Executor (Star Wars)

The Executor is a Super Star Destroyer featured in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. It is the personal flagship of Darth Vader and the lead ship of its class.

Design

The miniature Executor used in filming was 2.83 meters long.

Depiction

The ship is 19 kilometers long and carries more than 5,000 weapons, many wings of TIE fighters (at least 2 wings of 144 fighters each), at least 200 other combat and support ships, several prefabricated garrison bases, and stormtroopers and walkers (AT-ATs and AT-STs).

Many Expanded Universe sources claim that Executor was 8,000 meters long. Some other sources, such as the New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, claim the Executor is 12,800 meters long. In September 2005, the starwars.com Databank was updated with the 19,000-meter length.

The 8,000-meter version of the Executor was said to have a crew of over 250,000 of the Empire's finest officers and crewmen.

Both Kuat Drive Yards and Fondor Shipyards claimed to have built the Executor. In fact, two identical Command Ships were created, one at each shipyard, and both created under the name Executor. After completion, the one built at Fondor went on to serve as Vader's flagship. The ship built at Kuat was renamed Lusankya and buried under the cityscape of Coruscant.

The Executor is presented to Lord Vader shortly after the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which the first Death Star was destroyed. It replaces the Devastator as Vader's personal flagship, thus making it the flagship of the Imperial Death Squadron. The ship was originally commanded by Admiral Ozzel, but after his death at the hands of the unforgiving Vader, Admiral Piett was given command.

During the Battle of Endor, Admiral Ackbar ordered a concentrated attack on the Executor to divert Imperial forces who could interfere with the assault on the Death Star. After the deflector shields protecting the bridge superstructure were knocked down by a heavy bombardment from the Rebel fleet, Admiral Piett ordered that the forward turbolaser batteries be intensified in order to protect the bridge from rebel fighters. However, due to the increased fire, an A-wing, piloted by Arvel Crynyd, was damaged by one of the turbolasers, sending it out of control in a kamikaze-like maneuver into the bridge. The collision disabled the massive ship's navigational systems and caused it to crash into the incomplete second Death Star, killing all on board in the process. After the Death Star was subsequently destroyed, the explosion vaporized what was left of the Executor.

File:Super Star Destory VI.png

Executor's destruction during the battle of Endor.

Trivia

According to the official Star Wars website, Kenner Toys balked at the potentially violent name of the ship when they went to build a playset of Executor. Their ad agency suggested 153 other names that could be used instead. These included such names as Starbase Malevolent, Black Coven and Cosmocurse. Apparently, none of the names was appropriate enough for Kenner, as in the actual event the ship was billed on toy packaging as Darth Vader's Star Destroyer. [1]

References

• Heir to the Empire, volume 1 in The Thrawn Trilogy, Timothy Zahn, Bantam Spectra Books, 1991.
• The Empire Strikes Back film, 20th Century Fox, 1980; novelization, Donald F. Glut, Del Rey Books, 1980.
• Return of the Jedi film, 20th Century Fox, 1983; novelization, James Kahn, Del Rey Books, 1983.
• Imperial Sourcebook, Greg Gorden, WEG, 1989.
• Movie Trilogy Sourcebook, Greg Farshtey and Bill Smith, WEG, 1993.
• From Star Wars to Indiana Jones: The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives, Mark Cotta Vaz and Shinji Hata, Chronicle Books, 1995.
• Inside the Worlds of the Star Wars Trilogy, James Luceno, DK Publishing Inc, 2004
• Star Wars X-Wing: The Bacta War, Michael Stackpole, Bantam Books, 1997.

External links

• Executor on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki