TheForce.Net - Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia

Venator-class Star Destroyer

Description

Additional Info

Related Entries

Sources

Images

Legend

this Old Republic warship was considered by historians to be the first, true Star Destroyer produced in the galaxy, although it was actually classified as an assault cruiser, and followed the development and manufacture of the Victory-class Star Destroyer. Developed at the onset of the Clone Wars to be front-line warships, the Venator-class Star Destroyer was at the forefront of the news when three of the first ships were rerouted to protect the planet Rodia, instead of being dispatched to the planet Duro. Duro fell shortly afterward to General Grievous and the Separatists, and Senator Onaconda Farr was charged with falsifying the orders that should have put the ships at Duro. The Venator-class Star Destroyer was produced by Kuat Drive Yards, and measured 1,137 meters in length, 268 meters in height, and 548 meters across the widest part of its hull. It required a crew of 7,400 to operate, and was armed with eight DBY-827 heavy turbolaser turrets, a pair of medium dual turbolaser cannons, fifty-two laser cannons, four proton topedo tubes, and six tractor beam projectors. Several Venator-class ships in the Open Circle Armada were also armed with the superlasers from SPHA-T walkers, mounted near the ventral docking bay at the direction of Anakin Skywalker, to give the vessel a ventral firing arc. The Venator-class Star Destroyer filled a number of different roles for the Old Republic, including pursuit of smaller ships and independent sieges. It could also land on a planet's surface, allowing it to deploy troops and vehicles directly onto a battlefield. The hangars of the Venator-class Star Destroyer were connected to a dorsal flight deck that ran the length of the ship down the central spine, and could accommodate 192 V-Wing fighters, 192 Eta-2 Actis Interceptors, thirty-six ARC-170 fighters, twenty-four walkers, and forty LAAT/i gunships. During launch, these ships exited from the nose of vessel, but only after a pair of heavy blast doors were opened. These blast doors were considered the vessel's only weakness, since they took a long time to open and close, leaving the vessel vulnerable to a starfighter bombing run. Starfighters returning to a Venator-class vessel entered the hangars from a ventral docking bay. A Class-1 hyperdrive allowed the vessel to reach any battleground within 60,000 light-years with incredible speed for a vessel of its size. By the end of the Clone Wars, the Venator-class Star Destroyer had outlived its usefulness, and was phased out in favor of the Imperial-class and Tector-class Star Destroyers.