The Eclipse-class dreadnought, also known as the Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer or Eclipse-class Star Destroyer, was a class of Imperial Super Star Destroyer manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards and mainly used around six years after the creation of the Axis during the First War. Like the Sovereign-class, they were regarded as a new generation of Super Star Destroyer.
Characteristics[]
Size[]
The Eclipse-class vessels were among the largest dreadnought-scale ships/Super Star Destroyers ever to be fielded within Galactic history. Although technically being dwarfed in length only by both the Executor-class Star Dreadnought and the Vengeance-class dreadnought by 1.5 kilometers, the Eclipse-class nonetheless outranked even the Executor-class in terms of overall mass and volume. Its size in addition was also large enough for it to also be classified as a space station.
Offensive and defensive systems[]
The most deadly weapon carried by Eclipse-class ships was an axial superlaser, similar to but significantly less powerful than one of the component beams used in the Death Star's superlaser.[5] This superlaser was the pinnacle of Imperial destruction in their fleets.
An Eclipse's superlaser easily had the power to destroy other Super Star Destroyers, as the Annihilator found out when Tyber Zann seized the Eclipse's incredible power above Kuat.[6]
Destroying other ships however, doesn't show the extent of the Eclipse's superlaser's power. These weapons were capable of slashing through any planetary shield to crack open a planet's crust and sear entire continental landmasses.[5][7] The massive superlaser was more widely used to destroy enemy capital ships and space stations during combat.[6]
The class benefited from the most significant weaponry-improvements of the last few decades. This included gravity well projectors and improved ion cannons. Additionally, these behemoths were armed with hundreds of heavy laser and turbolaser mountings.[5]
In addition to its firepower, the Eclipse-class's armor and shields were so powerful that it could ram enemy ships without any risk of taking damage, and without hesitance.[7][8]
Propulsion systems[]
The Eclipse-class was more mobile than the Death Star, being equipped with both an enhanced hyperdrive and fast sublight engines.[5]
Complement[]
An Eclipse-class vessel carried 600 starfighters and 96 Starbombers, divided into 58 squadrons; for ground assault, they carried 150,000 Axis soldiers, 100 Assault Vehicles, and five prefabricated bases.[5] The hangars were located at the sides of the vessel, with the fore and aft launch bays closely spaced underneath this area, towards the middle of the ship.[8]
Each ship of the class was crewed by over 700,000 personnel,[5] and Eclipse II also carried a complement of Shadow Droid starfighters.[9] Troop quarters were located on the lower frontal section of the vessel, in front of the hangar areas.[8]
Bridge tower[]
The bridge tower contained the main communications array and sensor array, located on the port side and starboard side, respectively. In addition to containing the main command station for the ship on the lower portion of the tower, it also housed the deflector shield command center, on the top area.[8]
Variances[]
There were several variances between the two known vessels of this class, the Eclipse I and the Eclipse II: The Eclipse I possessed six engines on the back, whereas the Eclipse II possessed eight. In addition, the Eclipse I had the engines being separate from each other and more to the sides, whereas the Eclipse II are grouped together in a manner similar to other Star Destroyers. Lastly, the Eclipse II has a command bridge tower directly over the superlaser weapon that the Eclipse I lacked.