Rendili StarDrive/Kuat Drive Yards' Gladiator-class Star Destroyer
Type:
Star Destroyer
Length:
500 Meters
Weapons:
5 Light Turbolaser Batteries
2 Point-Defense Laser Cannon Batteries
2 Torpedo/Concussion Missile Launchers
3 Tractor Beam Projectors
Crew:
1,255
Top Speed:
Unknown
Troop Capacity:
1,200
Cargo Capacity:
24 Starfighters
6,000 Metric Tons
Passengers:
1,200
The Gladiator-class was originally envisioned as a Republic escort vessel for the
Victory-class Star Destroyer, and the initial design was made by Walex Blissex for Rendili
StarDrive. The final design was not finished until after the end of the Clone Wars, and with the
Victory-class being abandoned as a main warship by the Galactic Empire, the specs were handed over to Kuat Drive
Yards.
The Gladiator-class was a small Star Destroyer that shared its keel design with the
Broadside-class cruiser. A ventral protrusion on the hull appeared to cover the ship's main reactor, but was also the location of several cannons. The class had two main thrusters and no visible secondary
thrusters.
It possessed an array of capital-grade torpedo or concussion missile launchers and turbolaser emplacements. Torpedo loading bays were located deep inside the ships, with automated loading arms controlled from a console next to the conveyor belt that fed munitions to the
launchers.
This Star Destroyer class was characterized by its extensive hangar area, with an opening in the bow of the vessel, that split the forward superstructure in
two, similar to the Broadside-class. The hangar had enough room for several starfighters to enter or exit at the same
time. A complement of 24 fighters was usually carried to intimidate small frontier
worlds.
KDY repurposed the class as a long-range patrol vessel, carrying enough troops, fighters and firepower to subjugate local pirate groups and planetary defense forces in the fringe regions of the galaxy. When the Rebellion began to field heavier naval elements, smaller Imperial ships like the
Gladiator-class were outmatched.
This ship was used by Imperial Admiral Terrinald Screed during his mission to the Roon
system. Prior to the Battle of Tammuz-an, the pirate leader Gir Kybo Ren-Cha and his band stole
the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer Demolisher from an Imperial repair dock. They utilized it to attack the planet of Tammuz-an in order to steal its riches, but were defeated and the ship was
disabled.
The shipyard facilities in orbit of Lianna were used to perform maintenance of
Gladiator-class ships during the Galactic Civil War.