Imperial Warships/Cruisers
Contents
Cruisers and Frigates
Corellian Corvette
*Manufacturer: Corellian Engineering Corporation
*Specification: Corellian Corvette
*Type: Corvette
*Length: 150 meters
*Weapons: Six Taim & Bak H9 dual turbolasers and four laser cannons
*Shield: Phoah-Kingsmeyer 484-J4e Screen Control and Shield Projector
*Hull: Ferro-Magnesium Ceramic Hull (Hull Rating 50RU)
*Crew: 8 officers, 38 enlisted (min)
*30 officers, 165 enlisted (max)
*Top Speed: 22 MGLT
*Troop Capacity: as Crew - enlisted
*Affiliation: Galactic Republic, Rebel Alliance, Galactic Empire New Republic, warlords, Galactic Alliance
*Cargo: Capacity 3000 Metric Tons
*Passengers: 600
The Corellian Corvette, also known by the nickname Rebel Blockade Runner or simply Blockade Runner, is a smaller (about 150 meters in length), multi-purpose Corvette manufactured by the Corellian Engineering Corporation and used extensively by the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire. It is capable of speeds up to 22 MGLT and can carry 200 passengers. The standard crew is composed of 8 officers and 38 enlisted crew, but can range anywhere from 30 to 165 total, depending on its configuration. The weapon configuration varies, but up to 6 Taim & Bak H9 dual turbolasers and 4 laser cannons can be mounted on the hull. Under the standard configuration, the Corellian Corvette has an axial blind spot.
At least one Corellian Corvette was used by the Royal House of Alderaan, as a Diplomatic Cruiser during and after the Clone Wars. The Tantive IV, owned by Viceroy Bail Organa, was later passed down to Princess Leia Organa for use as her personal consular vessel. It was seen throughout Revenge of the Sith, where it is revealed to have a small hanger bay on its underside, and the beginning of A New Hope.
There was an improved Imperial variant known as the Modified Corvette or Assassin Corvette, which featured a sleeker hull, improved armament, and stronger shields. Occasionally, both regular and modified Corvettes had a small hanger bay from which they could launch or retrieve a handful of fighters.
The Term "Blockade Runner" comes from the speed of these corvettes. The Rebel Alliance found that they were extremely useful in breaking through Imperial blockades.
Nebulon-B class Frigate
*Manufacturer: Kuat Drive Yards
*Specification: EE76 Escort Frigate
*Type: Frigate
*Length: 300 meters
*Weapons: 12 light turbolasers (4D) and 12 laser cannons (2D), 72D per salvo
*Shield: 2560 U
*Hull: 1520 U
*Crew: 920 optimal, 307 skeleton crew
*Top Speed: 12,000G or 4 Space Units
*Troop Capacity: 75
*Affiliation: Rebel Alliance,Galactic Empire
*Cargo Capacity: 6,000 metric tons
*Passengers: None
The Nebulon-B Frigate has also been known as the Escort Frigate or the Rebel Cruiser. Built before and during the Galactic Civil War, this ship was used by both sides of the battle as a support ship and medical frigate for the large capital ships, such as Imperial Star Destroyers and Rebel Mon Calamari Cruisers. It was often used by the Rebellion during the war, with the most famous instance of this ship being the Medical Frigate seen in the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
It is and was built by a subsidiary of the massive galactic Kuat Drive Yards corporation, and the ship mounts twelve light turbolasers and twelve laser cannons. A Nebulon-B Frigate carries 24 starfighters. It can outgun an Imperial Carrack-class light cruiser.
It had a sublight velocity of 4 Space Units or 12,000G, and had a Class 2 hyperdrive.
The Nebulon-B was successful in its design role as convoy escort for Imperial convoys and an anti-starfighter warship. The job was contracted to KDY after a string of embarrassingly successful and frequent Rebel strikes.
It also filled a crucial gap between costly Imperial-class Star Destroyers and weak Corellian Corvettes. Its moderate firepower and two squdrons of TIE Fighters made very effective for deterring Rebel starfighter raids from hyperspace. Enemy forces soon found countermeasures and a number of those frigates defected to the Rebel Alliance. For a time the Rebel Alliance used them as command ships for raids into the Empire but they were replaced by the far more capable Mon Calamari cruisers and modified for other uses or became dedicated fleet escorts.
However, it was a relatively cheap escort and was found in great numbers across the galaxy despite its slow speed and vulnerability at the rear end. As demonstrable in most Star Wars-themed space combat video games, only a few turrets are mounted near the engines. Once these are taken out, the frigate cannot target enemy fighters attacking from behind due to its cylindrical design.
Medical Frigate: The Nebulon-b was sometimes converted into Medical Frigates in the Rebellion. Some examples were the RAS Medical Frigate, Salvation, Mercy, and Redemption, and the NRS Warden. It had a crew of 901, but also had 30 medical personnel and 30 medical droids.
