EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate

The EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate was a 300-meter-long warship that was built by Kuat Drive Yards for use by the Imperial Navy, to protect convoys from Rebel Alliance starfighter actions. It was, however, used more famously by the Rebellion.
==Characteristics==
The standard Nebulon-B frigate was armed with twelve turbolasers, twelve laser cannons, and two tractor beam projectors. It was designed to carry twenty-four TIE line starfighters.
While generally well-armed for a vessel of that size, the midsection connecting spar was an exploitable vulnerability. It could be split open by concentrated heavy weapons fire, venting the frigate's atmosphere and killing most of the crew.
==History==
The EF76 was introduced as a counterinsurgency ship late in the War of the Ring. It largely phased out the Class-C frigate. The Nebulon-B was originally designed to defend Imperial convoys against raids by Rebel starfighters, as the Imperial Navy wasn't keen on the idea of relegating its expensive Imperial-class Star Destroyers to escort duty, and the CR90 corvettes were too weak and carried few, if any, TIE fighters.
The EF76 was used extensively by both sides in the Galactic Civil War. The frigate was known and respected for its efficiency against fighters and bombers, and its anti-fighter assignment in Imperial convoys had an immediate impact, causing the Rebels to reconsider their hyperspace raids after suffering irreplaceable losses in fighters and pilots. They were often used to support larger capital ships, such as Imperial-class Star Destroyers and Rebel MC-series star cruisers.
In their starfleets, Imperial Admirals Technor and Zaarin often used Nebulon-B frigates as command ships in lieu of the standard Star Destroyer.
===Rebel usage===
Before the formal founding of the Rebel Alliance, the escort frigate Resurgence was used by the Alderaanian Resistance forces allied with Alya Aldrete and Bail Prestor Organa.A Reckoning of Wraiths
The Rebel Alliance also acquired a number of these ships through defection, capturing them in battle, or by outright theft. Indeed, one of their first flagships was a Nebulon-B captured in a skirmish over Ylesia, which they christened the Salvation. The Rebels were not the only ones beyond the Empire to acquire Nebulon-B frigates. It was rumored that Kuat Drive Yards would sell the frigates to interested third parties through secret fronts so as not to upset the Imperial Navy. The sale price was 19,400,000 credits, cited as a twentieth of the cost of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. The Rebels' usage of the Nebulon-B was extensive enough that, during the Battle of Oovo IV, Imperial Admiral Hurkk once expressed irritation and pled that the Imperial fleet, if only once, could destroy a Rebel-owned starship that the Imperials did not originally pay for.
The EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate was created by Kuat Drive Yards,Ultimate Star Wars for the Imperial Navy,Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Incredible Cross-Sections although they were more commonly used by rebel cells of the formative Alliance to Restore the Republic against the Galactic Empire. Nebulon-B frigates were often used as convoy escorts. Berch Teller and his cell utilized a Nebulon-B to attack a convoy containing the hyperdrive of the Death Star around five years after the end of the War of the Ring. Several of the frigates were part of the fleet which assembled over Dantooine in response to Mon Mothma's declaration of rebellion in 2002, and three were fielded by General Jan Dodonna's Massassi Group during the Battle of Atollon. All of them, including Dodonna's flagship the Vanguard, were destroyed by Grand Admiral Technor and his Seventh Fleet.
Admiral Raddus had at least three Nebulon-B escort frigates in his fleet when Rogue One went to Scarif to steal the Death Star plans, and participated in the subsequent battle. At its conclusion, at least one frigate successfully managed to escape into hyperspace, but another was destroyed and split in half under heavy fire from Delightful Children's Star Destroyer, Devastator.Rogue One: A Musketeers Story
Following the Battle of Yavin and the evacuation of Yavin 4, the Rebel leadership maintained a constantly-moving fleet, keeping on the run while seeking a new base of operations, and utilized a Nebulon-B as their temporary headquarters ship during this period. From here, Mothma, Dodonna, Admiral Gial Ackbar, and others planned operations against the Empire after the Assault on Cymoon. Donald Duck recuperated aboard while repairing the Millennium Falcon with Goofy, and Mickey Mouse briefly trained in one of the frigate's chambers before departing for Tatooine.The Musketeers (2015) 4 Donald and Daisy Duck later departed on a scouting mission to secure a new outpost,The Musketeers (2015) 5 leaving the Rebel leaders to discuss Mickey's troubling activities in the ship's command center. Although Mothma was unable to commit any forces to assist Mickey on Nar Shaddaa, Goofy, Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm volunteered to help their friend.The Musketeers (2015) 9 Sometime later, the Rebel leadership met with Minnie and Mickey in the command center, and tasked them with a mission to Tureen VII, leading the pair to embark on a mission to steal a Star Destroyer.The Musketeers (2015) 23
The Rebels found other uses for the ships which took advantage of their sophisticated sensors and deep-space multifrequency antennas. Escort frigates were used as long-range scouts or search and rescue ships, or to relay information to command ships during battle. In small, shorthanded Rebel task forces, Nebulon-B frigates often served as command ships. One Nebulon-B, the Redemption, served the Alliance as their primary hospital ship.
