For those of us following the "Star Wars Rebels" show. We got to see an Imperial style carrier in the latest episode. I've always wondered why carrier classes didn't exist in star wars. For a show that stresses fighters being capable of damaging/destroying larger ships., it seemed odd not to have a carrier.
I'd be curious if/when this might show up in an official capacity. Until then, I'm happy to make an educated guess as to it's stats.
I agree, there's not many carriers currently in lore. It seems like a natural fit for the fleet, especially given the fighters aren't hyper capable on their own. I think stats should be pretty easy to make up.
The carrier in the show is official. It's a Quasar Fire-Class carrier.
There are plenty of other carriers as well, but they serve multi-function roles. The ISD, Nebulon-B, Mon Cal cruisers, etc... are all carriers in addition to being ships of the line.
Stay on Target has 3 dedicated carriers in it (including the Quasar) and almost all Capital Ships have fighter wings (which makes them carriers as well). The genre is quite saturated with carriers.
The carrier in the show is official. It's a Quasar Fire-Class carrier.
There are plenty of other carriers as well, but they serve multi-function roles. The ISD, Nebulon-B, Mon Cal cruisers, etc... are all carriers in addition to being ships of the line.
Which comes from Truce at Bakura. And thus moves it back to canon from legends.
The carrier in the show is official. It's a Quasar Fire-Class carrier.
There are plenty of other carriers as well, but they serve multi-function roles. The ISD, Nebulon-B, Mon Cal cruisers, etc... are all carriers in addition to being ships of the line.
I was aware the carrier was a part of Legends material. I was more interested in the fact that it's the first carrier depicted within the canon setting. Definitely didn't see any in the movies, and I've seen the vast majority of TCW episodes without a single carrier mentioned. So I was nice to finally see one within the setting. Also I don't count ISD's, Nebulon-B's, Mon Cal cruiser's, etc, as carriers. They have hanger decks for fighters, sure. Carriers, however, are dedicated to carrying and supporting large fighter compliments.
Stay on Target has 3 dedicated carriers in it (including the Quasar) and almost all Capital Ships have fighter wings (which makes them carriers as well). The genre is quite saturated with carriers.
While it was interesting to see carriers in SoT, those were all pulled from Legends material. Except the Secutor anyways. Oddly though, TCW shows the Secutor as exclusively a transport for large ground forces. It was used to land large numbers of troops, tanks, armed personnel carriers, etc on the surface of worlds. It was never once depicted as a carrier.
The carrier in the show is official. It's a Quasar Fire-Class carrier.
There are plenty of other carriers as well, but they serve multi-function roles. The ISD, Nebulon-B, Mon Cal cruisers, etc... are all carriers in addition to being ships of the line.
I was aware the carrier was a part of Legends material. I was more interested in the fact that it's the first carrier depicted within the canon setting. Definitely didn't see any in the movies, and I've seen the vast majority of TCW episodes without a single carrier mentioned. So I was nice to finally see one within the setting. Also I don't count ISD's, Nebulon-B's, Mon Cal cruiser's, etc, as carriers. They have hanger decks for fighters, sure. Carriers, however, are dedicated to carrying and supporting large fighter compliments.
Stay on Target has 3 dedicated carriers in it (including the Quasar) and almost all Capital Ships have fighter wings (which makes them carriers as well). The genre is quite saturated with carriers.
While it was interesting to see carriers in SoT, those were all pulled from Legends material. Except the Secutor anyways. Oddly though, TCW shows the Secutor as exclusively a transport for large ground forces. It was used to land large numbers of troops, tanks, armed personnel carriers, etc on the surface of worlds. It was never once depicted as a carrier.
A ISD carries 72 fighters... how is that not a carrier? The Mon Cal Cruiser carries a couple squadrons... how is that not a carrier?
The Secutor is most definitely not in The Clone Wars. I'm guessing you're thinking of the Providence , which is in the picture but not in the book, or maybe you're thinking of the Venator , which has a similar looking dual command tower. Speaking of which (as those links show), the Secutor is also apparently canon.
If you are talking about the Venator, it really does show that Star Destroyers are pretty much multipurpose.
A ISD carries 72 fighters... how is that not a carrier? The Mon Cal Cruiser carries a couple squadrons... how is that not a carrier?
In nearly ever genre, carriers are depicted as ships that invest the majority of their resources on housing and supporting fighters. Even the SW franchise has had them (only in Legends material until now) classed the same way. An ISD carries fighters, but that is not it's overall role. It invests a large amount of resources and internal space on other mission sets like anti-ship warfare, ground forces housing and equipment, stores for long range/duration missions, etc. In short, an ISD is a multi-role ship. It is not specifically a carrier. An ISD is no more a carrier then it is exclusively a scout ship, a planetary assault ship, or a capital ship hunter-killer. It is a multi-role ship that is capable of a variety of missions.
