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Imperial I-class Star Destroyer

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"I am aboard an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer. Built at the Kuat Drive Shipyards. It possesses many useful systems and capabilities."
―The Scourge[25]

The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer was a model of Imperial-class Star Destroyer in the service of the Imperial Navy. A wedge-shaped capital ship, it bristled with weapons emplacements, assault troops, boarding craft, and TIE fighter series starfighters. In the era of the Galactic Empire, its command bridge was staffed by the finest crewmen in the navy.

At first, Star Destroyers were deployed to sectors and systems caught in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, where they would crush any signs of sedition. During the Galactic Civil War the Destroyer's role changed to hunting down high value Rebel targets and bases. They fought in notable battles such as the Battle of Hoth and the Battle of Endor. The Imperial II-class Star Destroyer was a derivative of the Imperial I-class.

Characteristics[]

Dimensions[]

ISD blueprints

Technical forward, aft and lateral schematics of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer

The Imperial I-class Star Destroyer was the first model of the Imperial-class line[3] of Star Destroyers[32] designed by Lira Wessex[1] and used by the Galactic Empire's Imperial Navy.[2] Despite the Star Destroyer being considered a capital ship under Imperial doctrine, the Anaxes War College System classified it as a destroyer.[32]

With a length of 1,600 meters and a width of 985 meters,[6], the wedge-shaped Imperial I-class Star Destroyer[2] was 445 meters longer[33] than its immediate predecessor, the Venator-class Star Destroyer, which had been developed for the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars.[34] In keeping with the Empire's habit of favoring muted colors whenever possible,[35] the hull of the Imperial-class was painted in whitish gray,[2] a stark change from the Venator-class of the Clone Wars era which had red markings denoting the Republic's diplomatic immunity.[33]

Crew requirements & quarters[]

Imperial I-class Star Destroyers had over 37,000 crew on board— 9,235 officers and 27,850 enlisted personnel. The complement of 9,700 stormtroopers added to a total of 46,785 crew and passengers,[2] with 2,000 of those being the bare minimum required to safely operate the ship.[26] Like other Star Destroyer classes, a single Internal Affairs officer was stationed aboard the ship to scan the crew for signs of disloyalty and sedition, as well as interrogate any captured prisoners.[36] As most ships in the Navy, Rebaxan Columni MSE-6 series repair droids were employed to serve as messenger, repair and custodial assistants.[37]

The officer's quarters were located right below the bridge, in the ship's command tower.[38] The officer barracks, gunnery crew quarters,[3] recreation areas,[6] meeting rooms and cell blocks were located on the second level[2] of the ship's multi-tiered habitable superstructure,[6] with four gradually upsloping shorter 'levels' eventually leading to the ships 'neck' which connected it to its upper command tower.[2] On the contrary, the barracks for the 27,000 enlisted personnel were located on the ship's midsection, outside of the main superstructure.[6] The ship was also equipped with specialized training rooms that could simulate various environmental conditions, including underwater combat,[39] simulator pods for Imperial Starfighter Pilots[40] as well as several medical substations.[6]

To complement its impressive crew size, every Imperial-class vessel carried consumables for 2 years,[28] with its liquid stores and holds for raw materials being located near its bow.[38] On the "side" of the ship, in front of the hangars, existed the lateral umbilical restocking vestibules.[3]

Armament and shielding[]

"This is an Imperial Star Destroyer. All vital equipment is shielded. Even twenty bombs will do nothing."
―Prelate Verge[41]
GhostDestroysTractorBeam-Rebels-Legacy

The Ghost flies away from the Relentless's destroyed ventral tractor beam projectors.

The Imperial-class Star Destroyer bristled with weapons emplacements. The most common weapons equipped onto Imperial I-class Star Destroyers were the 60 Taim & Bak XX-9 heavy turbolaser batteries,[13] hooked into large arrays of auxiliary power cells,[38] 60 Borstel NK-7 ion cannons, and ten Phylon Q7 tractor beam projectors dotted its whitish gray hull.[2] The forward pursuit tractor beam array was located in the ship's very front,[3] while four other tractor beam projectors were located around the hanagr bay opening.[42] The ship also featured six dual heavy turbolaser turrets, two quad heavy turbolasers, three triple medium turbolasers, and two medium turbolasers. At both "ends" of the Star Destroyer existed an aft point-defense laser cannon.[3] The Star Destroyer was equipped with LeGrange targeting computers[10] and a separate tractor beam targeting array[43] located at the top of the command tower.[11]