It had a sublight velocity of 4 Space Units as the unmodified Nebulon B, but had a slower Class 3 hyperdrive.
The cargo capacity was cut to a sixth: only a 1000 metric tons. The weaponry was also reduced to six light turbolasers and eight laser cannons. The starfighter hangar was also removed. However, the medical frigate sports 745 beds and 15 bacta tanks, and patients have a 98% survival rate. The shields were also enhanced.
Lancer-class Frigate
*Manufacturer: Kuat Drive Yards
*Specification: Lancer-Class Frigate
*Type: Heavy Starfighter/Shuttle Carrier
*Length: 250 meters long
*Weapons: 20 Quad laser cannons
*Shield: Unknown
*Hull: Unknown
*Crew: 850
*Top Speed: Unknown
*Troop Capacity: Imperial stormtroopers
*Affiliation: Imperial Remnant
*Cargo: Capacity Unknown
*Passengers: Unknown
The Lancer-class Frigate was first commissioned after the battle of Yavin. Having come to a somewhat belated awareness of the danger Rebel starfighters posed, a group of Imperial Admirals led by Admiral Drez proposed the creation of a capital ship for use against them. The Lancer was designed and built by Kuat Drive Yards, which borrowed from existing KDY hull designs. It was designed to serve a highly specialized function, and it excels when used against enemy starfighters, but due to various design flaws and a prohibitive cost the Lancer was not built in large numbers.
The Lancer Frigate is 250 meters long, and has superficial hull similarities to the older Katana fleet dreadnoughts. It carries a crew of 850, 40 of which are gunners for the weapons emplacements. The Lancer carries 20 Corellian AG-2G Quad Laser Cannons spaced evenly around the hull. Each gun is mounted in its own turret to maximize the ship's firing arc. This configuration makes the Lancer very efficient against starfighters; however, unlike its larger cousin the Nebulon-B Frigate it mounts no turbolasers and so is vulnerable to other capital ships. Each quad laser cannon battery also has the firepower of four TIE bombers.
The four engines on the ship are underpowered, resulting in sluggish handling during combat and an inability to pursue starfighters should they flee beyond effective range.
Tactical
As the name indicates, the Lancer serves primarily as a screening vessel for the larger ships in the Imperial Navy, notably the Star Destroyer. Initially, Navy doctrine placed these ships on the perimeter, but it was found that they were picked off too easily by Rebel capital ships. Following this unfortunate discovery, doctrine was altered and it became standard operating procedure to place Lancer frigates closer to other capital ships, providing flanking support for the Star Destroyers which could provide covering fire against the larger Rebel cruisers. Grand Admiral Thrawn was particularly adept at the use of Lancers, and examples of their use against Rebel fleets and starfighter squadrons may be found throughout his reign.
Carrack-class Frigate
*Manufacturer: Damorrian Manufacturing
*Specification: Carrack class Light Cruiser
*Type: Light cruiser
*Length: 350 meters
*Weapons: 10 heavy turbolasers, 20 ion cannons or laser cannons, 5 tractor beam projectors, 5 TIE fighters
*Shield: Unknown
*Hull: Unknown
*Crew: 1000
*Top Speed: 100 MGLT
*Troop Capacity: Unknown
*Affiliation: Galactic Empire, New Republic
*Cargo Capacity: Unknown
*Passengers: Unknown
The Carrack-class Light Cruiser has been a part of the Imperial Starfleet since the earliest days of Palpatine's New Order; indeed they appear to have entered service as early as the Clone Wars.
The Carrack-class is 350 meters long and armed with 10 heavy turbolasers, 20 ion cannons and 5 tractor beam projectors, and has a crew of around 1000. Some variants are equipped with 20 quad laser cannons in place of the 20 ion cannons; a modification designed to further improve the class' already formidable anti-starfighter capabilities (but at the cost of effectiveness in capital ship engagements). The standard Carrack possesses no hangar bay, but can be fitted with an external rack capable of carrying 5 TIE fighters- typically they are so outfitted, and the TIE fighters were reconnaissance varieties.
In addition, the cruisers were one of the few Imperial starship designs possessing features designed to safeguard the lives of the ship's crew. A compartment system inside the hull provided extra protection against the dangers of hull breaches, and it was common to find survivors on board the wreckage of these vessels.
Carrack-class light cruisers are still part of the present day Imperial Starfleet. Carrack cruisers were some of the most versatile cruisers available, used in roles as varied as protecting Bakura from the Ssi-Ruuk incursion, to acting as personal transports for important personages like Imperial Moffs, to being outfitted with special cannons to destroy the interstellar plankton of the Oswaft of the interstellar ThonBoka nebula.
