Executor (Star Wars)
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| Career | Image:Star wars galactic empire emblem.svg |
|---|---|
| Name: | Executor |
| Owner: | Galactic Empire |
| Commander: | Admiral Piett |
| Manufacturer: | Fondor Shipyards |
| Specification: | Executor-class Star Dreadnought |
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | |
| Commissioned: | |
| Fate: | Destroyed in Battle of Endor |
| General Characteristics | |
| Type: | Battlecruiser |
| Length: | 19,000 meters |
| Width: | |
| Shield: | |
| Hull: | |
| Armament: | Over 5000 turbolasers and ion cannons |
| Fighters: | At least 12 TIE Fighter wings (including the Death Squadron) |
| Top Speed: | |
| Troop Capacity: | At least 100,000 Stormtroopers (possibly including the 501st) |
| Crew: | 279,144 (game version); ~3,350,000 (Starwars Databank) |
| Cargo: | |
In the fictional Star Wars universe, the Super Star Destroyer Executor was the personal flagship of Darth Vader. It was also the lead ship of its class.
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[edit] Specifications
The Executor-class Super Star Destroyer was over 19,000 meters long, almost twelve times the size of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. It carried more than 5,000 weapons, many wings of TIE fighters (at least 2 wings of 144 fighters each; given the size of the hangar, several hundred wings may have been carried), at least 200 other combat and support ships, several prefabricated garrison bases, and enough stormtroopers and walkers (AT-ATs and AT-STs) to destroy any conceivable Rebel base. Its shields are said to be able to dissipate power output equal to a medium-sized star; in one comic, the shields were shown to protect the Executor from colliding with three Star Destroyers as they left hyperspace at relativistic speed.
Many Expanded Universe sources claim that Executor is only 8,000 meters long. Some other sources, most notably starwars.com and the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, have claimed that Executor was 12,800 meters long. Both of these figures are in direct contradiction with the films themselves, which consistently show the Executor to be about eleven to twelve times as long as accompanying 1,600m long Star Destroyers, or 17,600-19,200m. The 12,800m figure was apparently intended as a "compromise", being halfway between the length seen in the films and the West End Games 8,000m version. In September 2005, the starwars.com Databank was finally updated with the 19,000 meter length.
The 8,000 meter version of the Executor was said to have a crew of over 250,000 of the Empire's finest officers and crewmen. However, if the crew density were to remain the same between the 8,000 m and 19,000 m versions, the crew complement would likely be in the order of 3.3 million.
The miniature Executor used in filming was 2.83 meters long (9 1/4 feet), implying a scale for the model of at least 1/6200 (more likely 1/6700 or 1/6800, given the 19,000 meter length).
[edit] History
Interestingly, both Kuat Drive Yards and Fondor Shipyards claimed to have built the Executor. In fact, two identical Command Ships were created, one at each shipyard, and both created under the name Executor. After completion, the one built at Fondor went on to serve as Vader's flagship. The ship built at Kuat was renamed Lusankya and buried under the cityscape of Coruscant.
The Executor was presented to Lord Vader shortly after the Battle of Yavin, in which the first Death Star was destroyed. It replaced the Devastator as Vader's personal flagship, thus making it the flagship of Death Squadron. The ship was originally commanded by Admiral Ozzel, but after his death at the hands of the unforgiving Vader, Admiral Piett was given command.
Executor was destroyed at the Battle of Endor. In the battle, Admiral Ackbar ordered a concentrated attack on the ship to divert Imperial forces who could interfere with the assault on the Death Star. After the shields protecting the bridge superstructure were knocked down by a heavy bombardment from the Rebel fleet, Admiral Piett ordered that the batteries protecting the bridge to be intensified in order to protect the bridge from rebel fighters. Due to this, an A-wing was damaged by one of the turbolasers, sending it out of control into the bridge, disabling the massive ship's navigational systems and causing it to accelerate into a collision with the incomplete second Death Star. Soon after that the Death Star itself was destroyed, the explosion vaporized what was left of the Executor.
[edit] Trivia
According to the official Star Wars website, Kenner Toys balked at the potentially violent name of the ship when they went to build a playset of Executor. Their ad agency suggested 153 other names that could be used instead. These included such names as Starbase Malevolent, Black Coven and Cosmocurse. Apparently, none of the names was appropriate enough for Kenner, as in the actual event the ship was billed on toy packaging as Darth Vader's Star Destroyer. [1]
[edit] Sources
- Heir to the Empire, volume 1 in The Thrawn Trilogy, Timothy Zahn, Bantam Spectra Books, 1991.
- The Empire Strikes Back film, 20th Century Fox, 1980; novelization, Donald F. Glut, Del Rey Books, 1980.
- Return of the Jedi film, 20th Century Fox, 1983; novelization, James Kahn, Del Rey Books, 1983.
- Imperial Sourcebook, Greg Gorden, WEG, 1989.
- Movie Trilogy Sourcebook, Greg Farshtey and Bill Smith, WEG, 1993.
- From Star Wars to Indiana Jones: The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives, Mark Cotta Vaz and Shinji Hata, Chronicle Books, 1995.
- Inside the Worlds of the Star Wars Trilogy, James Luceno, DK Publishing Inc, 2004
- Star Wars X-Wing: The Bacta War, Michael Stackpole, Bantam Books, 1997.
[edit] External links
| Vehicles of the Galactic Empire | |
|---|---|
| Entries in italics denote vehicles from the Expanded Universe | |
| Ground vehicles | |
| AT-ST | AT-AT | AT-TE | 74-Z Speeder Bike | Juggernaut | AT-PT | TIE crawler | |
| Starfighters | |
| TIE Fighter | TIE Interceptor | TIE Bomber | TIE Advanced x1 | TIE Avenger | TIE Defender | TIE/D fighter
TIE Hunter | TIE Phantom | Assault Gunboat | Missile Boat | Skipray Blastboat | A-9 Vigilance | |
| Capital ships | |
| Star Destroyer | Super Star Destroyer | Executor | Nebulon-B Frigate | Corellian Corvette
Lancer-Class Frigate | Interdictor Cruiser | Carrack-Class Light Cruiser | |
| Other | |
| Lambda-class shuttle | Death Star | Walker Dropship | World Devastator | Sun Crusher | |
| See also | |
| Star Wars air vehicles | Star Wars aquatic vehicles | Star Wars ground vehicles | Star Wars starfighters | Star Wars support craft | |