The heaviest and largest armament on the ship were the combined six dual heavy turbolaser turrets and two dual heavy ion cannon turrets[3] that were situated at each side of the dorsal superstructure flanking the command tower. With a diameter of 50 meters, each turbolaser was capable of ripping through heavy armor and overloading shields. Although it was difficult to hit small, fast-moving craft, even a glancing blow from those turrets would destroy them.[4] Despite this impressive collection of weapons, the Imperial I-class still had a large blindspot in its aft quarter, where none of them could reach. Enemy starfighters often exploited this weakness to deliver devastating attacks, although veteran captains aware of it would maneuver the ship to keep them away and deploy starfighter squadrons to repel most attacks.[7]

The Imperial I-class was heavily shielded,[7] and its armoured durasteel plating[5] durable enough to easily withstand a direct collision with a GR-75 medium transport with no damage to the hull.[15] Situated at the ventral side of the bow of the ISD was the navigational deflector generator,[3] accompanied by the hull deflector shield generator nearer towards vessel's rear.[6] Two ISD-72x shield generator domes were present upon the top of the command tower, at each side of the tractor beam targeting array,[1] to protect the tower, encompassing the bridge.[3] They also served as sensor arrays and deflector shield projector ports were scattered around the habitable superstructure.[6]

Complement and hangars[]

DualTurbolaser

The foremost starboard dual heavy turbolaser turret on the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer, Intimidator

The Imperial I-class featured two vast hangar bays in its underside, on an opening large enough to hold an entire CR90 corvette.[42] The roof of the opening was equipped with an electromagnetic paralyzing pincer crane, which grabbed onto and disabled captured ships for boarding. One of the hangars, known as the primary attack hangar[4] was used to host transports and visiting shuttles[27] as well as launch landing craft for planetary assaults,[39] while the other held the Star Destroyer's starfighter complement,[4] consisting of seventy-two TIE fighter series starfighters.[16] Another smaller bay on the opposite side of the attack hangar was used to receive returning TIEs,[4] which were then transported in receiver-carriers to a debarkation station where TIE pilots exited their craft, and then moved to be stored in several launch bays surrounding the hangar opening. TIE/sa tactical bombers were held in specialized armored compartments to protect the rest of the ship if their bombs detonated. Service and refueling bays surrounded the TIE stations to prepare their fighters for their next sorties before the craft were moved through transfer tunnels back to the launch hangar.[40] The Imperial I-class was also equipped with another backup hangar at the front of the ship which was used to launch and receive shuttle craft for high-ranking officials.[4]

Besides its TIE squadrons, the ship also carried eight Lambda-class T-4a shuttles, twenty AT-AT walkers, thirty AT-ST or AT-DP walkers, and fifteen Imperial Troop Transports.[2] They could also carry several aerial landing platforms for use during planetary invasions.[39]

Despite its fighter complement, Imperial I-class vessels proved less effective against skilled rebel pilots than their Venator-class predecessors had been against droid starfighters.[2] They were nonetheless essential in the Imperial doctrine of planetary containment and fast infantry deployment, and the vessel was noted as one of the most resource-intensive ships in the Imperial Navy.[41]

Imperial I-class Star Destroyers were equipped with several escape pods equipped with emergency beacons, to allow the crew to abandon the ship in an emergency.[23] They also carried the necessary equipment to launch and retrieve hyperspace pods, at least twelve of which were docked in a bay above the hangar opening.[20]

Power and propulsion systems[]

Devastator Engines

The active primary and secondary ion sublight engines of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer, Devastator

Powering the Destroyer were seven main engine units,[43] including three Kuat Drive Yards Destroyer-I ion engines and four Cygnus Spaceworks Gemon-4 ion engines,[2] which could accelerate the ship to speeds of up to 975 kph.[28] The ship however was not suited towards planetary atmospheres, in which full power was required to stay aloft. Any interruption in the power supply in atmosphere could be catastrophic to the vessel, despite all vital equipment being shielded.[41] The primary power source on board the ship was a solar ionization reactor large enough relative to the rest of the craft to protrude with a ventral bulb,[43] powering a massive cylindrical power generator surrounded by antiresonance plates[4] located in sector 19-A on the ship's rear.[26]

