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- "Angral's dreadnaught has a slight turbolaser advantage over your gunship."
- ―General Var Suthra, comparing the Oppressor to the Hero of Tython's Defender-class light corvette
The Harrower-class dreadnought, known more infrequently as the Harrower-class battle cruiser, was a heavily-armed class of wedge-shaped capital ship that was the backbone of the Imperial Navy of the Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War, the Cold War, and the Galactic War with the Galactic Republic. Produced by Taerab Starship Manufacturing and measuring around eight hundred meters long with heavily-reinforced hull plating and shield generators, the Harrower-class dreadnought carried a complement of over one hundred starfighters, bombers, and shuttles; a single dreadnought required a crew of 2,400 and could carry 7,300 troops. Harrower-class dreadnoughts required an immense amount of energy and materials to produce, and a single dreadnought was capable of taking on starfighters and smaller warships on its own when it was not coordinating Imperial fleets as a command ship.
Description
A large dreadnaught that was approximately eight hundred meters in length,[4] the Harrower-class dreadnought[3]—also known as the Harrower-class battle cruiser[9]—adhered to the wedge-shaped design that had been used for warships of the Sith Empire since the Empire's founding[3] in 4980 BBY[2] The "point" of the Harrower-class's wedge was split down the middle almost half of the length of the ship, forming two prongs. Between those two prongs was one of the Harrower-class's hangar bays, with two hangar openings stacked on top of each other and protected by force fields.[5] Two additional hangars were located on either side of the ship, between the ends of the forward prongs and two smaller "wings" that protruded from each side closer to the rear of the ship. A final hangar was located on the underbelly of the dreadnought.[10]
A Harrower-class under attack
Two of the ship's shield generators were located on the upper hull of each of those wings, and an early model of the Harrower-class that saw use during the first years of the Great Galactic War between the Empire and the Galactic Republic had a set of four turrets on both the top and bottom sides of both wings.[5] On the later model that saw wider use, those turrets were moved forward to form two rows of four turrets on both the top and bottom of the ship, just above the forward hangar bay. A smaller wedge was located on both the top and bottom of the dreadnought towards the rear, and the vessel's command tower was positioned at the rear of the vessel atop that wedge: wing-like protrusions extended out from atop the upper wedge, and the rectangular command tower was built atop the junction of the "wings."[10] Harrower-class dreadnoughts sported heavily-reinforced hull plating[2] and four shield generators,[6] and the ship featured turbolaser batteries, quad laser cannons, ion cannons, proton torpedos, and concussion missile launchers as its armaments.[2] Most Harrower-class dreadnoughts had three primary thrusters surrounded by four smaller ones located at the rear of the ship.[8]
Standard Harrower-class dreadnoughts carried a complement of ninety-five starfighters, most of which were the Imperial Navy's standard Mark VI Supremacy-class starfighter, as well as thirty-two B28 Extinction-class bombers and thirty-five shuttles. Harrower-class dreadnoughts required crews of 2,400, and could carry a complement of 7,300 troops.[2] The Harrower-class dreadnought also came with a number of escape pods.[7] As the largest and most heavily-armed vessel in the Imperial Navy, a single Harrower-class dreadnought was capable of holding its own against fleets of starfighters or several smaller warships, but dreadnoughts were typically used as the backbone of the fleet: Harrower-class dreadnoughts normally coordinated fleet attacks while absorbing damage and dealing damage of its own.[3] The Harrower-class was produced by Taerab Starship Manufacturing,[1] and the energy and material cost of building a single dreadnought was roughly equivalent to a decade's output of a major planetary mining colony.[3] A smaller version of the ship known as the BSX-5 Dreadnaught, while visually similar to the standard Harrower-class, was only 600 meters in length and had a reduced armament and complement.
History
An early-era Harrower-class dreadnought at the Battle of Korriban
- "The Imperial dreadnaught Scream of Ragnos is rallying its escort for a major attack in Republic territory. The Scream of Ragnos is the flagship of Sith Lord Javis Koldor. His dreadnaught led assaults in the Sacking of Coruscant and claimed countless Republic lives."
