Fulminatrix The Fulminatrix was a " Mandator IV " - class Siege Dreadnought in the First Order Navy captain ed by Moden Canady . It participated during the evacuation of D ' Qar where it fired its orbital autocannon s on the Resistance base and eradicated it , though an evacuation of the base had already been completed . Resistance Commander Poe Dameron launched a single - handed attack on the " Fulminatrix " , destroying its point - defense cannons in order to clear the way for Resistance bombers to make an attack run . The " Fulminatrix " scrambled its TIE fighters in an unsuccessful attempt to fend off the attack , leading to the destruction of all but one of the bombers . The " Fulminatrix " was subsequently destroyed by the last bomber when it dropped its bomb payload , going down with all hands . History . Construction . The " Fulminatrix " was commissioned and constructed by the First Order some time prior to 34 ABY . Her class , aptly named the Siege Dreadnought , was more than twice the length of the " Resurgent " - class Star Destroyer , a standard ship - of - the - line which otherwise dominated the First Order Navy . The red lighting which came from the " Fulminatrix " was to help the night vision of the gunnery crews as they switch back and forth between targeting scopes and visual scans of the surrounding regions of the space . This monster of a warship , like all members of her class , was armed with two orbital bombardment cannon s designed to penetrate planetary shield s . With an arsenal of weapons that demanded competent leadership , the dreadnought was assigned to Captain Moden Canady , veteran of the old Empire . Over time , these dreadnoughts amassed a particularly fearsome reputation , nicknamed " fleet - killers " by some Resistance pilots . Deployment at D ' Qar . Following the Resistance ' s successful destruction of his Starkiller Base superweapon , General Armitage Hux hastily ordered his fleet to the newly discovered Resistance base on D ' Qar . There he found a caravan of Resistance ships , busy evacuating the planet as Hux ' s armada descended on their position . However , General Hux had reserved the task of obliterating the Resistance base for the " Fulminatrix " , which arrived shortly thereafter , Captain Canady at the helm . Canady immediately deployed the " Fulminatrix " < nowiki > ' s < / nowiki > orbital ventral cannons against the planetary base , eradicating the structures and leftover equipment - though personnel had fully evacuated . Much to his chagrin , however , Hux had mistakenly allowed a T - 70 X - wing fighter — the " Black One " , piloted by Resistance hero Poe Dameron — behind the First Order ' s line of fire , allowing the small craft to accelerate towards the " Fulminatrix " and eliminate its surface turbolasers . The unexpected strategy was effective , and Canady scrambled his ship ' s complement of TIE Fighters to counter the assault . With the dreadnought ' s surface turbolasers offline , Dameron engaged the second step of his plan . Cobalt Squadron — a unit of Resistance bombers — advanced towards the dreadnought , flanked by a number of smaller fighters . Notified of the bombers ' approach , Canady ordered his cannons to be recharged and directed towards the Resistance flagship " Raddus " , where most of the rebel leadership had converged . A majority of the Resistance bombers were wiped out in the ensuing dogfight , especially after one spiraling TIE cockpit collided with a bomber that had armed its payload , causing a chain reaction that crippled two further craft . However , one final Cobalt bomber , the " Cobalt Hammer " , under the watch of Paige Tico , managed to drop its payload . The bombs struck a weak point , causing a cataclysmic series of explosions which brought an end to the final bomber , the dreadnought , Captain Canady and his loyal crew . Free from danger , the Resistance fleet leaped into hyperspace , unaware they were being tracked by advanced First Order technology . As they escaped , Snoke , Supreme Leader of the First Order , contacted Hux and expressed his dissatisfaction with the latter ' s performance .