Trident-class assault ship

For other uses, see Trident.

"Unleash the Trident Drills!"

―Separatist General Grievous, commanding battle droids at the Battle of Kamino^[3]

The Trident-class assault ship, more commonly known as the Trident drill assault craft or simply the Trident drill, was a droid drilling gunship used for stealthy, underwater assaults, as used in the Battle of Kamino and the second battle of Mon Calamari during the Clone Wars.

Characteristics[]

TridentDrills-ARCT — Trident drills clamber onto Tipoca City.

The Trident-class assault ship was inspired by an ancient design from the remote Gree Enclave. A modifiable droid gunship carrier with aquatic capability, the Trident was equipped with eight laser cannons, four powerful mechanical arms, and a drill-spike that could be swapped out for a powerful engine for long-distance and space travel. It was fitted with two primary observation portals and eight secondary ones along its "head," while its arms were encased by thick durasteel and equipped with magnetic grapples.^[1] The ship is implied to have a Hyperdrive due to Asajj Ventress possessing one during the Battle of Christophsis prior to her mission to kidnap Rotta the Hutt.

History[]

The ships were used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. The Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress employed a Trident-class assault ship eponymously named the Trident, which she used in the kidnapping of Rotta the Huttlet prior to the Battle of Teth.

TridentDrill — *Trident*-class assault ships employ their drill-spikes.

The ships were partially disassembled and attached to parts of Separatist transports during the space battle above Kamino, and when starships like Separatist Munificent-class frigates were blown apart by the Galactic Republic space forces protecting the planet, the debris fell through the atmosphere and into the ocean surrounding Tipoca City. Aqua droids were deployed and assembled them underwater. After the drilling ships were completely assembled, they rose from the ocean and attacked the city. The opposing clone troopers could not damage the drills with their normal DC-15Ss, DC-15A blaster rifles, or DC-17 hand blasters, but the drills were severely damaged towards the end of the battle when the clones used missile launchers. The battle was eventually lost by the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

The ships were later used during the second battle of Mon Calamari as troop deployment craft, patrol ships, and assault ships with one ship acting as Riff Tamson's command ship. They were used first to release large amounts of Aqua droids. After the Mon Calamari civilians were rounded up and taken to prison camps the ships were then used to patrol the waters surrounding the city. When the Gungan Grand Army came as the Republic's reinforcements, Tamson used the ships to create whirlpools which sucked up anyone in the surrounding waters except Tamson and his aqua droids. After the Mon Calamari, Quarren, Gungans, and Republic forces sided together to fight the Separatists, the ships were used to simply ram enemy targets in the water and would plow through formations of the allied troops. However, some of the Mon Cala fighters and Gungan warriors used their weapons to punch holes in the port holes of one of the drills causing water to run into the hull and destroying the drill.

Behind the scenes[]

There appear to be two different variants of the ship seen in the show. A small version that is used by Asajj Ventress and a much larger version that is used on both Kamino and Mon Calamari. The smaller version also appears along side its larger variant on Mon Calamari where they are used to create a whirlpool by swimming around one of the larger ones.