Although well-armored, a direct hit from proton torpedoes in that area would cause a breach in the generator venting tunnel, causing the reactor to overload and explode within seven minutes. To prevent ship-wide catastrophe it was possible to jettison the entire reactor assembly.[26] To allow the ship to continue to run in this event, the Imperial I-class also carried a backup secondary reactor[22] to power the engines, and a subsidiary reactor[4] to provide auxiliary power to the rest of the ship.[26] A third auxiliary reactor was located on the ship's prow.[4]

Engines were controlled in a massive room filled with walkways and "Tulip" style Imperial work stations.[44] In order to jump to light-speed and enter hyperspace the Imperial-class was equipped with a Class 2 hyperdrive, while it was standard protocol to dump the ship's garbage before entering hyperspace in order to reduce the weight of the vessel.[2]

Bridge[]

Devastator Bridge

The bridge of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Devastator

A prominent feature of the Imperial-class was its bridge tower.[43] The command bridge itself featured two elongated pits set below floor level, whose walls were lined with monitors and control panels. In addition, six more duty station consoles were mounted freely in each pit aligned perpendicular to the walkway. High-ranking officers stood on a walkway surrounding the pits at the normal deck height,[45] an arrangement considered beneficial for denoting rank hierarchy within the ship.[37] The consoles mounted under the viewports in this level carried a holoprojector used for officer communications[46] and the controls which allowed the helmsman to pilot the ship.[47]

A small room behind the main bridge existed separated by a single blast door, which had access to advanced communications equipment and a holographic imaging table.[45]

History[]

Imperial fleet above Lothal-Sw Rebels S3-Iron Squadron

Grand Admiral Thrawn's Seventh Fleet

The Imperial-class Star Destroyers were the technological successors of the Venator-class Jedi cruisers used by the naval forces of the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars. After the Republic was turned into the Empire at the end of the Clone Wars, the self-anointed Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine decreed a massive military buildup. To meet interstellar defense needs, the great shipyards of the galaxy were fired up during the Clone Wars and remained lit well into the Age of the Empire. The enormous construction facilities at Kuat, Corellia, Ringo Vinda, Fondor, and elsewhere were converted from civilian graving docks into military starports capable of churning out Imperial-class Star Destroyers.[3] Building upon the strengths of the Jedi cruisers, the bigger Imperial-class vessels became one of the most instantly recognizable symbols of the Imperial might, and were often titled intimidating names such as Lawbringer, Relentless, and Devastator.[34]

Lothal under siege

Three Imperial I-class Star Destroyers over Lothal

Initially, the new Star Destroyers were deployed to sectors and systems that had once been beyond the reach of Republic law, where they would subjugate them and crush any signs of resistance or rebellion. Imperial Star Destroyers became symbols of this new order. Citizens weary of chaos and war cheered the sight of these giant dagger-shaped warships, while pirates and enslavers quailed at the thought of confronting them. But a few citizens wondered if the imposition of Imperial law was worth the freedoms lost.[34]

Easily becoming the most recognizable symbol of Imperial power, the Imperial-class further demonstrated its tactical versatility by protecting galactic commerce and bolstering Imperial-backed governments. Many admirals, Grand Moffs, ISB agents and senior Imperial commanders utilized these ships as their personal command ship, with the ship's officer often being as intimidating as the ship itself—whose shadow alone could bring results.[2] At the peak of the Empire, over 25,000 Imperial Star Destroyers were in existence[48] with 24 assigned to each of the 1,024 regional sectors to form independent Sector Groups.[1] The Empire's primary source of Star Destroyers and Destroyer-equipped shipyards was located at the industrial manufacturing center of Kuat. Ultimately, these giant craft became the backbone of the Imperial Navy, hunting down Rebel task forces, blockading undisciplined worlds and serving as launch bases for planetary assaults.[34]

Eventually, the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer would be replaced by the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer. The Devastator was the last of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyers to lumber out of the Kuat Drive Yards before the facility began production on the Imperial II-class,[3] although it was later upgraded to compete with these more advanced warships.[49]

