Super Star Destroyer
The Super Star Destroyer, properly the Executor-class Star Destroyer or Executor-class command ship, a large mobile craft in the fictional Star Wars universe, is a truly gargantuan spaceship with more than 250,000 crewmembers, shown in the movies as around 17.6 kilometres long though often erroneously quoted at only 8 or 12.8 km in secondary sources. Darth Vader's command ship, the Executor, 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 Rebels as part of the Battle of Endor, colliding with the second Death Star after its primary bridge was destroyed by a crashing A-wing fighter.Official literature places curiously few weapons: only 250 turbolaser batteries, 250 heavy turbolaster batteries, 250 ion cannon and 250 concussion-missile silos. Some of the later versions also have 40 Tractor Beam emplacements. 144 fighters were carried. While her firepower was unmatched until the introduction of HIMS Eclipse and HIMS Sovereign, volumetric and surface-area considerations imply a much greater number of weapons, perhaps by an order of magnitude. Similarly, there are very few fighters despite having an enormous hangar bay. This may be because some literature places it as being 8000 meters long -- the weaponry listed as average for that length if not surface area -- but in truth the Super Star Destroyers are 17600 meters long.
Numerous other Super Star Destroyers were produced. Some examples are listed below:
- Lusankya - This Super Star Destroyer was the sister-ship to 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 burried under the surface of Coruscant. The ship was given to Ysanne Isard, who used it to flee Coruscant after it was conquered. 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 decomissioned, but was reactivated some years before the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. The ship 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. She 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. This ship 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 Super Star Destroyer, 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. The ship 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 Super Star Destroyer 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.
Sensor Dome: Although it is often erroneously believed that the geodesic spheres astride the Super Star Destroyer's command tower (and conventional Imperial Star Destroyers as well) are shield generators, which are vulnerable to external attack (sometimes called the 'testicle theory'), interviews with Lucasfilm personnel reveal that they are in fact sensor gear, analogous to similar structures seen on modern Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Nimitz-class carriers (a similar, but much larger, structure is found on the French Suffren-class frigate).