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The Hammerhead-class cruiser was a type of warship used by the Republic Navy during the Old Sith Wars,[5] the Mandalorian Wars,[6] and the New Sith Wars.[4] One of the most successful warship designs in galactic history, the Hammerhead-class still saw use in sector defense forces millennia after its introduction and inspired many other ship designs, such as the Thranta-class corvette and MC140 Scythe-class main battle cruiser.[7]
Characteristics[]
The bridge of a Hammerhead-class cruiser
This ship was a cruiser and a successor design to the smaller Praetorian-class frigate.[1] Serving on the line in fleet engagements as a courier and as a command ship of large fleets, it was a workhorse of the Republic and a common sight near Republic-controlled worlds. This ship could also undertake independent operations, unlike the Foray-class blockade runner, which was never observed outside a supporting fleet. Hammerheads could enter atmospheres and land on planetary surfaces.[5]
The spaceframe resembled the later Consular-class cruiser and the CR90 corvette, though this may have been coincidental. They also strongly resembled the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate of the Galactic Civil War era, due to the vertically elongated bridge.[5]
In 3956 BBY the cruisers appeared to possess at least seven turbolasers, with three batteries of two and a single turbolaser cannon mounted atop the hammerhead bridge structure. As demonstrated by the Endar Spire and the Harbinger some years later, they also appeared to have a number of lighter, point-defense laser cannons for use against small craft mounted at various points along the hull.[5]
They were propelled by four ion engines emitting particles in the orange section of the visible spectrum during the wars around 3956 BBY. This changed over time, earlier ships having three engines that emitted blue particles.[8]
History[]
Great Sith War[]
Hammerheads were first seen in service in the Great Sith War, where they participated in the Battle of Koros Major.[9] During the restoration period after the war, it was mass-produced at such a scale that Rendili Hyperworks finished a new cruiser every ten days for several years.[1]
Mandalorian Wars[]
During the Mandalorian Wars thirty years later, they remained in frontline service, sometimes alongside the Inexpugnable-class command ship, itself a class made to sell more Hammerheads.[3] Hammerheads participated in the Battle of Vanquo, Battle of Serroco and defended Coruscant, among many other deployments. With a third of the Republic's fleet crushed at Malachor V during the wars,[10] and another third, including bigger Interdictor-class cruisers, taken by Revan to form the basis of his Sith Empire's forces,[5] the ailing Republic government turned to these smaller capital ships to halt the Sith advance.[5]
Later use[]
A Hammerhead-class ship during the New Sith Wars
Throughout the Great Galactic War, Galactic War, and New Sith Wars, the class remained in service. Hammerhead-class cruisers served alongside Thranta-class corvettes, a competitor design, at the Second battle of Leritor.[11] Another ship, the Tanthior, was shot down over Onderon during the war with Zakuul.[12] During the New Sith Wars, Hammerheads each held a squadron of Aurek-class tactical strikefighters and had undergone significant upgrades and design revisions since their debut thousands of years before.[4] Much like the Invincible-class dreadnaught, the Hammerhead-class cruiser was one of the longest-serving classes of ship in the Republic military, with versions of it being maintained in active service for at least 3,000 years.[4][13]
One Hammerhead-class cruiser which had been retrofitted into a Jedi temple by Master Val Isa before being destroyed in the Mandalorian Wars, the Sanctuary, was rediscovered by a group of Force-sensitive individuals in 0 ABY.[14]
Behind the scenes[]
Wreckage of a Hammerhead-class ship on Mustafar during the Galactic Civil War
The Hammerhead-class cruiser was first introduced in the 2003 role-playing video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic; it is within one such vessel, the Endar Spire, that the game's tutorial level takes place. Near the end of the game, when the Ebon Hawk crash-lands on Lehon, the player can see the remains of a Hammerhead-class ship that had crashed into the rocks on the shore. This could have been the vessel used by Revan and Malak during their search for the Star Forge, but this cannot be confirmed. In the game's sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, much more information on this class of vessel is given, including deck plans for crew quarters, a medical bay, and engine rooms.
In the second timeline trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, a new and more heavily armed variant of the Hammerhead-class is seen above Coruscant. This was later revealed to be a separate class, the Thranta-class.
Leland Chee has confirmed that the ships seen in the Knights of the Old Republic games are of the same class that was named in Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, but that the version of the book and that of the game may have different specifications, considering that they are used approximately three thousand years apart from one another.[13]
The wreckage of a Hammerhead-class vessel can be seen on the volcanic world of Mustafar in the expansion for Star Wars Galaxies, Trials of Obi-Wan. How it came to be there is never explained, however, with the implication that it is a long-crashed Republic warship.
The Hammerhead-class cruiser was the Legends inspiration for the canon Sphyrna-class Hammerhead corvette,[15] which made its first appearance in "A Princess on Lothal," the twelfth episode of the second season of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels,[16] released on January 20, 2016.[17]
Appearances[]
Sources[]
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
- The New Essential Chronology
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook (First identified as Hammerhead-class cruiser)
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
- The Essential Guide to Warfare
Galactic History on The Old Republic's official website (backup link)- Concept Art – Taris (2) on The Old Republic's official website (link obsolete; content only found on older version of webpage: backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast classification system
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- ↑ Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (comic series)
- ↑ The Essential Guide to Warfare
- ↑ Knights of the Old Republic 8
- ↑ The New Essential Chronology
- ↑ Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
- ↑ The Old Republic: Annihilation
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic - Onslaught
- ↑ 13.0 13.1
Holocron continuity database questions on StarWars.com Message Boards. Posted by Tasty Taste on November 2, 2006 at 10:17 AM. (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑
"Lessons from the Past" — Star Wars: Force and Destiny Core Rulebook
- ↑ "A Princess on Lothal" Trivia Gallery on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ "A Princess on Lothal" Episode Guide | Star Wars Rebels on StarWars.com (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars Rebels Scoop: Princess Leia Set to Appear on the Disney XD Animated Series by Sands, Rich on TV Insider (January 11, 2016) (archived from the original on March 7, 2020)
