The Lancer-class frigate was a capital ship used for anti-starfighter operations in the Imperial Navy.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Appearances 3 Sources 4 Notes and references 4.1 In other languages

HistoryEdit

An early type of Lancer-class frigate saw its initial deployment a few months after the end of the Clone Wars.^[5]

Imperial starships had long focused on ship-to-ship combat capabilities, relegating smaller capital ships to planetary defense rather than picket duty. As Rebel Alliance pilots learned to exploit the major weaknesses of Star Destroyers, commonly called "Trench Run Disease", Imperial officers grew increasingly concerned over the growing relative effectiveness of these heavily-armed and shielded starfighters. After the first Death Star's destruction at the Battle of Yavin by a handful of Alliance starfighters, the need for greater starfighter defense was clear.^[2]

Admiral Drez proposed using the KDY Lancer-class ships to screen enemy starfighters to allow dominant Star Destroyers to pummel enemies in ship-to-ship combat. This was then approved by the Imperial Naval Command. The final iteration of the craft ran a slim 250 meters with twenty quad laser cannon batteries designed specifically for starfighter hunting. However, this came at cost of having no capital grade weaponry or shielding, leaving the ships vulnerable to other capital ships. The ship was also quite slow, allowing many fighters to simply outrun it.^[2]

With a high build cost and requiring a relatively large crew of over 800, the Imperial Starfleet found the Lancer-class too expensive for full fleet deployment. A few frigates made it into various fleets, but most admirals preferred to use, and subsequently lose, their TIE starfighters as anti-starfighter options. As a result, most Lancer-class frigates, like smaller ships before them, were assigned to planetary defense and rear guard operations.

It was not until the emergence of Grand Admiral Thrawn in 9 ABY that Lancer-class frigates were put to good use. Thrawn used the frigates in raiding missions against key New Republic worlds, where they used their laser cannons to slice through the New Republic’s starfighter-based planetary defenses.^[6]

As the remnants of the Empire collapsed and the New Republic defeated the remaining aggressive warlords, a number of Lancer-class frigates were captured by the New Republic Defense Fleet. While the Defense Fleet incorporated some into planetary defense fleets, most were decommissioned, although the design principles of the Lancer-class were revisited when the New Republic developed the Ranger-class gunship.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, the New Republic recommissioned many Lancer-class frigates for use against coralskippers.

AppearancesEdit

• Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
•  Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
• Star Wars: Rebellion
• Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
• Hard Merchandise
• "The Way of the Yrashu"—Star Wars Adventure Journal 2
•  Black Ice
• X-wing: Rogue Squadron
• X-wing: The Bacta War (Mentioned only)
• X-wing: Solo Command
•  "Plant Food"—The Kathol Outback
• Dark Force Rising (First appearance)
• The Last Command

• Jedi Search
•  Nightsaber on Wizards.com (original article link, backup links 1 2 on Archive.org)
• Specter of the Past
• Young Jedi Knights: Jedi Bounty
• Recovery
• Star by Star
• Destiny's Way
• Force Heretic I: Remnant
• Force Heretic II: Refugee
• Force Heretic III: Reunion
• The Unifying Force
• Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
• Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen

SourcesEdit

•  Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition (First mentioned)
•  Twin Stars of Kira (Mentioned only)
• The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
• Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised
• Star Wars: Rebellion: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
• Star Wars: Behind the Magic
• Starships of the Galaxy (2001)
• Star Wars Trading Card Game – The Empire Strikes Back (Card: Kuat Lancer-Class Frigate)
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 77 (Lancer-Class Frigate)
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 78 (Imperial Supply Fleet)
• Starships of the Galaxy (Saga Edition)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Notes and referencesEdit

Kuat capital ship classes
Carriers Escort Assault ships Acclamator I-class · Acclamator II-class Corvettes Broadside-class cruiser kdb-1 Escorts/Frigates Ardent-class · Arquitens-class · Class 1000 cruiser Corona-class · Dragon-class · EF76 Nebulon-B Enforcer-class · KDY light cruiser · Lancer-class MedStar-class · Nebulon-B2 · Pelta-class Star Galleon-class · Zebulon-B Cruisers/Star Destroyers Gladiator-class · Imperial I-class · Imperial II-class Interdictor-class · Multi kilometer-long type Pellaeon-class · Storm Fleet · Tector-class Venator-class · Victory I-class · Victory II-class Battlecruisers/Star Battlecruisers Imperial · Procurator-class · Vengeance Battleships/Star Dreadnoughts Eclipse-class · Executor-class · Mandator I-class Mandator II-class · Sovereign-class
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