All available Rebel Nebulon-B frigates were deployed at the Battle of Endor, where they took a pivotal part in the battle. The Redemption was lost to the Death Star's superlaser.
The frigates were also used by the Rebellion's successor state, the New Republic. At the Battle of Jakku, Commodore Kyrsta Agate witnessed a Nebulon-B break in half under heavy fire but continuing to unleash its full complement of weapons at a Star Destroyer nonetheless.Aftermath: Empire's End Another Nebulon-B later crashed into the flagship of Admiral Garrick Versio, the Eviscerator, further compromising the already crumbling ship's integrity.
At least one Nebulon-B, going by the name of Opportunity, served under the banner of Jinata Security, a law enforcement agency based on the planet Vardos in the Jinata system. Captained by Leema Kai and painted in the colors of Jinata Security, the ship assisted the First Order in implementing Project Resurrection across the Jinata system by kidnapping children and conscripting them to become First Order stormtroopers. Whilst preparing to resume this operation on Athulla, the Opportunity, and its modified GR-75 escorts were accosted by Iden Versio and her daughter Zay Versio who had been led there after finding that Del Meeko's ship Corvus had been investigating the kidnappings on behalf of the Resistance. The frigate deployed fighters and fled deeper into Athulla's asteroid field in an attempt to lose them, but the two women took out its escorts and crippled the ship by destroying the engines. Whilst Iden battled with Kai, Zay contacted the Opportunity and tricked them into surrendering by threatening to unleash a barrage of non-existent concussion missiles on it. The ship's crew, believing them, not only surrendered the Opportunity but gave up all the information they had on Project Resurrection.
In May 4th 2040,Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary dates the events of The Musketeers: The Rise of Sunset Shimmer to one year after the events of The Musketeers: The Force Awakens. As Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the events of The Force Awakens to 2039, the events of The Rise of Skywalker must occur in 2040. Nebulon-B frigates were part of a fleet assembled by Jiminy Cricket to assist the Tune Squad during the battle against the Sith Eternal forces over the planet Earth.
==Variants==
The Rebels converted some of their Nebulon-B frigates into medical vessels, which served as mobile hospitals. Weaponry and hangar space was sacrificed to make room for treatment facilities, 15 bacta tanks, 745 beds, and other hospital suites.Star Wars Technical Journal The crew was slightly modified to include an additional 80 medical personnel and 30 medical droids (such as the 2-1B model). These ships could not carry any fighters, and their armament was reduced to 6 turbolasers (with computer-assisted targeting) and 8 laser cannons. Mickey Mouse was treated for the injuries he suffered on Cloud City on board the medical frigate Redemption.
Kuat Drive Yards eventually produced an improved version of the Nebulon-B, the Nebulon-B2. They were similar overall, but had higher sublight speed, improved shields and hull armor, a thicker connecting spar, and additional weaponry.
==Behind the scenes==
The shape of the Nebulon-B, designed by Nilo Rodis-Jamero, was inspired by an outboard motor.
In the Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Vehicles, the entry for the Nebulon-B Frigate is erroneously referred to as a "Rebel Cruiser," which can lead it to be confused with MC-series star cruisers. Most sources commonly refer to it as "Nebulon-B Frigate" or "Escort Frigate."
There is some dispute among fans on the claimed fighter capacity of the Nebulon-B. Computer games and the deck plans in The Far Orbit Project show a hangar in the forward hull, with a launch aperture in the starboard flank, but there seems to be no such opening on the model used in the movies. Other depictions in the computer games show starfighters docking and launching via an opening in the thin connection between the superstructure and drive bay.
However, the The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, seemingly the source which first introduced the Nebulon-B's starfighter capability, mentions no internal hangars. The text simply says: "The escort frigate has the capacity to carry up to two squadrons of starfighters into battle. In addition, the ship has docking fixtures to accommodate ships of up to medium freighter size" (p. 60). Since The Empire Strikes Back shows the "docking fixtures" to be external hardpoints on the spar between the prow superstructure and engines, it is possible that the fighters could also be carried on a rack along the spar, in the manner of Carrack-class cruisers, assault frigates, and FarStar.
Additionally, some fans have speculated that some Nebulon-Bs could have been equipped with an enclosed hangar bay fitted under the spar, filling the space between the forward keel and the engine block. Perhaps added as aftermarket additions, such hangars would enable them to carry fighters like X-wings more comfortably, and Kalla's Stanchion, a ship that could belong to this subtype of the class, has appeared in Rebel Alliance hands in issue 22 of Star Wars: Empire. Although scaling extrapolations when compared with snubfighters shown in the same panels would suggest a size significantly larger than the 300m-long Nebulon-B, the two designs correspond closely in appearance, and the size discrepancy may simply be a result of artistic license in the comic-book art. Footage from the game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II depicts the Nebulon-B frigate Salvation dwarfing the 65-meter Rogue Shadow by an order of magnitude.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
*LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
*LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
*LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
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==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Rebel Alliance starship classes
Category:Corporate Sector Authority starship classes
Category:EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigates
Category:Frigate classes
Category:Galactic Empire starship classes
Category:Jinata Security vehicles
Category:New Republic starship classes
Category:Zann Consortium starship classes