Fortressa The Fortressa was a modified Hoersch - Kessel Drive , Inc . " Lucrehulk " - class LH - 3210 cargo freighter commissioned by the Trade Federation megacorp . Converted to a battleship as part of the Federation ' s desire to better protect its cargo convoys , the " Fortressa " was later part of the naval forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems — with whom the Trade Federation had allied themselves — which fought against the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars . The " Fortressa " survived the war , and it was decommissioned and sold off when the Galactic Empire — the successor state to the Republic — nationalized the Trade Federation . Falling into the hands of the Alliance to Restore the Republic , the " Fortressa " served as starfighter carrier and anchored the Alliance Fleet ' s main battle line . In 0 BBY , the " Fortressa " engaged the Death Star battlestation in the Horuz system in an effort to destroy the immense superweapon before it became operational . The Death Star used its superlaser on the " Fortressa " , destroying the vessel in a single shot . Description . The " Fortressa " was a modified Hoersch - Kessel Drive , Inc . " Lucrehulk " - class LH - 3210 cargo freighter , converted by the Trade Federation megacorp into a battleship as part of its military build - up . The vessel was officially classed as a Star Destroyer despite the fact that the Anaxes War College System classified Star Destroyers as vessels measuring between 1 , 000 and 2 , 000 meters while the " Fortressa " measured around three kilometers in diameter , 3 , 356 . 9 meters long , 3 , 009 meters wide , and 1 , 028 . 77 meters high . " Lucrehulk " - class vessels resembled a ring with a gap in the front , ending in two truncated prongs that housed massive hangars and cargo holds . A spherical command section sat in the center of the ring , attached to the rest of the vessel by a rear mounted spar . The reactor core was located in the command sphere , and the engines were positioned at the rear of the ship . By 0 BBY , the " Fortressa " served as a starfighter carrier for the Alliance to Restore the Republic , and it housed five hundred T - 65 X - wing starfighter s in its hangars . History . Originally commissioned as a cargo freighter by the Trade Federation , the " Fortressa " was modified to serve as a warship when the megacorp gained approval from the Galactic Senate to raise a military arm to better defend its convoys . The " Fortressa " was upgraded , joining the ranks of vessels that would become known as " Lucrehulk " - class battleships . During the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems that raged from 22 BBY to 19 BBY , the " Fortressa " served in the Confederate Navy as the Trade Federation had pledged its allegiance to the Confederacy . The war ended with the enactment of Order 66 — a that mandated the termination of the Republic ' s Jedi commanders if they were ever deemed to be a threat to the Republic itself — and the execution of the Separatist Council on Mustafar . Supreme Chancellor Palpatine announced that the Republic was being reorganized into the Galactic Empire , with himself as Galactic Emperor . The Empire nationalized the Trade Federation and sold off its fleet of Lucrehulks , including those converted battleships like the " Fortressa " that had survived the war . While most of the Lucrehulk fleet ended up in commercial hands , the " Fortressa " was acquired by the Alliance to Restore the Republic , a resistance movement against the tyrannical and oppressive Empire . The ship served as a starfighter carrier , with five hundred X - wing starfighters stationed aboard . Although the early Alliance Fleet relied heavily on starfighter operations , Alliance Chief of State Mon Mothma insisted on building a naval battle line , which was anchored by the " Fortressa " alongside the Mon Calamari flagship " Independence " and the modified " Providence " - class carrier / destroyer " Rebel One " . In 0 BBY , the Alliance learned of the location of the Death Star , an immense battlestation armed with a superlaser capable of destroying planets . The Death Star was under guard in the Horuz system , located in the Atrivis sector of the Outer Rim Territories , and the " Fortressa " was assigned to attack the station before it became operational and attempt to destroy it using its starfighter complement . From a tactical viewpoint , the " Fortressa " presented the best option of success . Rather than use the Alliance Fleet in an attempt to engage the Star Destroyer force guarding the Death Star , which would have been costly in terms of manpower and material for the nascent Rebellion , the large number of starfighters from the " Fortressa " had a greater chance of slipping through the defensive screen and inflicting damage upon the battlestation . Even if the attack only delayed the construction of the superweapon , the Alliance could claim a tactical victory . Decanting from hyperspace , the " Fortressa " was faced with the Death Star , a Star Destroyer escort , and ten squadrons of TIE / LN starfighter s in the middle of a training exercise . When the " Fortressa " registered on Imperial sensors , the TIE fighters and Star Destroyers were immediately ordered to intercept , while a further thousand TIEs were launched from the battlestation . The " Fortressa " responded by launching 250 X - wings in the first wave , followed by a further wave of equal numbers , totaling five hundred . A squadron of Alliance fighters broke off from the main group to engage a starship carrying Admiral Natasi Daala to the station . The Imperial ship was able to destroy its attackers , but it lost its bridge deflector shields in the process . An explosion on the command deck caused by the attack injured Admiral Daala , leaving her with a head wound . Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin , in command of the Death Star , had initially planned to engage the Alliance ship in a conventional space battle , but reconsidered the approach and ordered the TIEs and Star Destroyers to break off their intercept . Instead , he communicated with the gunnery crew manning the superlaser and ordered them to target the " Fortressa " . The crew complied , and — using only four percent of the weapon ' s capability — vaporized the " Fortressa " in a single shot . The fighters that the carrier had launched continued their mission ; the first wave of X - wings outnumbered the initial TIE picket line by two - to - one , and they flew in a non - evasive pattern in an attempt to punch through the TIE defensive screen and attack the Death Star directly . The defending TIEs employed a zone defense , and the X - wings did not attempt to engage the Imperial force , only shooting at TIEs if they were in their path to the battlestation . Around eighty X - wings broke through the first TIE line , but they were soon destroyed by the second wave of Imperial fighters launched from the station . None of the X - wings from the second wave broke through the TIE defensive line . The " Fortressa " was the Death Star ' s first kill , and the first successful test of the battlestation ' s superlaser . However , the carrier ' s attack led to Tarkin choosing to relocate the Death Star to avoid detection and a possible full - scale battle with the Alliance Fleet . Behind the scenes . The " Fortressa " first appeared in " Death Star " , written by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry in 2007 . It was later mentioned in " The Essential Atlas " by Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace in 2009 , and in 2012 ' s " The Essential Guide to Warfare " , written again by Fry and Paul R . Urquhart .