Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. Star Destroyers were produced by Kuat Drive Yards, later Kuat-Entralla Engineering, and serve as "the signature vessel of the fleet" for the Galactic Republic, Galactic Empire, the First Order, and the Sith Eternal in numerous published works including film, television, novels, comics, and video games.
A single Star Destroyer could project considerable influence over a star system in the name of the Empire: each can be deployed individually as both a forward operating base and as mobile weapon systems platform responsible for safeguarding multiple planets, trade routes, and systems, and carried enough firepower to subdue an entire planetary system or annihilate a small rebel fleet.
Notable examples of Star Destroyers include the precursor Venator-class Star Destroyer (prequel trilogy), the ubiquitous Imperial-class Star Destroyer (original trilogy), and the recent Resurgent-class and Xyston-class Star Destroyer (sequel trilogy). Numerous other classes of "Star Destroyers" share the basic triangular "dagger" hull; the successful v-shaped designs are explained in Legends as reflecting the Empire's "Tarkin's Doctrine" military philosophy and originating from Sith ideological influence, and have been adapted by numerous factions for a wide variety of applications.
Numerous Star Destroyer models and toys have been released. The iconic scene in Star Wars (1977) featuring the Imperial Star Destroyer's first appearance where it pursues a Corellian corvette has been called a milestone in special effects history.
Imperial Star Destroyer
| class = Battleship
| length = but the tremendous costs incurred by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) when production began helped lead Lucas to use a single "terrifyingly large" Star Destroyer instead of four. ILM built a shooting model that was about half the size of the model for the Tantive IV the Star Destroyer was chasing. Nevertheless, they added additional hull details to the Star Destroyer model.
The Imperial I-class Star Destroyers are white, as shown in A New Hope, Rogue One, and Solo. The Imperial II-class Star Destroyers in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi are grey.
Depiction
The iconic Imperial-class Star Destroyer first appears in the opening scene of Star Wars (1977), where the Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator (carrying Darth Vader) chases the CR90 Corvette Tantive IV (carrying Princess Leia) above Tatooine after the latter had fled from Scarif. Background literature describes Imperial-class Star Destroyers as the chief warship of the Imperial Navy and symbol of Imperial might. These enormous capital ships are used to enforce the Emperor's will, bolster Imperial-backed governments, and act as mobile headquarters for senior Imperial commanders. At the Empire's height there were over 25,000 Star Destroyers in existence, requiring roughly 925 million crew.
Darth Vader's Devastator is the last of the Imperial I-class ships to be built by Kuat Drive Yards before switching to the Imperial II-class, a fleet of which take part in the Battle of Hoth as depicted in The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Although the battle is won by Imperial forces, Vader orders his Star Destroyers to focus on capturing the Millennium Falcon rather than hunt down the escaping Rebel transports, allowing many to escape. The Falcon manages to evade this pursuit by hiding in the sensor blind spot of the Star Destroyer Avenger. These ships play a major role in the Battle of Endor as depicted in Return of the Jedi (1983). During the battle, Imperial Star Destroyers prove vulnerable to fleets of starfighters flown by skilled Rebel pilots, who exploit the ships' exposed bridges and deflector shield generators to cause damage.
Analysis
Examining what it would take to realistically build an Imperial Star Destroyer, it was estimated in 2016 that such a vessel would cost $636 billion USD. However, getting the parts into space to construct the Star Destroyer would require an additional US$44.4 trillion in launch costs, suggesting that asteroid mining and refining technologies would have to be developed first to make it more economical. More recent estimates suggest a cost of over US$100 trillion based on the Imperial Star Destroyer's stated weight of approximately 40 million tons, making it outside the scope of any nation to build on their own.
Joe Pappalardo of Popular Mechanics argues that the Imperial Star Destroyer is a poorly-designed spaceship, being asymmetrical with its superstructure jutting out in one direction. Additionally, while its wedge shape would make sense for atmospheric travel, it serves no purpose in space. He argues a more realistic and effective design would be symmetrical and bowl-shaped like a saucer.
Cultural influence
Lego has released multiple different Star Destroyer kits over the years, from small sets with just 21 pieces to the largest versions with thousands of pieces. These include two Ultimate Collector Series models, the first of which was released in 2002. Measuring long and , it sold for $269.99 until being retired in 2007. The second UCS Star Destroyer was larger, long and wide, and sold for $699.99 between 2019 and 2022.
Super Star Destroyer
Concept and design
For The Empire Strikes Back, George Lucas wanted Darth Vader's new flagship, Executor, to be huge and to play a greater role in the film. According to chief model maker Lorne Peterson, the Executors model was long and constructed with over 150,000 individual lights. The resulting model was so heavy it required additional support to keep from overwhelming the Dykstraflex's mechanical structure. The ship was originally scaled to appear long according to Lorne, though later sources would amend this figure. The largest and most powerful of these is the Executor, which first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as the personal flagship of Darth Vader. At least twelve of these vessels were built by the Empire, including the Executor, Annihilator, Ravager and Arbitrator, but the exact number is unknown thanks to Imperial propaganda and black budgets.
If a model of the Executor was built to scale and placed hovering over New York City, it would cast a shadow over the island of Manhattan.
Cultural influence
Like the Imperial Star Destroyer, the Super Star Destroyer has also been merchandised. Lego released a 3,152-piece model of the Executor. Kenner wanted to use a less ominous name than Executor for the toy playset of Darth Vader's meditation chamber. An advertisement agency's list of 153 alternatives included Starbase Malevolent, Black Coven, Haphaestus VII, and Cosmocurse; An electronic Super Star Destroyer toy released by Hasbro "is the rarest among Hasbro's Collector Fleet".