The Imperial-class would ultimately see service in the First Order's Navy thirty years after the Battle of Endor, and would be regarded as a highly respected ship, with many of its design flaws rectified with the construction of the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer, a newer, more powerful vessel based on the Old Empire's dreaded warships.[50] 35 years after the Battle of Yavin, the Sith Eternal used Xyston-class Star Destroyers. These Star Destroyers were based directly on the design of the Imperial-I-class Star Destroyer, with the primary exception being that the Xyston-class was armed with a planet-killing weapon.[51]

Behind the scenes[]

Some inconsistencies concerning the armament of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer has been presented in several sources. The Fantasy Flight Games RPG sourcebook Starships and Speeders, published in states that the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer possessed both light and heavy turbolaser batteries, and two different types of ion cannons.[7] However, Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide does not support different ion cannons or light and heavy turbolasers,[3] and Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition[2] and Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide[6] state that it had 60 Taim & Bak XX-9 heavy turbolaser batteries and 60 Borstel NK-7 ion cannons.[2] This article assumes the armament information from Starships and Speeders is incorrect. A volume of the Star Wars Encyclopedia series of reference booklets, Starships of the Empire and the Rebellion contains annotations over a port lateral side-view of what is denoted as an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer that outline concussion missile launchers present on the conning tower and fore brim region of the starship. An earlier volume of the series Naval Weapons and Equipment asserts that the Imperial I-class possessed no such weaponry, in contrast to predecessors such as the Victory-class Star Destroyer, with ion cannons superseding them. Since the majority of other sources adhere to the assertion that no concussion missile launchers were equipped onto Imperial I-class Star Destroyers, this article assumes Starships of the Empire and the Rebellion is incorrect.

Appearances[]

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Non-canon appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 20 Starship Fact File: Imperial Star Destroyer
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 3.30 3.31 Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29 Star Wars Complete Vehicles, New Edition
  5. ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 Star Wars: Star Destroyer – Inside the Empire's Fearsome Battleship (accompanying reference booklet in the Star Wars: Star Destroyer Book and 3D Wood Model set).
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide
  7. ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 Starships and Speeders
  8. ↑ Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
  9. ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles
  10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 "Starships of the Empire and the Rebellion" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Star Wars: Card Trader Set: Blueprints, Card: Star Destroyer
  12. ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 12.16 12.17 12.18 12.19 Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 23 Starship Fact File: Star Destroyer Deployment
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Naval Weapons and Equipment" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
  14. ↑ "The Starships of the Empire and the Rebellion volume of the Star Wars Encylopedia established that there were cannon targeting systems situated within one of what the reference book Star Wars Complete Vehicles, New Edition establishes to be the axial defence turrets of an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Star Wars: TIE Fighter Deluxe Book and Model Set
  17. ↑ Thrawn: Alliances
  18. ↑ Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Star Wars: Ahsoka — "Part Six: Far, Far Away"
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Star Wars Rebels — "Warhead"
  21. ↑ Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi — "Part V"
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Star Wars (2015) 23
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Star Wars Rebels — "Zero Hour"
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Star Wars Rebels — "Family Reunion – and Farewell"
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 Dark Droids 1
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 26.6 Star Wars (2015) 22
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Star Wars Rebels — "Through Imperial Eyes"
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
  29. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines
  30. ↑ " Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi — "Part V" features the Devastator's first canonical chronological appearance and the reference book, Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi to 9 BBY. Therefore, the events of "Part V" must be set in 9 BBY. As such, the Devastator must have been commissioned within or prior to that standard year. The reference books, Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide and Star Wars Complete Vehicles, New Edition established that the Devastator was the final Imperial I-class Star Destroyer to be constructed before Kuat Drive Yards commences production of the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, so the line must have been retired by that year.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Republic Attack Cruiser in the Databank (backup link)
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 Imperial Star Destroyer in the Databank (backup link)
  35. ↑ Star Wars Rebels: A New Hero
  36. ↑ Lost Stars
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Rey's Survival Guide
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Darth Vader (2017) 13
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 TIE Fighter Owners' Workshop Manual
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 Battlefront: Twilight Company
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 Droids in Distress chapter book
  44. ↑ Star Wars Rebels — "Fire Across the Galaxy"
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
  46. ↑ Darth Vader (2017) 14
  47. ↑ Star Wars (2015) 24
  48. ↑ Star Wars: Uprising
  49. ↑ "Blade Squadron" — Star Wars Insider 149–150
  50. ↑ Before the Awakening
  51. ↑ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
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