OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Image Credit: Revenge of the Sith
Intent: To create a small-sized capital ship to serve as the premier carrier vessel and support destroyer for the Core Imperial Confederation and its Imperial Navy.
Canon Link: N/A
Restricted Missions: N/A
Primary Source:
Venator-class Star Destroyer
Warlord-class Destroyer/Carrier
Auxilia-class Long Range Star Destroyer
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Imperial Manufacturing Bureau, The Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research (designer)
Model: Project 6047 - 'Hunter Six'
Affiliation: The Core Imperial Confederation
Modularity: N/A
Production: Minor
Material: Alusteel Hull with Turadium Internal Reinforcement, Carbon-Nanofilament Armor Plating, Glassteel and Transparisteel where appropriate. Internal AR-03 Damage Reduction Component plating.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Classification: Star Destroyer
Role: Carrier/Destroyer
Length: 1,137 m
Width: 548 m
Height: 268 m
Power Core Generator/Reactor: ISD 6th-Generation Hypermatter Annihilation Reactor
Hyperdrive Rating: 1.0
Minimum Crew: 1,850
Optimal Crew: 7,400
Passenger Capacity: 2,000
Consumables: 2 years
Speed Rating: Low
Manoeuvrability Rating: Average
ARMAMENT
Armament Rating: Average
2 x Dual Long-Range Heavy Megamaser Batteries
50 x Megamaser Batteries
20 x Ion Cannons
15 x Variable Warhead Launchers (PRO|A.CON|FLE|D.BOR|CLU)
160 x Point Defence Maser Cannons
80 x Flak Cannons
1 x Ventral Proton Beam Cannon
Military-Grade Ray Shielding
Military-Grade Particle Shielding
HANGAR: Very High
9 x Squadrons of strike craft
2 x Squadrons of support craft
STANDARD FEATURES
Standard Sensor Suite (HSI/DER/EPR/AS/LFI)
Standard Encrypted Communications and C4I Suite
Integrated Fleet Command Data Exchange Network
Upgraded Navigation Systems
Ionic Shielding Package
Ion Shields
Cap Drains
Duraplast Plating
Energy Sinks
[*]
Standard Electronics Warfare/Countermeasure Package
Sensor Jammer
220-SIG Tactical Sensor Jamming Device
Electronic Countermeasures
Full-spectrum Distortion Projector
[*]
Internal Defenses
Defensive Autoblasters
Labyrinth Interior with natural chokepoints
ADVANCED SYSTEMS
Strengths:
Jack Of All Trades: The Venator's hybrid specialization as both a carrier and a destroyer offer it excellent versatility against enemies of all types, capable of serving as either an escort to larger ships, a ship-of-the-line of a fleet, or the command ship of a squadron.
Weapons To Fore: The signature dagger shape of Imperial heavy cruisers and star destroyers allow a fore-facing unobstructed line of fire for most of the vessel's weapons, along with either half able to dedicate its full armament to a broadside manoeuver.
Invasion: Another signature design of ships in the Venator series is their ability to, even if designated a star destroyer, land on a planetary surface to deploy or support troops.
Master Of None: Despite the versatility, the Venator lacks the dedication to go toe-to-toe with dedicated carriers and destroyers, likely being overwhelmed by star destroyers of the same size.
They Came From Behind: The dagger shape also comes at a disadvantage, as all of the weapons have a forward-facing arc at the cost of the ship's aft only being protected by a small percentage of the weaponry.
Intensify The Forward Batteries: The dual-bridge tower design is rather obsolete due to the tactical vulnerability that an exposed bridge tower presents. Should the starfighter control tower be destroyed, strike sorties would be disrupted somewhat. Should the command bridge be destroyed, bad things happen.
The Venator-class Star Destroyer was a ship that served as the primary capital ship of the Old Republic back during the Clone Wars, some eight hundred and seventy years ago. A versatile ship designed for both ship-to-ship combat as well as for carrying starfighters, a Venator was usually the centrepiece of any fleet or invasion force back in the day. Somehow, through sheer perseverance, some of these ancient vessels managed to survive the plethora of conflicts that followed.
After the fall of the Third Galactic Empire and the absorption of the more modern warships in the Imperial Starfleet into the First Order, remnants still loyal to Tanomas Graf but refused to serve Sieger Ren utilized old and retrofitted Venators which provided a firm foundation for the Navy to rebuild itself once the Imperial Confederation was formed. Wishing to keep the elegant aesthetic that the Venator-class offered, but redesign it to fit with the hazards of modern warfare, the Advanced Weapons Research division went to work.
The Venator VI-class Light Star Destroyer features a fourth of the strike craft complement of its ancestor but about twenty times the armament, allowing it to more effectively perform its role as a small-sized battleship. Constructed from an alusteel hull and further reinforced by carbon-durasteel armour plating, a design stolen from the First Order Core of Imperial Engineers, the ship is a departure from Director Caalgen's usual method of quadanium-lined durasteel hulls.
However, as is tradition, the choice of megamasers over turbolasers still reigns supreme in the upper echelons of naval development, and with the help of defected scientists, the Chiss weaponry is better understood and more readily-maintained than during the Mark Five initiative. A new age of Imperial naval supremacy is dawning, and the Venator is going to be at the forefront of it.
