Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. Star Destroyers were produced by Kuat Drive Yards, later Kuat-Entralla Engineering, and serve as "the signature vessel of the fleet" for the Galactic Republic, Galactic Empire, and First Order in numerous published works including film, television, novels, comics, and video games.Battlefront: Twilight Company
A single Star Destroyer could project considerable influence over a star system in the name of the Empire: each can be deployed individually as both a forward operating base and as mobile weapon systems platform responsible for safeguarding multiple planets, trade routes, and systems, and carried enough firepower to subdue an entire planetary system or annihilate a small rebel fleet.
Notable examples of Star Destroyers include the precursor Venator-class Star Destroyer (prequel trilogy) and the ubiquitous Imperial-class Star Destroyer (original trilogy). Numerous other classes of "Star Destroyers" share the basic triangular "dagger" hull; the successful v-shaped designs are explained in Legends as reflecting the Empire's "Tarkin's Doctrine" military philosophy and originating from Sith ideological influence, and have been adapted by numerous factions for a wide variety of applications.
Numerous Star Destroyer models and toys have been released. The iconic scene in Star Wars (1977) featuring the Imperial Star Destroyer's first appearance where it pursues a Corellian corvette has been called a milestone in special effects history.
Imperial Star Destroyer
Concept and design
In draft scripts for the film that would become Star Wars, the term "Stardestroyer" refers to two-man fighters flown by what would become the Galactic Empire. The film's second draft features four Star Destroyers chasing a single Rebel ship,Taylor, p. 115 but the tremendous costs incurred by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) when production began helped lead Lucas to use a single "terrifyingly large" Star Destroyer instead of four.Taylor, pp. 121-22 ILM built a shooting model that was about half the size of the model for the Tantive IV the Star Destroyer was chasing. Lucas asked ILM to build a larger Star Destroyer model to match the Tantive IV's scale, but ILM convinced him that the Dykstraflex camera invented for the film made this unnecessary.Taylor, p. 171-73 Nevertheless, they added additional hull details to the Star Destroyer model. The 13-second opening shot was the first special effects piece ILM completed, and its success was an essential test for the Dykstraflex.
ILM built a Star Destroyer, equipped with internal lighting to provide a better sense of scale, for The Empire Strikes Back (1980). According to chief model maker Lorne Peterson, the new Star Destroyer model was scaled to appear two and a half miles long, though their official length was revised in later sources.
The Imperial I-class Star Destroyers are white, as shown in A New Hope, Rogue One, and Solo. The Imperial II-class Star Destroyers in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are grey.
Depiction The iconic Imperial-class Star Destroyer first appears in the opening scene of Star Wars (1977), where the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator (carrying Darth Vader) chases the CR90 Corvette Tantive IV (carrying Princess Leia) above Tatooine after the latter had fled from Scarif.Barr, et al. (2019), p. 314Dougherty, et al. (2020), p. 135-137 Background literature describes Imperial-class Star Destroyers as the chief warship of the Imperial Navy and symbol of Imperial might. These enormous capital ships are used to enforce the Emperor's will, bolster Imperial-backed governments, and act as mobile headquarters for senior Imperial commanders. At the Empire's height there were over 25,000 Star Destroyers in existence, requiring roughly 925 million crew.
A Star Destroyer has the firepower to bombard a city into a crater of steaming sludge and lay waste to continents. Deep-crust survival bunkers are regarded as a last refuge in the event of planetary bombardment by Imperial Star Destroyers.Lund, et al. (2016), p. 139 In addition to their powerful armament, a Star Destroyer carries troops and vehicles for ground operations and a full wing of TIE fighters (typically 48 fighters, 12 bombers and 12 boarding craft). A single Star Destroyer is considered sufficient to overwhelm a rebellious planet, though major industrialized worlds may be assaulted by a fleet of six Star Destroyers with support cruisers and supply craft.
Darth Vader's Devastator is the last of the Imperial I-class ships to be built by Kuat Drive Yards before switching to the Imperial II-class, a fleet of which take part in the Battle of Hoth as depicted in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Designated Death Squadron, this fleet of Star Destroyers is led by Darth Vader aboard the Executor, first in a new class of Super Star Destroyer.Barr, et al. (2019), p. 330 Although the battle is won by Imperial forces, Vader orders his Star Destroyers to focus on capturing the Millennium Falcon rather than hunt down the escaping Rebel transports, allowing many to escape.Lund, et al. (2016), p. 142 The Falcon manages to evade this pursuit by hiding in the sensor blind spot of the Star Destroyer Avenger.Dougherty, et al. (2020), p. 144
These ships play a major role in the Battle of Endor as depicted in Return of the Jedi (1983). During the battle, Imperial Star Destroyers prove vulnerable to fleets of starfighters flown by skilled Rebel pilots, who exploit the ships' exposed bridges and deflector shield generators to cause damage. A year after their defeat at Endor, the Empire makes a last stand at Jakku. During the battle, Imperial Star Destroyers use their tractor beams to drag New Republic ships down to the planet's surface. Here their wrecks form the Graveyard of Ships as seen in The Force Awakens (2015).Lund, et al. (2016), p. 174
Analysis Examining what it would take to realistically build an Imperial Star Destroyer, it was estimated in 2016 that such a vessel would cost $636 billion USD. However, getting the parts into space to construct the Star Destroyer would require an additional US$44.4 trillion in launch costs, suggesting that asteroid mining and refining technologies would have to be developed first to make it more economical. More recent estimates suggest a cost of over US$100 trillion based on the Imperial Star Destroyer's stated weight of approximately 40 million tons, making it outside the scope of any nation to build on their own.
