Tantive IV / Legends The Tantive IV ( ) was a CR90 corvette in the service of the Royal House of Alderaan . The ship was a central player in the events following the end of the Clone Wars and the beginning of the Galactic Civil War . It started life as a CR90 corvette named Star of Alderaan , but was renamed in honor of diplomats from Tantive IV who visited Alderaan . The ship sported twin turbolaser turrets and a massive drive block of eleven ion turbine engines . Description . The " Tantive IV " housed living quarters , formal dining rooms , conference rooms , and an engine room . Princess Leia Organa also had a luxurious stateroom on the highest level of the ship to serve dignitaries and official guests . It was appointed with fine art and expensive furniture , and comprised many rooms . The stateroom acted as a living room with a small round coffee table and two large , red sofas , and was connected to two advanced escape pods . The blockade runner held eight tiny escape pods that could seat up to three people and four laser - armed ones that could hold 12 passengers . but eventually the ship was outfitted with weaponry . Internal layout . The decks were numbered in descending order . There were storage holds above the first deck and below the fourth . Engineering decks were numbered similarly and were abaft the main decks , with sensor suites above and below the highest and lowest decks . Sensor Suite A was above and Sensor Suite B was below . There was access to the Sensor Suites from any level through the engineering decks . The main reactor core stretched across all decks and was abaft the engineering decks . Turbolaser turrets were situated towards the bow . Two were placed above and below the first and fourth decks , respectively , and they could be reached from any deck . The forward gunnery deck was forward of Deck 4 , which ended further aft than Decks 2 or 3 and with Deck 1 . The aft ends of Decks 1 and 4 ended further forward than the other two as well . Smuggling compartments were further towards the bow , situated in the hammerhead neck and above the computer control deck , which was above the bridge . The forward hold was under Princess Leia ' s suite , which was on Deck 3 and under the bridge . History . The " Tantive IV " was built by the Corellian Engineering Corporation , sometime before the end of the Clone Wars . Originally called the Star of Alderaan , it was renamed to honor the Tantive system ' s diplomats . During the time of the Clone Wars , the ship was the consular ship of Alderaan ' s senator in the Galactic Republic , Bail Organa . Clone Wars . During the galaxywide conflict of the Clone Wars , the planet Ryloth was blockaded by the Confederacy of Independent Systems , and therefore the people of Ryloth were unable to receive food or medical supplies , and were in need of relief from the Republic . As previous support missions had failed to puncture the blockade , Senator Organa took the " Tantive IV " to Toydaria . There , he requested that the ruler of the system , King Katuunko , allow the Republic to use Toydaria as a jumping off point for small Republic relief vessels that , while more likely to get past the blockade due to their size , required a planet for refueling before reaching Ryloth . Initial requests were denied due to the interference of Lott Dod of the Trade Federation , who claimed that any relief action would ally neutral Toydaria with the Republic and force the Federation to break off trade with Toydaria , else the Trade Federation attract interest from and be attacked by the Separatists . However , the King decided to allow Bail Organa to covertly send all the ships he had brought with him for aid and , with the help of a distraction provided by Jar Jar Binks , was successful in assisting the Twi ' lek people . Around 21 BBY , the " Tantive IV " was present on the neutral planet Mandalore where Bail Organa attended a peace conference between representatives of the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems . It was during an exercise testing the launch of escape pods that " Tantive IV " was attacked by a pirate gang from the Karthakk system . The corvette successfully evaded the attack , though lost its jettisoned escape pods in the process . It was soon discovered that R2 - D2 and C - 3PO were aboard one of the pods . Chief Petty Officer Corla Metonae , supervisor of the exercise , was blamed for the loss of the droids . Bail Organa placed high importance on retrieving the droids , and eventually succeeded in returning them to " Tantive IV " . Imperial Period . During the days of the Empire , Princess Leia Organa used the ship and her position in the Imperial Senate to help the struggling Rebel Alliance , often undertaking secret missions under the guise of Humanitarian work . The vessel ' s final voyage was during Operation Skyhook : a secret mission to the planet Toprawa to obtain the schematics for the Empire ' s new battle station , the First Death Star . While the plans from