The Imperial-class was a mid-sized, mass-produced warship that served as the workhorse of the Galactic Empire and influenced several destroyer and Star Destroyer designs.
Destroyer was a formal designation usually reserved for the medium-sized warships in a fleet,[1] below that of cruiser and battleship.[2]
Often, these vessels were similar to small cruisers and could operate in flotillas or independently. Many classes were highly versatile and were capable of functioning as peacekeeping battleships in localized conflicts,[3] as well as being escorts for larger vessels.[1]
Besides star-bound destroyers, there were also maritime destroyers.[6]
The term "Star Destroyer", although similar to "destroyer", did not necessarily indicate a destroyer-class ship and was used for a wide variety of warships.[7] Some Imperial documents also listed the Imperial-class Star Destroyer's ship type as "destroyer".[8]
The Aggressor-class was the second-largest warship in the Zann Consortium forces and based on an Imperial design. It was armed with two large cannons to take out other warships.
The Bakura-class was built around the Imperial II-class reactor. Only three were known to have been built and participated in the First Corellian Insurrection conflict, on the side of the New Republic.
The 1,600 meter Imperial-class was the signature vessel of the Imperial Navy and was used to intimidate weaker systems into submission with its very presence. It was large enough to command fleets, and fast enough to hunt down blockade runners. Over 25,000 ships were built.
The Lucrehulk-class was a fast warship used to protect merchant fleets in the Trade Federation and chase down blockade runners. It used the Lucrehulk-class Core Ship as a command core, like most other Federation warships and cargo vessels.
A Venator-class Star Destroyer and a Providence-class destroyer/carrier fighting at point-blank range during the Battle of Coruscant.
This type of Star Destroyer was larger and more powerful than the more well-known Imperial-class. At least one such type was produced by Kuat Drive Yards for decades.
The 1,040 meter Nebula-class was an expensive and powerful, compact New Republic design, made to overpower any other Star Destroyer class and even withstand some kinds of Super Star Destroyer. This made the vessels very expensive and consequently few were built, although they aquitted themselves well in the Yuuzhan Vong War.
The Pellaeon-class was an advanced Star Destroyer that served as one of the most powerful classes in the galaxy around 100 years after the Battle of Endor. It used design elements found in both the Imperial II-class and the Executor-class Star Dreadnought.
The Providence-class was both a destroyer and a carrier, with a large central hangar located towards the stern of the vessel. GeneralGrievous modified several vessels to carry even more vehicles and troops, and used one of them as his personal command ship, the Invisible Hand.
The Recusant-class was a light destroyer design that was armed with heavy artillery for a ship of its size.
They were mostly automated and hunted larger vessels in packs, but were often single-minded in their tasks, which opened them up for assault by enemy vessels.
The Storm Fleet destroyer was a warship built by KDY for the Separatist cause early in the Clone Wars. They were disguised as freighters to easily travel to their targets, unaligned worlds with resources coveted by the CIS movement. Destroyed by Republic forces, Kuat managed to evade prosecution for the treasonous act of building them.
The Tector-class was a Star Destroyer design that had no hangars. As such it was more protected than most other classes. Ships of this kind participated in the Clone Wars and Galactic Civil War.
Terminus-class destroyers became a common sight within Imperial fleets during the Cold War.
The Venator-class gained fame as command ships of Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars. They were primarily fighting ships, but also doubled as carriers, and had a long-running dorsal carrier deck, complete with armored doors. Future designs did away with this cumbersome solution.
The Victory-class was inspired by the Acclamator-class assault ship but had less carrier facilities than contemporary designs, like the Venator-class. Despite this, the class saw service in multiple governments.