The reason the Mon Cal cruisers (which were refitted civilian vessels) were able to get pretty close to an ISD power, was that that ISD had no major focus. The vast number of missions they were capable of, meant they didn't excel at any of them.
The Secutor is most definitely not in The Clone Wars. I'm guessing you're thinking of the Providence , which is in the picture but not in the book, or maybe you're thinking of the Venator , which has a similar looking dual command tower. Speaking of which (as those links show), the Secutor is also apparently canon.
If you are talking about the Venator, it really does show that Star Destroyers are pretty much multipurpose.
My bad, the ship I'm referring to is the Acclamator class. It has a wider wedge and bears a resemblance to the Secutor class. Perhaps it's the Secutor's precursor? So the question is then, is the Secutor a canon ship? A bit of research says it was entirely a Legends ship until the Tarkin novel. I have yet to read the novel, so I'm not sure how it's depicted at the moment.
Edited by TalosXActually the Quasar Fire was the second dedicated carrier to appear in canon IMO, the Secutor is basically a sucessor to the Venator IMO.
However the Ton-Falk class Escort Carrier appeared in Tarkin,(Its class wasn't actually named but the description, wing size, and weapons loadout all match the Ton-Falk class.)
It is a Escort carrier. Which means it can hold starfighters, repair and recover them, and move them from point to point. It is not a ship of the line that goes into battle. the Gladiatior is another that i consider a light carrier. but in star wars, people want their battleships, lasers flying through space, and big explosions.
The Farstar, is more of a Light cruiser, with a "hanger" strapped to the side. Which is one of the problems i have with the campaign, you are trying to have a single ship for the campaign to be based, on, but you want it able to fight, and carry fighters.
A modified Galdiator is what I would want to be using for FarStar. I like the idea of a through deck carrier for space (similar to wing commander)
Modern carriers may be focused on only carrying fighters, but that leaves them nearly defenseless and useless for anything else. They require a large number of support ships and a defensive screen of other ships to keep them safe and only move in strike groups.
Now consider the ISD. It's designed to be a carrier and a battleship. It's an all in one solution that doesn't require a massive fleet. That makes it much more strategically valuable. The empire doesn't have to deploy an entire strike group or fleet to a system, they can just send a star destroyer or two and know that they can handle all but the largest of situations. That gives them the most effect for the amount of resources expended.
Specialized ships are great in their specific role, but suck outside of it. So when you consider the unknown of an entire galaxy, multi-role ships are much more practical IMO.
Modern carriers may be focused on only carrying fighters, but that leaves them nearly defenseless and useless for anything else. They require a large number of support ships and a defensive screen of other ships to keep them safe and only move in strike groups.
Now consider the ISD. It's designed to be a carrier and a battleship. It's an all in one solution that doesn't require a massive fleet. That makes it much more strategically valuable. The empire doesn't have to deploy an entire strike group or fleet to a system, they can just send a star destroyer or two and know that they can handle all but the largest of situations. That gives them the most effect for the amount of resources expended.
Specialized ships are great in their specific role, but suck outside of it. So when you consider the unknown of an entire galaxy, multi-role ships are much more practical IMO.
And in space you can make them big enough to do both battleship and carrier duty. Here on earth mashing a battleship and a carrier together would be impractical. Our navy uses the carrier for strike ability and the carrier group protects the carrier.
I would also say the Venator is mostly a carrier with the battleship portion being less important. and the ISD is a battleship first carrier second.
Edited by DaeglanThere's also the problem of hyperspace. In the real world, you have your strike group and fighter screen to protect your relatively vulnerable carrier. Whereas in Star Wars a heavily armed ship could jump into the middle of your strike group, wail on your carrier for a moment and then jump out. A heavily armed and armored carrier is almost a must.
If you look at the history of the ISD, it tells a story regarding what happened to full-on carriers:
Acclimator: Ground assault ship. 16,000 troops. Had a glaring problem of not being fit for space battles (lack of starfighters and poor armaments). Thus....
Venator: It's the carrier you are looking for. In canon. It held over 400 starfighters! But, few troops (2,000) and armaments. Thus.....
Victory SD: First true SD. It was a jack-of-all trades - battleship, troop carrier, starfighter carrier. But it sucked at all three except perhaps the battleship role. Thus...
Imperial SD: Heavily armed but also carried nearly 10,000 troops and 72 starfighters. It was decent at all three roles of battleship, troop carrier, and starfighter carrier.
Details here if interested.
Classic carrier example in cannon: Lucrehulk.
Originally almost a pure carrier with 1500 fighters and a full invasion fleet, but rather weak in weapons/armor. This was rectified in upgrades and a conversion to a battlecruiser variant that had improved shields, armor and weapons.