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The Republic-class Star Destroyer was Walex Blissex's follow-up design to his Victory-class Star Destroyer.[1]
Characteristics
The Republic-class Star Destroyer was manufactured by Rendili StarDrive for the New Republic. It was advertised as a Rendili design owing to its architect, the former Rendili designer Walex Blissex. However, this was more of a political move designed to draw Rendili away from the Galactic Empire, and the ship's bulbous, organic-like shape spoke of significant influence from the Mon Calamari Shipyards.[6] The Republic-class was smaller than the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, designed by Blissex's daughter Lira, but was a much more efficient design.[1]
Although the Republic-class was only half the cost of an Imperial-class[source?] and required one-fifth the crew size, it boasted 20 percent more firepower than an Imperial I-class vessel. However, it was still outmatched by the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer and the various Super Star Destroyers.[1]
Armament consisted of 40 heavy turbolaser batteries, 40 heavy turbolaser cannons, 20 ion cannons, and 10 tractor beam projectors. The Republic-class was also equipped with a Class 2 hyperdrive, the same as was found on the Imperial-class.[1]
The Republic-class was only 1,250 meters long, significantly smaller than the 1,600-meter-long Imperial-class. Because the smaller ship retained a similar level of weaponry, it had to sacrifice cargo space and endurance. The Republic-class held enough consumables to operate without resupply for 2 years, compared to 2 years for the Imperial I-class and 6 years for the Imperial II-class.[1]
Only a single regiment of 3,200 ground troops could be carried aboard, as well as a single standard New Republic wing of 36 fighters (half the size of an Imperial wing). Republic-class ships usually carried long-range starfighters, rather than short-range fighters such as Defender and K-wing starfighters.[1]
History
The Reptavian, a Republic-class Star Destroyer.
The Republic-class was one of the early warship models developed for the New Republic's standardization programs. Hampered by a resurgence in fighting due to the Thrawn campaign in 9 ABY and the return of Emperor Palpatine the following year, production on the Republic-class and other vessels was eventually restarted at a smaller level and the new ships were dispersed throughout the fleet.[1]
The Republic-class Star Destroyer was not incorporated into the New Class Modernization Program, which chose instead to develop its largest ships from Republic Engineering Corporation's Nebula-class Star Destroyer hull-design. Despite this, by the time of the Black Fleet Crisis, the New Republic had managed to build a considerable number of Republics.[2]
Behind the scenes
The first official image of the Republic-class Star Destroyer is found in Cracken's Threat Dossier. The ship has many round features, a striking deviation from standard Star Destroyer designs. A subsequent depiction in Invasion: Revelations 3 confirmed this design.
In Part 12 of Jason Fry's endnotes for The Essential Guide to Warfare, Paul Urquhart considered mentioning in the book that the Republic-class Star Destroyer and the MC80B Star Cruiser were intended to be the same ship under different names, but it was ultimately cut from the final version.[7]
Appearances
- Shield of Lies (First mentioned)
- Invasion: Revelations 3
Sources
Notes and references
- ↑ 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 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 Cracken's Threat Dossier
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Shield of Lies
- ↑ West End Games
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast
- ↑ Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections
- ↑ The Essential Guide to Warfare
- ↑ Jason Fry's Endnotes for The Essential Guide to Warfare: Part 12