever seeing a real battle.
  • Whelm—This ship was flagship of the Azure Hammer Command in Sector Zero, the Imperial Center Oversector, containing the capital of the Empire. Leading a fleet of over fifty-seven capital ships, The Whelm served as the personal flagship of Grand Admiral Osvald Teshik until he was punished by Palpatine for failing to defeat a Hapan battle fleet, and lost command of the Whelm.
  • Intimidator—Originally belonging to Black Sword Command together with two other anonymous "Super Star Destroyers", the Intimidator would be pressed into service for the Duskhan League after the Yevethan revolt at the Black Fifteen shipyards over N'zoth as the Pride of Yevetha. It was later reacquired by a revolt of the subjugated human crewmen. The Intimidator eventually came to rest as a derelict somewhere between the galactic core and the Unknown Regions.
  • Reaper—Originally the flagship of Grand Moff Governor Ardus Kaine, it was eventually acquired by Admiral Pelleaon after consolidating Kaine's former holdings into the Imperial remnant. The Reaper was destroyed in combat by the New Republic.
  • Vengeance—Admiral Senn's flagship in the suppression of the lawless Airam Sector. She was eventually destroyed in a battle with outgunned Rebel forces, when Rogue Squadron and the Rebels managed to destroy the ship's shields with several Dreadnaughts on suicide runs, then rammed the Vengeance's bridge with the Airam corvette Thunder. The Rebels fired heavy rockets at the heavily damaged ship, destroying it.
  • 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, 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.
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Anonymous examples

  • Two Anonymous Black Sword "Super Star Destroyers"—In addition to the captured Intimidator, there were two additional Super Star Destroyers indicated to be of the same class deployed within Black Sword Command, but not ensconced at the shipyard of Black Fifteen that was seized by Yevethan partisans. It is possible that one or both of these ships was retained/obtained by the Imperial Remnant sometime after the Armistice, and could possibly be the unknown-name "Super Star Destroyer" present at Bastion (speculation on this craft is discussed below), however, their eventual fate is unknown and undocumented.
  • Anonymous Executor-class at the Fondor Shipyards (partially constructed)—During the era of the Galactic Civil War, Rogue Squadron used captured TIEs to infiltrate an Imperial construction yard at Fondor and destroy the cloaking devices protecting an under-construction vessel of the Executor-class. It was destroyed when all three cloaking devices were destroyed by the alliance fighters, creating a chain reaction that destroyed the ship.
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Presumed examples

  • Defiant?/Stalwart?—Limitations on the resources available to the Imperial Remnant, and a poor economy ended production of ships larger than the 600 meter long Vindicator-class until around the time of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, where one, presumably Executor-class, ship was commissioned in the Imperial Starfleet. This ship may be Defiant or the Stalwart seen at the Battle of Borosk.
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Trivia

  • "Executor" comes from Latin and means "an administrator or executive officer".
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Appearances

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Sources

  • Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy, James Luceno, DK Publishing, 2004.
    The relevant quote went as follows: "Eventually designated the Executor-class after the vessel assigned to Vader's personal use and commanded by Admiral Ozzel, it is usually referred to in rebel slang as a "Super Star Destroyer"—a term that covers many warship classes bigger than a Star Destroyer, from Star Cruisers to ultimate Star Dreadnoughts like Executor."
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See also

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External links

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