ST 321

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ST 321

Production information

Type

Multi-purpose transport^[3]

Technical specifications

Length

20 meters^[1]

Hyperdrive rating

Equipped^[3]

Armament

Forward double laser cannons (2)^[3]
Wing-mounted double cannons (2)^[3]
Rear double laser cannon (1)^[3]

Cargo capacity

80 metric tons^[1]

Usage

Role(s)

Transport^[4]

Present for battles/events

Battle of Endor^[4]

Affiliation

Galactic Empire^[4]
Alliance to Restore the Republic (Stolen)^[4]
Jedi Order (Stolen)^[4]

Navy

Owner(s)

Darth Vader^[4]

Crewmembers

Luke Skywalker^[4]

"Command station, this is ST 321…"

―An Imperial officer^[4]

ST 321 was a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle which served as the personal transport of Darth Vader, a Dark Lord of the Sith, during the latter stages of the Galactic Civil War. In 4 ABY, ST 321 ferried the Sith Lord to the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station, which was undergoing its final stage of construction above the moon Endor. ST 321 managed to survive the destruction of the battle station at the Battle of Endor, as Luke Skywalker piloted the shuttle out of the second Death Star moments before it exploded.

History[]

"Inform the commander that Lord Vader's shuttle has arrived."

―Lieutenant Endicott^[4]

ST 321 served as the personal transport of Darth Vader, the right hand and secret Sith apprentice of Emperor Palpatine, sole ruler of the Galactic Empire.^[5] In 4 ABY,^[6] ST 321 brought Vader to the second Death Star, an Imperial planet-killing battle station being constructed in orbit of the Sanctuary Moon of Endor.^[5]

Although ST 321 had a captain assigned to it, Vader occasionally piloted it himself. He notably did so shortly after the Emperor's arrival at the Death Star, piloting the shuttle down from the battle station to the Imperial base that guarded its shield generator on the Sanctuary Moon. Shortly thereafter, even as a massive battle between the Empire and the enemy Alliance to Restore the Republic took place in orbit, Vader dueled his estranged son, the Alliance hero Luke Skywalker, aboard the Death Star. Ultimately, Vader chose to redeem himself and turned on the Emperor to protect his son, but he was mortally wounded in the process. With the Death Star about to explode, Skywalker used ST 321 to escape the endangered battle station along with his deceased father.^[5]

Upon slipping out of the fast-deteriorating Death Star, Vader's shuttle was almost intercepted by Shara Bey of the Alliance's Green Squadron, who proceeded to cover it from incoming TIE/IN interceptors after identifying its pilot, Luke Skywalker, as a friendly.^[7]

Behind the scenes[]

ST 321 later reappeared in the 1997 re-release of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader returned to the Executor during the film's climax, largely due to their reusing the scene of Darth Vader's arrival on the Death Star II from Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.^[8]