- ―A Republic mission briefing on the Scream of Ragnos
The Harrower-class dreadnought was in production as early as 3,712 BBY, when the Sith Lord Darth Ikoral was given an early model Harrower-class dreadnought Red Reaper so that he could conduct his expedition to search for pureblooded Sith outside of the Empire.[11] The Harrower-class dreadnought had become the primary capital ship of the Imperial Navy of the Sith Empire by 3681 BBY,[12] when the Empire instigated the Great Galactic War against the Galactic Republic,[5] though the early design—which was similar to the Red Reaper—would be phased out over the course of the war.[11] Harrower-class dreadnoughts were present at the Republic's first contact with the Empire in the Tingel Arm,[12] and over thirty Harrower-class dreadnoughts made up the bulk of the Imperial fleet that reclaimed the Sith tombworld of Korriban.[5]
In 3678 BBY, several Harrower-class dreadnoughts were part of the Imperial fleet that defended Korriban from a Republic assault in 3678 BBY.[13] In 3671 BBY, Harrower-class dreadnoughts were among the vessels making up the Imperial fleet that attempted to capture the Mid Rim world of Bothawui—a Republic victory that became known as the first Battle of Bothawui.[8] At least three dreadnoughts were present at the Battle of Alderaan in 3667 BBY[14] and Harrower-class dreadnoughts also saw use during the Rim Campaign of 3661-3660 BBY—at least two dreadnoughts were destroyed at the end of the lengthy Battle of Ord Radama in 3660 BBY.[9] A powerful prototype Harrower-class known as the Voidstar disappeared during the Great Galactic War, though it was later discovered floating as a derelict during the subsequent Cold War.[15] Harrower-class dreadnoughts such as the Scream of Ragnos made up much of the fleet that conducted the Sacking of Coruscant in 3653 BBY,[10] a battle that brought about the Treaty of Coruscant and the end of the war.[16]
Valor Prevails
Over a dozen Harrower-class dreadnoughts and Terminus-class destroyers were stationed at Vaiken Spacedock, the primary staging area of the navy, including the White Nova and the Ziost Shadow.[17] Grand Moff Rycus Kilran commanded the Imperial Fifth Fleet from the Harrower-class Emperor's Glory, which attacked the Republic transport Esseles in 3643 BBY in an effort to capture the Republic ambassador Vyn Asara.[18] The Emperor's Glory and the rest of the Fifth Fleet later defended the Maelstrom prison from Republic attack as the Galactic War began to erupt, but Kilran was killed aboard the prison and the Emperor's Glory was destroyed.[19]
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.[9]
Behind the scenes
The Oppressor in the original design
The Harrower-class dreadnought was introduced by the multimedia project for Star Wars: The Old Republic, a video game released by BioWare in 2011. However, the design was not finalized by the time the tie-in webcomic Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace was released in 2009, resulting in an altered appearance for the starships. The Oppressor, a Harrower-class dreadnought that is featured in the Jedi Knight storyline of the game, first appeared as the original design in the comic.[20] Timeline 1: Treaty of Coruscant, the first in a series of videos detailing the game's backstory, used concept art of the Pellaeon-class Star Destroyer from the Legacy era in place of the Harrower-class, as the design for the Harrower-class had not yet been finalized by the video's release in March 2009.[21] The Harrower-class itself did not actually appear until Timeline 5: The Battle of Bothawui in October 2009, which showed an early design of the ship that featured a less prominent split between the ship's prongs and a wider vessel overall.[8]
The Timeline 6 design of the Harrower-class
The Hope cinematic trailer, which premiered on June 14, 2010, included a side shot of several Harrower-class dreadnoughts over the planet Alderaan, though the design continued to undergo revisions. The Return cinematic trailer, which premiered in June 2011, featured Harrower-class dreadnoughts with slightly different designs than the finalized version that appeared in Star Wars: The Old Republic—the ship is thicker than the finalized version, and some of the ship's turrets are located on the rear "wings" instead of above the forward hangar.[5] That rendition was also pictured in the 2012 reference guide The Essential Guide to Warfare, which credited the design to artist Ansel Hsiao.[22] Harrower-class dreadnoughts are a frequent sight in The Old Republic, with several of them serving as hubs in the Imperial Fleet for Sith Empire players[17] and others appearing in the game's various space combat missions.[10] Imperial guilds can purchase their own Harrower-class dreadnought as a "Guild Flagship" as part of the "Galactic Strongholds" digital expansion.
Appearances
- Return
- Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire Act 3: Burn the Future
- Hope
- Deceived
- Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace Act 1: Treaty of Coruscant (First appearance)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace Act 3: Uncertain Surrender
- Timeline 5: The Battle of Bothawui (Appears in hologram)
- Timeline 6: Onslaught of the Sith Empire (Appears in hologram)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic—The Lost Suns 1
- Star Wars: The Old Republic—The Lost Suns 2 (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: The Old Republic—The Lost Suns 3
- Star Wars: The Old Republic—The Lost Suns 4
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
- The Old Republic: Annihilation
- Star Wars: The Old Republic: Rise of the Hutt Cartel
- Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter
- Star Wars: The Old Republic: Shadow of Revan
Sources
- The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic
Space Combat on The Old Republic Holonet (backup link)- The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural
- Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
- The Essential Guide to Warfare
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Star Wars: The Old Republic — Diplomacy Crew Skill mission: "Professional Courtesy"
- ↑ 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 Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Star Wars: The Old Republic — Codex: "Harrower-class Dreadnought"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Old Republic: Annihilation
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Return cinematic trailer
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars: The Old Republic — Space Combat: "Sarapin Assault"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Star Wars: The Old Republic — Jedi Consular Mission: "Shattering" on the Javelin
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Timeline 5: The Battle of Bothawui
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Star Wars: The Old Republic — Space Combat: "Zosha Advance"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Star Wars: The Old Republic — Flashpoint: "Red Reaper"
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Timeline 6: Onslaught of the Sith Empire
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic, Blood of the Empire Act 3: Burn the Future
- ↑ Hope
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic — Warzone: "Voidstar"
- ↑ Timeline 1: Treaty of Coruscant
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Star Wars: The Old Republic
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic — Flashpoint: "The Esseles"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic — Flashpoint: "Maelstrom Prison"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace Act 3: Uncertain Surrender
- ↑ Timeline 2: The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken
- ↑ The Essential Guide to Warfare
