The first four Executor-class ships were constructed in the
months following the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the
first Death Star. Before the Battle of Yavin Imperial Navy engineer
Lira Wessex designed these sleek, dark, immense vessels to inspire
dread in any possible opponent. It is claimed that they are larger
than any previously constructed warship, with the exception of the
Death Star. While it is difficult to believe that this boast could
hold against every warship built throughout the twenty-five
thousand year history of the Galactic Republic, the
colloquially-named "Super Star Destroyers" dwarfed all other
vessels in the fleets of the Empire and the Rebel Alliance / New
Republic until the appearance of the shorter but more massive
Eclipse and Sovereign classes six years after the Battle of
Endor.
At their conception, the Executor-class star dreadnoughts were
controversial. It seems that many important figures within the
Imperial Admiralty favoured the construction of well-proven,
smaller and more numerous warships. Manufacturing an Executor-class
command ship reportedly costs roughly twenty times as a star
destroyer, despite being well over a hundred times as massive. Lord
Vader's interest in this KDY design gave its development impetus
[Classic STAR WARS comics] and construction of the first ship began
at the shipyards of Fondor. Among Lord Vader's secretive detractors
within the Imperial Navy, several fleet admirals were quick to
oppose the Executor project. As usual, the wishes of the Emperor's
enforcer prevailed. After unsuccessful rebel saboutage attempts,
Lord Vader took the first of these ships, the Executor, as his own
flagship for coordinating the eradication of the Rebel Alliance the
more personal search for his long-lost son.
In the following months the Executor-class gained recognition and
proved its value as an instrument for inspiring awe and dread. The
Emperor authorised the construction of additional ships of the
class. Eventually the mighty command ship was regarded as the grand
epitome of a newly revitalised Imperial Navy. While they never
approached the abundance of the Empire's tens of thousands of
common star destroyers, by the time of the Battle of Endor a large
number of these vessels had entered service.
In the years following the establishment of the New Republic the
number of Executor-class command ships in Imperial use dwindled as
the Empire's remnants lost control of shipyards, fought amongst
themselves and with the ever-growing New Republic Navy. By the time
Grand Admiral Thrawn returned to rally the Imperial Navy, no ships
of this size were available to him. Each had either been destroyed,
captured by the New Republic, regional governments and neutral
forces, or retreated to the Deep Core regions of the Empire which
did not recognise Thrawn's authority. It can be assumed that Kuat
Drive Yards produced these vessels and even newer classes of
command ships for the New Republic Navy and its subordinate sector
navies, once the new government consolidated its power in the Core
sectors.
Unfortunately the first President of the New Republic, Mon Mothma,
ordered a halt to the production and use of these grand warships at
some time during her seven-year tenure. The strategic imprudence of
this public-relations gesture was brutally exposed several years
later when the New Republic forces were shown to be badly outgunned
in the Black Fleet Crisis. Whether Princess Leia Organa-Solo, as
Mothma's successor, eventually learned from and rectified the
mistake is unclear at this time. General Cracken's formation of a
special acquisitions team to retrieve the lost Guardian a year
after the Koornacht Crisis, and the fact that New Republic warships
supporting the operation used ion cannons only, indicates a
sensible change of policy.
The immense bulk and powerful shields of an Executor-class command
ship makes it all but unassailable. The armaments of each of these
vessels are individually at least as powerful as equivalent weapons
on Imperator-class ships, and many times as numerous. Nevertheless
Executors rarely engage in space combat because few foes would dare
a direct confrontation. Instead they serve as mobile command bases
for the coordination of larger fleet actions and the supervision of
ground forces.
The standard complement of starfighters is claimed to be two wings,
totaling 144 fightercraft, although the size of the mothership's
docking cavities indicate that it could easily accommodate dozens
or perhaps hundreds of times more. During the years before the
Battle of Hoth each wing typically included one squadron of TIE
Interceptors and one of TIE Bombers. In later times more advanced
starfighter models (eg. the elite TIE Avenger and TIE Defender
fighters) would have become a greater component. TIE assault craft,
shuttles, ground assault dropships and service / maintenance
vehicles bring the total number of carried ships to over two
hundred. For surface actions 25 AT-AT, 50 AT-ST walkers and similar
numbers of other ground assault vehicles are reportedly carried.
Three spare prefabricated garrison bases are kept aboard each
Executor-class command ship for rapid assembly on planets which
need lasting pacification measures.
In the years following the Battle of Endor the New Republic forces
learned much about the weaknesses of these formidable warships. One
of these potential weaknesses is the distribution of weaponry.
Although the total number of guns is immense and the sleek
dagger-like hull design gives most of these batteries a clear shot
in almost any direction, the nett density of guns is much sparser
than on a common mile-long destroyer [at least according to
unverified published statistics]. Enemy starfighters very close to
the hull are sometimes able to find shelter from most of the
turbolaser batteries, especially in the midst of the canyonous
structures which dominate the central regions of the ventral and
dorsal surfaces. This weakness seems to have been inadvertently
exploited against the Executor at the Battle of Endor, when rebel
fighters were able to reach the bridge by flying close to the
dorsal hull. Of course, surviving to reach the warship's hull is a
major problem in the absence of the kind of cover provided by the
general chaos and confusion prevailing at Endor.
