The following was written five years ago. It is an attempt to make some sense on those pickle starships, the Mon Calamari Cruisers.
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The Great Mon Calamari Cruiser Confusion
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Mon Calamari Cruisers were originally designed by ILM as big Rebel capital ships that would encounter the Empire’s Star Destroyers in the Battle of Endor in ROTJ. Since then the ships have appeared in numerous novels and games in comparable roles. New designs have also appeared. However, the official documentation on the vessels is very inconsistent and lacking. In this editorial I will try to make sense of what happened using common sense and logical thinking. I am not stating this information to be canon. All the same it isn’t fanon either: I’m not looking for in-universe explanations, but real-world explanations. I’m only offering this little research for consideration, so please don't start flaming me. Comments are, off course, always welcome!
Beforehand notesEdit
Mon Cal cruisers are often described in reference material as one of a kind and unique designs. However, movie evidence shows that difference between different ships could have only existed in small details like the bulbs and blisters, and not overall size, appearance or propulsion system and thus, performance. (this is, off course, due to the fact that the model makers at ILM only made three different models. Furthermore, you can't have ten different Mon Cal ships in games.
There are some In-Universe references that support this:
"Each star cruiser was unique, modelled after the same basic design" - Dark Apprentice 1994
"One of the most striking features of a Mon Calamari ship design is that no two Calamari vessels are precisely alike. Each vessel in a particular class is subtly different from its sister ships, not pressed from a standard mold but handcrafted as an individual work of art." – Star Wars Sourcebook 1987
MC80: Early mix-up (1983/1984)Edit
Return of the Jedi marks the first appearance of Mon Calamari Star Cruisers. The model team at ILM made three ships models (size according to movie evidence, calculated by Dr. Saxton):
The later being often referred to as Reef Home-type, I will use this designation for this ship in this article.
Because the Reef Home model was rebuilt' into Liberty itself (see pic3), only two Calamari-models remained after the shooting of ROTJ: the Home One and Liberty model. Because the Home One model was just as large as the Liberty model, plus the general idea that each Mon Cal Cruiser was different (although unknown how much different) made first generation resource writers think that all the ROTJ cruisers are from the same class. This 1,200 meters figure thus ended up in the first resource material, along with the term MC80 and general specifications (48 turbolasers; 20 ion cannons and 6 tractor beams).
With only two models left, the writers of first generation resource material incorrectly thought there were only two types of Calamari cruisers in ROTJ: Liberty, and Home One. That there was a third design was almost forgotten, and quite hard to spot in ROTJ.
Conclusions:Edit
- Reef Home is forgotten as being a different model/ship than the, also wingless, Home One.
- Home One’s length is incorrectly put down as 1.200 meters.
- Home One, along with 1.200m long Liberty, are marked as MC80s (because of the supposed same length and "logical" differences because they are two different ships). This is put down in reference books, the Star Wars Sourcebook from 1987 for example.
Personal notes:Edit
- I think having wings or not are such a big difference that, even then, different classifications should have been given to both Liberty and Reef Home in the first place. The same goes for Home One being a lot bigger. Compare the Victory and Imperial-class Star Destroyers for example: they don’t differ much in general appearance, only in size and yet they are different classes.
- While ROTJ clearly shows that Home One is substantially bigger than the other Mon Cal cruisers, the intention could have been that Home One was just as big as the other cruisers (the fact that the models were the same size adds up to this). I find it very illogical to have a (almost) one of a kind cruiser, which is three times as big as normal MonCal Cruisers. The In-Universe explanation could have that maybe Home One was some sort of experiment in which the Calamari people tried to push the limit on the maximum starship size.
MC80a: master of contradictionEdit
Heir to the Empire (1991)Edit
Being the first EU novel in a long time, Heir to the Empire is published in May 1991. While the novel does feature some Mon Cal cruisers, no mention is made of any specifications or classes. But the matching sourcebook published in July 1992 does. While the text used in the paragraph is almost the same as the ones from the Star Wars Sourcebook and the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook (only the words "rebel" are replaced with "New Republic"), there is something very interesting going on: the text bit talks about a "MC80", which isn't new. But then the specifications bit the books talks about a MC80a Star Cruiser. In my opinion this seems as an error, but to some this had let to belief that the MC80a is a newer design built by the New Republic (because the words "rebel" being replaced). The fact that the specifications and image used for this MC80a are the same as the MC80 are for the sake of convenience just shoved aside. Anyway, just the use of the words "New Republic" doesn't rule out that the Rebellion also had MC80a's.
Note: later use of the term "MC80a" ruled out any possibilities that the initial use of MC80a was in fact an error.
