The Harrower-class dreadnought was a warship that served the Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War, the Cold War and beyond.

Contents 1 Characteristics 2 History 2.1 Initial production 2.2 Later service 2.3 Legacy 3 Behind the scenes 4 Appearances 5 Sources 6 External links 7 Notes and references 7.1 In other languages

CharacteristicsEdit

These dreadnaughts served as the backbone of the Imperial Navy during the Great Galactic War of 3,681 BBY and the Cold War between the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic that followed in 3,653 BBY. In this respect, they served a similar role to the earlier Interdictor-class cruiser, and vessels which would follow thousands of years later like the Venator-class Star Destroyer of the Republic, Imperial-class Star Destroyer of the Empire, and the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer of the Fel Empire.

The class had an overall similar build to the Republic's Centurion-class battlecruiser, and was likely an ancestor of the later Star Destroyer line of vessels used by the Republic and Empire. The class of ship had a deep gap running along the centerline of its wedge shaped hull, and had three large thrusters and four smaller ones, arranged like on the Imperial-class.^[6] A variant of the Harrower had a different engine array, with two trapezoidal thrusters symmetrically aligned. The class carried a complement of 95 starfighters, including Mark VI Supremacy-class starfighters.

These ships were reserved for only the best and brightest Imperial naval officers, mostly designated as the flagship for fleet operations with enough armament and heavy armor to give it an advantage in any fight. The Harrower-class Dreadnaught was unmatched in combat, only threatened by the Valor-class cruiser or a large, overwhelming enemy fleet. Each of these ships held a small army on board consisting of Imperial commandoes and Mark I and Mark II Sith War Droids. These assets could be deployed on the surface of a target world, as well as being deployed around the corridors of the vessel in order to ensure the protection of the Harrower from boarding parties.

HistoryEdit

Initial productionEdit

The Harrower design was first developed under the supervision of the Sith Empire's first Grand Moff, Odile Vaiken, in the decades after the Empire's establishment on the planet Dromund Kaas. The first ships were assembled in orbital shipyards while Vaiken plotted his build-up and estimated that they and the rest of the military would not reach their goals of challenging the Republic within his lifetime. They and contemporary vessels were called "Star Destroyers" by their design teams and were used to conquer various star systems in the vicinity of the reborn Empire. Vaiken himself perished on the bridge of one of these early prototype ships, while leading the invasion of an alien civilization targeted by the Sith Empire.^[6]

Later serviceEdit

Later, more updated models of this kind participated in the Great Galactic War, culminating in the Sacking of Coruscant and the bombardment of the surface of the city-planet, during the Great Galactic War.^[5] They were later the main Sith vessel used during the Cold War, where they served alongside Terminus-class destroyers, battlecruisers and Sith starfighters.

One notable example of the Harrower-class was the Doombringer, a Harrower fitted with the Silencer fleet-killing superweapon. This feature was added by Darth Nox as a secret continuation of the cancelled Silencer project. As a demonstration to other Moffs, it was made to destroy a Republic fleet in orbit of Corellia that was attacking the Carnage, another Harrower under the command of one of Darth Thanaton's subordinates. After the test proved to be a success, Nox allowed Silencers to be added onto the vessels of the Sith Lord's allies, securing an alliance between several Moffs and generals. The Doombringer would later orbit Corellia as part of an ancient Sith game called the Kaggath, a battle that pitted one Sith's power base against another.^[7]

During its career in the Sith Empire, the Harrower dreadnought model served alongside a Harrower battle cruiser design. Two of these battlecruisers were present for the Battle of Ord Radama, alongside the dreadnought Lindworm. They were both destroyed by a Republic fleet and the planet was lost to the Republic.^[8]

LegacyEdit

Knowledge of the design remained for thousands of years, with the Sith Lord Darth Sidious remarking on its similarity to his own Imperial Star Destroyers after he became Galactic Emperor.^[8]

Behind the scenesEdit

One depiction of these warships, found in the Galactic Timeline trailers for the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game, was actually taken from concept art for the Pellaeon-class done by Star Wars: Legacy concept artist, Sean Cooke. This was apparently a placeholder until more suitable artwork could be found.

On a similar note, another timeline trailer, focusing on Odile Vaiken, had a still of Vaiken observing the development of the Harrower-class dreadnought, in which the details of the hull of the Harrower bore several similarities to one of the angles of the Bellator-class dreadnought from Ansel Hsiao's gallery. According to Hsiao, the image was used without his knowledge or permission.^[9]

Two different ships were also shown at one point in Timeline 6 of the Galactic Timeline trailers. One was heavily armored and resembled an arrowhead with no visible structures, and the other resembled to a small extent the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, and both ships were also implied in the trailer to be Harrower-class dreadnoughts. At the time of the trailer's release, the ship class was still undergoing finalizations.

AppearancesEdit

• Timeline 11: Rebirth of the Sith Empire
• Return
• Hope
• Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire
• Timeline 6: Onslaught of the Sith Empire (Appears in hologram)
• Timeline 2: The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken
• Timeline 1: Treaty of Coruscant
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Lost Suns
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Annihilation

SourcesEdit

• The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
• The Essential Guide to Warfare
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia

External linksEdit

• PC Gamer October 2010 issue
• TORhead
• Harrower-class dreadnought on Star Wars: The Old Republic Wiki

Notes and referencesEdit