Joe Pappalardo of Popular Mechanics argues that the Imperial Star Destroyer is a poorly-designed spaceship, being asymmetrical with its superstructure jutting out in one direction. Additionally, while its wedge shape would make sense for atmospheric travel, it serves no purpose in space. He argues a more realistic and effective design would be symmetrical and bowl-shaped like a saucer.
BJ Armstrong, an assistant professor of war studies and naval history at the United States Naval Academy, says Star Destroyers represent a failure in the architecture of the Imperial fleet to meet the Rebel threat. Building off experiences from the Clone Wars, the fleet was based around large starships like the Star Destroyer which could carry out squadron- and fleet-level operations. While capable of winning battles, a small number of large warships are ill-suited for the constabulary role needed to establish security over large sections of space, thus allowing for non-state actors to operate within them at will. Instead, a larger number of smaller warships would be more suited for patrolling these areas and provide more opportunities for junior officers to develop their skills.
Cultural influence Lego has released multiple different Star Destroyer kits over the years, from small sets with just 21 pieces to the largest versions with thousands of pieces. These include two Ultimate Collector Series models, the first of which was released in 2002. Measuring long and , it sold for $269.99 until being retired in 2007. The second UCS Star Destroyer was larger, long and wide, and sold for $699.99 between 2019 and 2022.
Super Star Destroyer Concept and design For The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas wanted Darth Vader's new flagship, Executor, to be huge and to play a greater role in the film. According to chief model maker Lorne Peterson, the Executor'''s model was long and constructed with over 150,000 individual lights. The resulting model was so heavy it required additional support to keep from overwhelming the Dykstraflex's mechanical structure. The ship was originally scaled to appear long according to Lorne, though later sources would amend this figure.
Depiction Within the Star Wars universe, the term "Super Star Destroyer" is a colloquialism used to refer to any ship larger than an Imperial Star Destroyer.Walker (2018), p. 197 The largest and most powerful of these is the Executor, which first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as the personal flagship of Darth Vader. The first in a line of Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts, the ship is over in length, propelled by thirteen colossal engines and a Class 1 hyperdrive. Its armament includes over 5,000 turbolasers, ion cannons and tractor beam projectors and it can carry more than 1,000 vessels. The crew of the Executor numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Its command tower, rising above the ship's technoscape on a thick stalk, is a standard model found on other Star Destroyers – including a pair of geodesic domes containing communication transceivers, sensors and deflector shield projectors – and allows for an unobstructed view of the battlefield.Lund, et al. (2016), p. 170-171 At least twelve of these vessels were built by the Empire, including the Executor, Annihilator, Ravager and Arbitrator, but the exact number is unknown thanks to Imperial propaganda and black budgets.
From the bridge of the Executor, Darth Vader leads Death Squadron during the Battle of Hoth and afterwards in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon. It later serves as the Imperial command ship during the Battle of Endor. At Endor, intense bombardment by the Rebel Alliance fleet cause the ship's shields to fail, allowing Rebel starfighters to strafe the command tower. During this attack an A-wing piloted by Arvel Crynyd crashes into the command bridge, destroying the main navigation complex and causing the vessel to lose control. The Executor is lost when the second Death Star's gravity well pulls the ship into its surface, destroying the vessel and damaging the Death Star itself. At Jakku where the Empire made its last stand, the Super Star Destroyer Ravager is one of the wrecks which make up the Graveyard of Ships.
Analysis Rhett Allain, an associate professor of physics at Southeastern Louisiana University, examined the death of the Executor in a Star Wars Day-themed article for Wired. According to him, the Executor impacted the second Death Star traveling at , which—assuming the collision was strictly a result of gravitational interaction between the two objects—would require a super-dense Death Star to achieve such an impact velocity. Additionally, the Executor had a near constant angular velocity of 0.159 radians/second during the scene where it rotates to face the Death Star. For the crew at the front of the ship, this would result in a centripetal acceleration of 39 G.
If a model of the Executor was built to scale and placed hovering over New York City, it would cast a shadow over the island of Manhattan.
Cultural influence