Mon Cal ships pictured in the comic book adaptions of the Thrawn Trilogy look like Liberty type.
X-wing computer game (1993)Edit
The Star Wars: X-wing computer game introduces the MC80a Cruiser in a pre-Endor setting. Which directly conflicts with the statement made in the Heir to the Empire Sourcebook that MC80a's are post-Endor, or not, depending how one looks at the words. Now the makers of the X-wing games borrowed a lot of ships from the sourcebooks that were available at that time (Dreadnaughts, Carrack cruisers etc.). They did figure that MC80a's could have also belonged to the Rebellion.
MC80a = Home One-type?Edit
The design of the "X-wing MC80a" is clearly meant to represent the earlier mentioned Home One-type. (This image from the game's tech library is not the way the cruiser is shown in-game: which is a red shaped thing with a very large hangar. This is of course due to limited computer capacity at the time)
The two MC80a cruisers in X-wing are Independence and Defiance. Independence has often been confused with Home One as the flagship of Ackbar at the Battle of Endor. This has recently been settled to Independence and Home One being sister ships of the same class, both present at the Battle of Endor.
As yet, Home One is still "officially" part of the MC80 class. But scenes from ROTJ showed that Home One was far larger and different in appearance than the "normal" MC80's, and therefore could not have been from the MC80 class. Since Home One and Independence are now officially from the same class, one could say that the Home One-type is in fact the MC80a class. Off course Defiance would also be part of this class.
Assault at Selonia (1995) & Cracken's Threat Dossier (1997)Edit
Assault at Selonia introduces the cruiser Naritus, which is described as aging. In notorious Cracken's Threat Dossier, Naritus turns out to be a MC80a, once again with the standard specifications for a Mon Cal cruiser (1,200m, 48 turbolasers, 20 ion cannons). Though the fighter capacity has been upgraded to six squadrons. The design is totally different from the two other MC80a designs. CTD is known for totally incorrect images of it's ships. Now there is no description of Naritus in Assault at Selonia, so the artist probably took some "creative freedom" while drawing the Naritus. Mon Calamari Cruisers are "supposed to be different from each other", right?
MC40 or MC40aEdit
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MC80BEdit
Mon Remonda (1994)Edit
In-universe, Mon Remonda was Han Solo's flagship on his hunt for Imperial warlord Zsinj. It's first appearance was in The Courtship of Princess Leia, published in may 1994. In this book the ship is only referred to as Mon Remonda. More information on this ship came in February 1996, with the release of the first Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels. In this reference book it's stated that Mon Remonda is in fact part of the MC80B-class, being the first ship produced. Info on performance is remarkably similar to that of the MC80, only the MC80B has stronger shields and more starfighter capacity. Later in 1996 came more books from the X-wing series, in which the Mon Remonda was featured more prominently than in Courtship. The back-story on Mon Remonda's destruction is that she was destroyed by a World Devastator in Dark Empire. (this is remarkable since DE was already written before Mon Remonda even existed) In July 1997 came more info on the MC80B/Mon Remonda with the publication of Cracken's Threat Dossier, mostly more detailed stats intentend for the roleplaying game.
MC90: safe outsiderEdit
Dark Empire (1992)Edit
These comic books form 1992 introduce a new type of Mon Cal cruisers: the MC90. Pic4 shows the Defiance, the first cruiser built of this new class. The image appeared in the second issue of DE, which appeared in February 1992; the matching sourcebook is from June 1993.
Without knowing what the difference is between this new cruiser and the earlier MC80 type one can guess. MC90 suggest something that is still “MC”, but bigger or better: “90” in stead of “80”. In-universe, the MC90 is supposed to be the first MonCal ship designed with warfare in mind, this is clearly a different idea than converting passenger liners.
Champions of the Force (1994) & Darksaber (1995)Edit
This third book of the Jedi Academy Trilogy has another MC90: the Galactic Voyager. Once again it comes to the matching sourcebook to find out we're dealing with a MC90. Strange thing about this image is that the design of the ship is totally different from the design seen in Dark Empire.
Notes:Edit
- The designation and the concept of a MC90 appear to be simple: the Rebels/New Republic are done with converting starliners and have started making dedicated warships at last. Though, it does make sense: especially since the MC90 is supposed to be new in Dark Empire, which takes place six years after Return of the Jedi.
- Due to decent documentation in the Dark Empire Sourcebook after the making of DE, the information on MC90s is relatively consistent. Apart from the two totally different designs of course.
- I still think that the MC90 should be called MC90 Defiance-class Star Cruiser, simply because this was the first ship in the MC90 series. While most people do not agree with this because it is not stated in any canon material, the same principle was used on countless other starship classes. But I rest my case.
More to come...