Toprawa were by far the largest part of the plans , two other supplemental sets were also delivered to the " Tantive IV " from AX - 235 by the shuttle " Maria " — one set acquired from Danuta and another set stolen during the Death Star Uprising . The original plan was to deliver them to the Star Cruiser " Liberty " , but the sudden appearance of the Star Destroyer " Immortal " halted the transfer , and " Tantive IV " was forced to flee to Tatooine . The second part of the mission was to reach the planet Tatooine , find Obi - Wan Kenobi , and escort him to Alderaan , along with the plans for the Death Star . However , the ship was intercepted by the " Imperial I " - class Star Destroyer " Devastator " while in orbit over the planet . After Imperial troops boarded the ship with a TIE / br boarding shuttle , the " Tantive IV " was quickly disabled and captured . Despite the valiant efforts of the Alderaanian soldiers on board , the stormtroopers of the 501st Legion quickly overran the ship . In a critical move , Leia Organa was able to pass the Death Star plans to R2 - D2 and instruct him to make contact with Obi - Wan Kenobi on the surface of Tatooine , before being captured herself . Vader personally interrogated Captain Raymus Antilles to find the stolen plans with no success . Before Senator Organa was on the row , she had seen the portable accessway attached to the " Tantive IV " . Unable to find the plans on board the " Tantive IV " , Darth Vader ordered a team of stormtroopers to sweep the planet below to find them . Afterward , the corvette was destroyed and the entire crew was killed . Imperial propaganda , including a falsified report by the survey vessel " Wide - Eyed " , would later proclaim that an asteroid storm caused the destruction of the " Tantive IV " . Behind the scenes . The " Tantive IV " first appeared in the of the , where a hit on the " principal solar fin " damaged the ship . In the film the final shot went to the sensor array , but was diverted and hit the engine section . The Incredible Cross - Sections explained that the shot overloaded the starboard shield projector , causing damage in the power generator system , which led to shutting down the reactor . According to " The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology " , the " Tantive IV " was disabled by ion cannons . " Star Wars Insider " 90 states that the ship was built under the name " Star of Alderaan " by order of Queen Mazicia Organa for senator Agrippa Aldrete as a consular vessel . Since Agrippa Aldrete was senator of Alderaan before the time of " " , this statement contradicts the former statement , that the ship was built some time before the end of the Clone Wars . In " Star Wars Insider " 93 ' s article " " , the " Tantive IV " was noted as being built with a single white - walled hallway and turn , alongside a redressed " Millennium Falcon " hold , filmed from several angles to save money . In addition , the production model for the " Tantive IV " was also twice as long as the production model of the " Devastator " . It was also originally intended to be the " Millennium Falcon " , although after it was made its own separate ship , it still retained some design cues from the " Millennium Falcon " , in particular the kidder rungs right below the primary sensor array . The explosion effect was achieved by doing pyrotechnic event filming while the shooting model was held upside down . The " Tantive IV " was originally portrayed using a plastic model for the filming of " A New Hope " . The creators of the model placed a miniature pin - up girl poster in the cockpit as a joke . It is not visible in the final film . Later , during the filming of , a computer - generated model was used , but the two models have many differences in appearance , which ultimately led to identifying the new design as a different ship . Retconned appearance in the " Revenge of the Sith " . Until 2010 , official sources stated that the ship in " A New Hope " and in " Revenge of the Sith " are the same . At the official " Star Wars " website , the Rebel blockade runner is specifically shown to appear in Episode III , Episode IV , and Episode VI . Many sources supported this , including " The Art of Star Wars : Revenge of the Sith " , which states : However , the July 2005 issue of " " magazine quotes Rob Coleman , the animation director on " Revenge of the Sith " , suggesting the idea of a different vessel in the third prequel : The profile for the CR70 corvette in " Star Wars Insider " 90 explained the differences of the two ship to fit in with Coleman ' s comment by stating that the " Revenge of the Sith " version is a CR70 model and the " A New Hope " version is the " Tantive IV " after an extensive refitting , as a CR90 model . Another retcon appeared in " " , in which the Corellian Corvette seen in Episode III was actually the " Sundered Heart " , from the game " " . In August 2010 , continuity referee Leland Chee confirmed that the ships in the two films are not the same .