Hyperdrive Engines

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The 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. Background literature describes Imperial-class Star Destroyers as the chief warship of the Imperial Navy and symbol of Imperial might. At the Empire's height there were over 25,000 Star Destroyers in existence, requiring roughly 925 million crew. A Star Destroyer has the firepower to bombard a city into a crater of steaming sludge and lay waste to continents. In addition to their powerful armament, a Star Destroyer carries troops and vehicles for ground operations and a full wing of TIE fighters (typically 48 fighters, 12 bombers and 12 boarding craft). A single Star Destroyer is considered sufficient to overwhelm a rebellious planet, though major industrialized worlds may be assaulted by a fleet of six Star Destroyers with support cruisers and supply craft.

In Their Own Story

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). Designated Death Squadron, this fleet of Star Destroyers is led by Darth Vader aboard the Executor, first in a new class of Super Star Destroyer. 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. A year after their defeat at Endor, the Empire makes a last stand at Jakku. During the battle, Imperial Star Destroyers use their tractor beams to drag New Republic ships down to the planet's surface. Here their wrecks form the Graveyard of Ships as seen in The Force Awakens (2015).

Reader's Guide

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. The term 'Super Star Destroyer' is a colloquialism used to refer to any ship larger than an Imperial Star Destroyer. 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. The first in a line of Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts, the ship is over 19,000 m (62,000 ft) in length, propelled by thirteen colossal engines and a Class 1 hyperdrive. Its armament includes over 5,000 turbolasers, ion cannons and tractor beam projectors and it can carry more than 1,000 vessels. The crew of the Executor numbers in the hundreds of thousands. 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.

Did You Know?

• The 13-second opening shot of the Star Destroyer was the first special effects piece ILM completed, and its success was an essential test for the Dykstraflex camera.
• ILM built a 259-centimeter (102 in) Star Destroyer for The Empire Strikes Back, equipped with internal lighting to provide a better sense of scale.
• The Executor's model was 6 feet (1.8 meters) long and constructed with over 150,000 individual lights, making it so heavy it required additional support.
• At the Empire's height there were over 25,000 Star Destroyers in existence, requiring roughly 925 million crew.
• The Imperial Star Destroyer's first appearance in Star Wars (1977) has been called a milestone in special effects history.