Victory II-class Star Destroyer Course Notes {VSD}

The Clone Wars saw the development of many new technological advances during the last days of the Old Republic. By far the greatest achievement in the design and creation of starships was the Victory-class Star Destroyer. Developed towards the end of the Clone Wars by a Republic engineer named Walex Blissex, constructed by Rendili StarDrive, and created long before the introduction of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, it was heralded as the most advanced starship every conceived. At the time the Republic Dreadnaught had been considered the biggest and most formidable starship every constructed. However, the VSD dwarfed the DREAD by nearly 300 meters, and easily outgunned it. Yet, the VSD saw little action during its time of service in the Republic since the Clone Wars was nearing an end, and the waves of change were about to affect the galaxy. Before we go much further into the history of the VSD, lets cover a little bit on the abilities, and faults, of the VSD that have helped mark it's place in the annuals of starship history.

As we have already mentioned, the VSD program was the work of a Republic engineer named Walex Blissex, who was responsible for the design and development of the original VSD. He envisioned a powerful warship that would meet the demands of the Republic Navy, and would be capable of fulfilling three specific mission parameters. The first was planetary defense, the second being planetary assault and ground-troop support. The original VSD was quite adept at both of these mission requirements, including having the ability to enter a planets atmosphere to help support ground forces in a more direct method, rather than having to rely on orbital bombardments. With a Class One Hyperdrive, a VSD could reach a battle or planet in nearly half the time of most cruisers and space vessels. It's third mission however, ship-to-ship combat, was where its greatest weakness became evident. Although the VSD's weapons were more than powerful enough to overcome most cruisers and escort vessels of the time, it lacked the necessary sublight speed to chase down escaping craft. This one weakness, along with the eventual development of other newer and faster starships, brought about the need for a new version of the VSD, allowing for the design and birth of the VSD-II.

When Chancellor Palpatine declared himself Emperor and introduced the Imperial-class Star Destroyer, the VSD's found themselves delegated to patrolling and protecting unimportant star systems. Worse yet, a number of the original VSDs were decommissioned, or even sold off to planetary defense forces. But when the Rebellion was at its height, the VSD's become an integral part of most Imperial Navy Fleets. By the time Grand Admiral Thrawn assumed command of the Empire, the Victory-class Star Destroyers were being used as much as the Imperial-class Star Destroyers. Thrawn saw the necessity of the VSD within an Imperial Fleet, especially after Endor when ISD's were not in plentiful supply. Thrawn ordered the refitting of a lot of VSD's, and thanks to him the VSD continued to see action for a number of years. Five years later however, a warlord named High Admiral Teradoc created an entire fleet consisting of nothing but Victory Star Destroyers. His fleet proved to be just as powerful as his rival's fleet that consisted mainly of Imperial Star Destroyers. For over 30 years the Victory-class Star Destroyers have patrolled the galaxy, and even now remain a vital part of the Imperial Fleet.

Towards the end of the Clone Wars, the Republic decided that a modified version of the original VSD was needed to deal with ship-to-ship combat in a more effective way. It was the daughter of Walex Blissex, the original designer of the VSD, who came up with the solution. She took the original design and implemented changes that were both affordable, and would allow the ease of using an existing starship platform at the same. Sacrificing the repulsors and fins from the original Victory, she instead gave the Mk. II a newer profile, with an X wing formation, that provided more stability during maneuvers, yet took way the ability of the VSD to enter a planets atmosphere. In addition, the loss of the repulsors for planetary atmospheric travel also helped boost the sublight speed of the VSD-II, allowing it to more effectively give chase to other vessels attempting to flee from it. The VSD-II was also designed with even more powerful weapons, a stronger hull, and as a consequence, a larger crew. The VSD-II could still carry out planetary operations, but would do so from an orbital insertion, rather than a planetary insertion. The VSD-II proved to be the first starship fully capable of carrying out the original mission specifications of the original VSD. However, due to its timing, and the fact that the Clone Wars had come to an end, very few of the VSD-II's were produced by the Republic. It would only be under the Empire's rule of the galaxy that more VSD-II's would be built. Today the VSD-II is a major part of every System Defense Fleet in the Emperor's Hammer, and has seen its share of modifications from its original concept designs. Now the VSD-II boasts additional laser cannons, a pair of Concussion Missile Launchers, Ion Cannons, and Tractor Beam Projectors. The combination of these weapons have proven to be very efficient in disrupting the normal performance of an enemy ship, leaving it vulnerable to capture or destruction by the VSD-II. The VSD-II also boasts a large hangar bay capable of carrying two Squadrons of TIE Fighters, or other variations, as an effective fighter screen. All of these attributes have proven quite effective in allowing the VSD-II to achieve the ability to pacify any sector of enemy activity, especially when paired with another VSD-II, or with any other type of ships.

The VSD Mk. II has proven itself time and again in ship-to-ship combat, and most especially in planetary conquest and protection. A VSD-II is capable of carrying two thousand ground troops, support vehicles like the AT-AT, troop transports, and planetary drop ships and barges. With its heavy firepower it can effectively devastate a planet from orbit, allowing the added ability of quelling any planetary rebellions or uprisings. Within the Imperial Directorate Fleet the VSD-II has been assigned as escort vessels to the Imperial Star Destroyers. The Imperial Directorate has utilized the VSD-II as the primary starship of the Sector and System Defense Fleets, and is far more prevalent in our Fleet than the larger and more widely recognized Imperial Star Destroyer. It is even said that Imperial Naval Officers tend to prefer commanding a VSD-II to an ISD or ISD-II because of its capabilities.

Here are some basic specifications of the Victory II-class Star Destroyer, as it exists within the Directorate:

NAME/TYPE: Victory II-class Star Destroyer
MANUFACTURER: Rendili StarDrive
COMBAT DESIGNATION: Heavy Destroyer
LENGTH: 900 meters
CREW: 5,881 crew; 226 gunners
SPEED RATING: 16 MGLT
HYPERDRIVE: x1
HULL RATING: 1360 RU
SHIELD RATING: 2880 SBD
CONSUMABLES: 4 years
WEAPONS:
  20 Taim & Bak XX9 Heavy Turbolaser Batteries
  20 Taim & Bak H9 Turbolaser Cannons
  10 Borstel NK-7 Ion Cannon Batteries
  2 Krupx Concussion Missile Launchers
  10 Phylon Q7 Tractor Beam Projectors
STARFIGHTER SQUADRONS:
  (1) TIE Interceptor Squadron
  (1) TIE Bomber Squadron
PLANETARY ASSAULT TROOPS: 2,000
PLANETARY ASSAULT EQUIPMENT:
  10 AT-AT walkers
  15 AT-ST walkers
  10 Juggernauts
  5 Mobile Command Bases
ADDITIONAL ONBOARD CRAFT:
  5 Lambda-class Imperial Shuttles