Star Wars: Oh Look, Another Ship JJ Abrams Copied When Making His Horrible Movies – The Eclipse-Class Super Star Destroyer Breakdown
JJ Abrams borrowed many ideas from the old Star Wars stories to make his lackluster movies – the eclipse-class super star destroyer was one.
In the time of the great culling, when thousands of stories cried out and were suddenly silenced, some legends managed to live on. And the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer, while it isn’t exactly “canon” managed to at the very least find a spiritual second life among the first order. But for now, let’s take a look at the Eclipse-class Dreadnought.
Eclipse-Class Super Star Destroyer Design
The Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer was once among the largest ships built by the Empire. Though Star Dreadnoughts like the Executor and the Vengeance managed to be longer, the Eclipse-class vessels exceeded even these behemoths in terms of overall volume and sheer mass.
A single Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer was so massive, they were technically categorized as a space station.
And at a length of 17,500 meters, with enough space to carry 708,470 crew, 150,000 troops, and 600,000 metric tons of cargo, an Eclipse-class Dreadnought could maintain a front on its own. Especially since these ships carried deadly firepower.
Eclipse-class super star destroyer
The Eclipse-Class: Overkill on the Guns
The Empire’s propensity for more and bigger and more guns is on display here. Kuat Drive Yards managed to cram 550 heavy laser cannons, 500 turbolasers, and an additional 75 ion cannons onto this frame. They also managed to find room for 100 tractor beam projectors, and a complement of 10 gravity well projectors.
No slouch in terms of firepower, the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer also carried a fleet all its own. 600 TIE Interceptors, 96 TIE/sa bombers, bolstered by 100 AT-ATs, and a full five garrison bases ready to go meant that an Eclipse-class vessel was an occupation force.
But all of this pales in comparison to its deadliest weapon, an axial superlaser. These superlasers were not as powerful as their Death Star mounted counterparts. But a single blast from an Eclipse-class Deadnought could easily carve through any other Super Star Destroyer. They could shear through planetary shields. Cut through capital ship hulls. Even vaporize cities with a single powerful blast.
Alternate History
What as such a ship used for? The Eclipse-class dreadnoughts were weapons of terror in the post-Yavin years. They flew under the radar of the fledgling New Republic. Eventually they were used, as most things were, in the plans of a reborn Emperor Palpatine. Even when the history of Star Wars isn’t canon any more, the Emperor still has his hands over everything.
One Eclipse, in particular, served as the home for the Emperor. At least for a time. In the orbit of the Pinnacle Moon in the Da Soocha system, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo confronted the Emperor. They disrupted a massive Force storm of dark side energy. The Emperor was hoping to use to wipe out the New Republic.
In the ensuing destruction, the first Eclipse-class vessel, the namesake flagship, was destroyed.
The Eclipse-Class Super Star Destroyer: First Order Inspirations
Though the Eclipse-class vessel technically never existed any more, its design echoses in the First Order.
The First Order is nothing if not a fan of the Emperor’s aesthetics. Even if they don’t understand the underlying principles, they appreciate the appearance. So even though this ship was never built, the ideas of its design inform the Xyston-class Star Destroyer.
They too carry axial superlasers, and are just absolutely massive compared to a regular Star Destroyer. A single Xyston-class Star Destroyer can vaporize a fleet, city, or a planet with one shot. And they were the heart of a reborn Emperor’s plans to destroy the New Republic once and for all. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
May the Force be with you