Interdictor-class Cruiser
*Manufacturer: Sienar Fleet Systems
*Specification: Immobilizer-418-class Interdictor Cruiser
*Type: Hyperspace Interdictor
*Length: 600 meters
*Weapons: 4 Gravity Well Projectors, 20 Quad Laser Batteries (4D) , 2 TIE fighter squadrons (24 fighters), 80 D per salvo
*Shield: Unknown
*Hull: Unknown
*Crew: 2807, plus 24 gunners
*Top Speed: 8 MGLT
*Troop Capacity: 1000 stormtroopers
*Affiliation: Galactic Empire, New Republic
*Cargo Capacity: Unknown
*Passengers: Unknown
The Immobiliser-418-class Interdictor Cruiser is a starship built upon the Vindicator-class Heavy Cruiser. It is a special-purpose vessel, the first warship class of the Imperial Starfleet to incorporate gravity well generators as standard equipment. These generators, when engaged, simulate the presence of a medium-sized planetary body and in particular the effect such a body would have on hyperspace travel. This can be used for two purposes, to prevent vessels entering hyperspace, and to force craft currently in hyperspace to revert to sublight speeds.
Interdictor cruisers were initially developed as a counter to the Rebel Alliance’s hyperdrive-equipped starfighters in particular, and hyperdrive equipped vessels in general. This was primarily to counter Alliance "hit and run" tactics, where a small group of starfighters or light starships would emerge from hyperspace, attack preselected targets, and re-enter hyperspace before sufficient force could be brought to bear on the raiders.
An Interdictor at the site of attack, or able to access the area with a brief hyperspace jump, would be tasked to power up its gravity well generators in an attempt to prevent the escape of the raiding party. Starfighter and capital ship support were then be used to eliminate the attackers, whose only options were to try to run for the edge of the interdiction field, or to attack the Interdictor and hope to inflict enough damage to disable the cruiser’s influence. Either path would result in significant damage to the Alliance forces. Rebel pilots often mistook it for a miniature Star Destroyer when it was accompanied by Star Destroyers. It was only when they tried to escape into hyperspace that they realized it was an Interdictor.
A secondary duty of this class was to patrol trade routes. Freighters pulled out of hyperspace by an Interdictor would be in a position to have their cargo inspected.
The Immobiliser class had several weaknesses. Foremost was that the gravity well generators took several minutes to "warm up" (though the duration was rarely enough for an entire fleet to escape), and were an extremely large drain on the ship’s resources. This flaw was used on several occasions. When enemy ships were able to inflict significant damage to the Interdictor, the captain was forced to choose between entrapment of the enemy and his ship’s own protection. Interdictors were also poorly protected and armed for their size, unable to successfully match up with vessels of equal size. In fleet operations, they were usually found on the periphery of the battle they were affecting, dependant on better equipped capital ships and starfighters to deliver the necessary damage.
During the Galactic Civil War, only a few hundred Interdictors were built, as they were more expensive than a regular Star Destroyer of comparable size, were less effective in battle, and their primary use was strategic.
Following the Battle of Endor, Imperial warlords, such as Grand Admiral Thrawn, realized the importance of the ship and carefully deployed them. Thrawn was especially famous in connection with Interdictors for developing and refining a tactic that would be named after him. The "Thrawn pincer" positioned the Interdictor's gravity wells along certain vectors. Other vessels (typically Star Destroyers) would be contacted, and would blindly execute a micro-hyperspace jump straight into the Interdictor's gravity wells, yanking them out of hyperspace and near an enemy vessel. Much quicker than subspace movements, the Thrawn pincer allowed reinforcements to be swiftly deployed on the battlefield and afforded a considerable element of surprise.
Several months after the Battle of Endor, a new interdictor class became prevalent though. Known as the Dominator class (after the first ship of its kind to make an appearance), it appeared to be built off the same hull structure as Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Because of these similarities, it was likely produced by Kuat Drive Yards in order to rival Sienar Fleet Systems.
The new class was designed to counteract one of the Immobiliser-class' main weaknesses, the ability to hold its own in combat. Armed with similar weaponry to Imperial-class Star Destroyers, and carrying four squadrons of TIE fighters, a Dominator did not require additional support when performing patrol and customs duties. Some bold commanders even used the ship to pull armed convoys out of hyperspace and destroy them. Nonetheless, like the Immobiliser, the gravity wells remained a major drain on the ship's main reactor. This had the potential to compromise the Dominator's defences in heavy combat.
Further developement initatiated the creation of the behemoth Eclipse-class Star Destroyer (and the smaller Sovereign-class relative) to incorporate gravity wells into their design. Its sheer size and weaponry (which rivaled the Death Star) already made it almost unstoppable by practical means. However, the ability to prevent escape into hyperspace gave the enemy no choice but to either surrender or be pressed into an engagement that the Eclipse was certain to win.
Interdictor cruiser development appears to have stagnated after this point, the next innovation not coming until during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. At least three Defender-class Star Destroyers were modified to house completely internal gravity well generators.
The ISDs
This is a great reference page that need not be taken apart for our purposes. Only Officers will need to know these things, so don't freak out :)
