Type II Orbital Repair Yard The Kuat Drive Yards Type II Orbital Repair Yard , also known as a Type II Orbital Yard , a Type II Orbiting Repair Yard , or a type two shipyard , was a class of space station designed to build and repair Imperial warships . Characteristics . The Type II design was a square - sided structure , 1 , 200 meters from side to side and , like most Imperial dock designs , its work bays could be adjusted and rearranged to accommodate capital ships of varying sizes and designs , although it usually retained its basic box - shaped configuration . It was designed with 9 tractor beams , and in one configuration , it contained nine bays . Like all orbital repair yards , the Type II design was designed not merely to repair ships , but also to construct them , being equipped to build ships from light cruisers upwards . Even in its nine - bay configuration , a Type II could be described as being " full of Star Destroyers " . A Type II had a standard crew of 4 , 114 , and could accommodate 200 troops , typically a defending company of Imperial Stormtroopers . This garrison , along with powerful shields and armor , compensated for the fact that these stations lacked any real defensive armament . A Class 4 hyperdrive permitted the station to relocate across long distances , although for sublight maneuvers , it required a cargo tug . History . The Type II was one of a number of orbital yard types used throughout the Empire , to support and sometimes replace the deepdocks that were the primary shipyards of each Sector Fleet . Whereas deepdocks had a heavy Fleet Support Branch presence , repair and construction in orbital yards was usually carried out by non - military contractors , often making use of local slave labor . The Type II design continued to be important to the Galactic Empire throughout the Galactic Civil War . As well as its stormtrooper garrison , each yard was paired with a navy flotilla for protection , although after Imperial losses in the final years of the conflict , the New Republic believed that there were no longer enough ships available to provide such dedicated protection . Perhaps the most famous Type II yards were those of Black Sword Command . Almost all of the shipyards assigned to this important Imperial fleet were Type II designs , with Black Nine being a typical example , although the main Black Fifteen shipyard at N ' zoth was much larger . At least eight of the Black Sword shipyards disappeared during the confusion of the Imperial withdrawal from the Koornacht Cluster in 5 ABY , with at least three of them being captured by the Yevetha ns , who used them to construct the Star Destroyer fleet that they unleashed in the Black Fleet Crisis of 16 - 17 ABY . The New Republic placed an emphasis on locating and destroying the Yevethan - controlled shipyards , leading to engagements like the Battle of ILC - 905 , where ships from Task Force Aster found and destroyed Black Nine and its three defending thrustships above Prildaz . Even so , five of the Type IIs from Black Sword Command remained unaccounted for even after the resolution of the Yevethan conflict , and their absence was a source of some concern to the New Republic . Behind the scenes . The " type two shipyard " designation was first used in " Tyrant ' s Test " , when Black Nine was discovered during the Battle of ILC - 905 . Black Nine is described in dialogue as being " full of Star Destroyers " , and it shares a nine - bay configuration with the large Black Fifteen shipyard seen at N ' zoth in " Before the Storm " . However , " Cracken ' s Threat Dossier " gives the Type II Orbital Yard its canonical size of 1 . 2km , and also describes it as " cubical " , implying that its docks are arranged into a three - dimensional box , rather than a flat grid . These details mean that Black Fifteen , a flat - grid facility capable of holding an " Imperial " - class ship , a " Victory " - class Star Destroyer , a moored Super Star Destroyer and six other warships simultaneously , cannot be identified as a Type II shipyard , and that the majority of Black Sword Command ' s shipyards were much smaller . The article which defines the Type II is , however , accompanied by an illustration of a large , flat - grid dock containing ships that resemble a Super Star Destroyer and an interdictor , both of which may be multiple - kilometer vessels ; but as the broad subject of the article is orbital yards in general , this illustration need not represent a Type II facility , and there is no reliable way to scale the ships shown in it , or to identify what class they really are .