Imperator-class Star Destroyer

The Imperator-class Star Destroyer was a class of Star Destroyer that was manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards in 19 BBY and pressed into service late into the Clone Wars with the Galactic Republic. Appearing in small numbers, it witnessed limited service before the end of the war. After the war, Kuat Drive Yards reworked the design of the Imperator-class into the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, which became the centerpiece of the Imperial Navy. The historian Beaumont Kin wrote about the Imperator-class in his book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire.
==Characteristics==
The Imperator-class Star Destroyer was manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards to serve as a massive, powerful, and multi-functional warship. It was one of the largest warships in the Republic Navy. It was larger and more heavily armed than the Venator-class Star Destroyer.
==History==
In 19 BBY, KDY built upon the design of the Venator-class Star Destroyer to create the Imperator-class, which was additionally designed by the Galactic Republic. With the design completed in the same year, the Imperator-class Star Destroyer was introduced near the end of the Clone Wars, appearing in small numbers and witnessing limited service before the end of the conflict. Following the Battle of Coruscant, and the transformation of the Republic into the Galactic Empire, KDY was contracted as the exclusive Imperial supplier of Star Destroyers for the Imperial Navy.
Later in 19 BBY, KDY reworked the Imperator-class and re-christened it into the Imperial-class, and production of the refined Star Destroyer was increased under the Galactic Empire. The Imperial-class became a mainstay of the Imperial Navy, and it went on to have a distinguished career. As it was capable of laying waste to entire planets, the Imperial-class became the prime enforcer of the Empire and rendered its predecessor, the Imperator-class, obsolete.
In 35 ABY, the historian and Resistance paramilitary member Beaumont Kin mentioned the Imperator-class Star Destroyer in several instances in hisStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary book The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire. Surviving records from KDY were secretive of when they were informed of the forthcoming change of Imperator to Imperial, to which Kin questioned if KDY was already aware of what was soon to transpire on the galactic geopolitical level. Kin later cited a redacted file on titled "Renaming Protocol" in the Imperator-class Star Destroyer section of the Kuat Archives.
==Behind the scenes==
The Imperator-class Star Destroyer was first mentioned in the current Star Wars canon in the twentieth issue of De Agostini's Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon magazine, which was released around May 20, 2015. In the Star Wars Legends continuity, the Imperator-class Star Destroyer was the initial name of the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer, as established by the 2005 reference book Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections, which was authored by Curtis Saxton.Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections In Latin, the word "imperātor" means "commander," "general," or "emperor."
Although established to be a separate class of Star Destroyer, the seventy-fourth issue of the magazine states that the Imperial-class was originally known as the Imperator-class, as does "Starships of the Empire and the Rebellion." Since Star Wars: Timelines, released in 2023, reconfirms that the Imperator-class was a separate Star Destroyer, this article assumes Build the Millennium Falcon seventy-fourth issue and Star Wars Encyclopedia is incorrect.
==Sources==
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*Star Wars: Timelines
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*Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
==Notes and references==
Category:Kuat Drive Yards products
Category:Star Destroyer classes
Category:Starship classes of the Galactic Empire
Category:Starship classes of the Galactic Republic