Star Cruiser / Legends Star Cruiser was a widely used designation for spaceships in general as well as a term for a prominent Mon Calamari warship production line , a series of Old Republic warships and a subclass of large battlecruisers . History . The term was sometimes used to describe spacecraft in general , and in this context , it was sometimes written lowercase as star cruiser . . The term could also be used to specify a type of large battlecruiser , and was used as designation for a series of Republic hammer - headed warships during the Great Galactic War and , later , to describe a series of large Mon Calamari warships during the Galactic Civil War . Republic usage . The Galactic Republic evidently used the term to describe their hammer - headed warships , like the " Thranta " - class corvette , that were active in the Great Galactic War . The smuggler Hylo Visz knew them by this term , as she compared the " Defender " - class prototype to the larger , similar - looking vessels . Calamari usage . The famous Mon Calamari Star Cruiser s were the main capital ships of the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic . A typical Star Cruiser of the Galactic Civil War was around 1200 m , such as the iconic MC80 " Liberty " type Star Cruiser , but the term could also apply to the 500 m " Kuari Princess " , and to larger Mon Cal ships , like the " Home One " . Lowercase term . The lowercase term " star cruiser " was also applied to Imperial Navy warships , where it was used as an alternate designation for Star Destroyers . It was also used as a synonym for the standard cruiser designation , which referred to all combat warships above approximately 400 m in length , as for example the " Strike " - class medium cruiser . Smaller warships , like the CR90 corvette , were also called this at times . Battlecruiser class . Some ships named with the uppercase " Star Cruiser " were bigger than standard Star Destroyer designs , and were large enough to be thought of as Super Star Destroyers . They were an Imperial warship class separate from both Star Destroyers and Star Dreadnoughts , considered by some to be a subtype of the battlecruiser class used in the Anaxes War College System . Among many naval historians , any official inclusion of this subtype into their ship classification - system was debated and contested . A typical example of this Star Cruiser design was the " Allegiance " - class battlecruiser , a 2200 m long model of Super Star Destroyer that was utilized by the Galactic Empire . Likewise , the " Secutor " - class Star Destroyer ' s length would technically have placed it under the Star Cruiser classification , but its comparative lack of armament , as well as its carrier - like role , qualified it as a Star Destroyer . Behind the scenes . The term " star cruiser " first appeared in dialogue in " " , written as " star - cruiser " and " starcruiser " in various versions of the script . Early Expanded Universe material such as Marvel ' s " Star Wars " comics uses the term quite loosely , including for the " Executor " . In the script for " " , the EF76 Nebulon - B escort frigate is called a " Star Cruiser , " with the words capitalized . Since " " , however , the term has been most widely used to describe Mon Calamari Star Cruiser s . In his endnotes for " The Essential Guide to Warfare " , Jason Fry mentioned that he had planned to give an explanation for Luke asking if C - 3PO and R2 - D2 were on a Star Cruiser , but it was cut before the book was released . In addition , due to input from a TheForce . net test reader known only as Tzizvvt78 , Fry placed the Star Cruiser line at the smaller end of the overall battlecruiser ship class . Fry liked the idea because it accounted for the continuity for Star Cruisers without sacrificing the West End Games cruiser ship classifications incorporated into the Anaxes War College System .