Tantive V ( CR90 corvette ) The Tantive V was a CR90 corvette in the service of the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War . Just prior to the Battle of Yavin , the " Tantive V " acted as a decoy for the identical Rebel corvette " Tantive IV " , the consular vessel of Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan , which was carrying stolen technical data of the Galactic Empire ' s Death Star battlestation . To buy time for Organa to escape with the Death Star plans , the " Tantive V " drew the pursuit of Darth Vader ' s Imperial Star Destroyer , the " Devastator " , away from the " Tantive IV " . Believing the " Tantive V " to be the princess ' s corvette , the " Devastator " captured and boarded the decoy vessel , only to find that it carried an unarmed crew of Gungans rather than the coveted Death Star plans . The " Tantive V " ruse briefly allowed Organa to slip past Vader ' s grasp with the Death Star readouts . Description . The CR90 corvette named " Tantive V " was a Corellian Engineering Corporation blockade runner of the Rebel Alliance Fleet . The " Tantive V " , which resembled exactly its counterpart vessel , the Rebel corvette " Tantive IV " , measured 150 meters in length , was armed with turbolaser cannons , and was equipped with a drive system . History . Captured by Darth Vader . During the Galactic Civil War , the " Tantive V " participated in the Rebel Alliance ' s campaign to secure stolen technical readouts of the Galactic Empire ' s first Death Star battlestation . After the Rebels succeeded in capturing and transmitting the Death Star data to Princess Leia Organa aboard the Alderaanian consular ship " Tantive IV " , Organa began racing home to the planet Alderaan to finalize the safe acquisition of the stolen data . However , the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Devastator " , commanded by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader , pursued the Rebel corvette in an effort to capture Organa and recover the stolen plans . As an exact lookalike of Organa ' s " Tantive IV " , the " Tantive V " provided the perfect diversion to stall the " Devastator " as it gave chase . Crewed only by a group of unarmed Gungans , the " Tantive V " lured the " Devastator " in pursuit of itself and away from the " Tantive IV " , thus buying time for Vader ' s true target to temporarily slip away with the plans . Ignorant of the ruse , the " Devastator " captured the " Tantive V " via tractor beam and drew the neutralized vessel into its main docking bay , where a stormtrooper force , led by Vader himself , prepared to board the corvette . Vader ' s stormtroopers covered each of the " Tantive V " hatches and jury - rigged open the corvette ' s main hatch when the Rebel counterattack came . A hooded figure — in reality , the Gungan Abso Bar Binks , son of former Imperial Senator Jar Jar Binks , personally tasked with stalling Vader — tossed two small boomas into the " Devastator " from inside the " Tantive V " breached hatch , creating an explosion and an effective smoke screen among the stormtroopers . The perfect decoy . In the ensuing confusion , Binks slipped through the hatchway into the " Devastator " and began to attack the distracted stormtroopers , who refrained from firing on the hooded figure in fear that it might be Organa herself , whom they hoped to capture rather than kill . Upon eventually learning the identity — and ineptitude — of the hooded attacker , Vader quickly ordered his stormtroopers to board the " Tantive V " and bring him the Death Star plans . However , the stormtroopers soon reported to Vader that the data they sought was nowhere to be found aboard the " Tantive V " , and all they had uncovered was the corvette ' s unarmed Gungan crew . At that moment , Binks revealed the deception to Vader : The " Tantive V " had been a diversion all along , and he had single - handedly manufactured the opportunity that Organa and the " Tantive IV " needed to escape . The stormtroopers booted Binks back aboard the " Tantive V " , but Vader refrained from issuing the order to eliminate the Gungans , considering them too worthless on which to waste blasterfire . The " Devastator " released the " Tantive V " back into space and continued pursuit of Organa . Despite the " Tantive V " efforts , the " Devastator " caught up with and captured the " Tantive IV " an hour later over the planet Tatooine . However , Vader failed to recover the Death Star plans , eventually leading to the battlestation ' s destruction at the Battle of Yavin . Commanders and crew . During the mission to delay Darth Vader ' s pursuit of Princess Leia Organa aboard the " Tantive IV " , the " Tantive V " was manned by a crew of unarmed Gungans , including Abso Bar Binks , the Rebel son of Jar Jar Binks . Binks and his fellow Gungans fooled the " Devastator " crew into believing that the " Tantive V " carried the princess and the stolen Death Star plans . Behind the scenes . The " Tantive V " appeared in the illustrated story " Tantive IV " , created by the artist known as Formalin and published in Tokyopop ' s October 2006 " " trade paperback comic book . All stories from " Star Wars Manga : Black " were considered non - canon within the " Star Wars " Legends continuity .