One of the most notable incongruities in the Star Wars universe (at least in the opinion of this contributor) is the definition of Star Destroyer. When Star Wars first came out, there wasn’t a huge need for hyper-accuracy in how things were named. As a space opera, the story was more important than the minutiae. Now, with hundreds of books, comics and other media each often adding in their own characters, ships and weapons, the details become more important. This is especially so when dealing with role-playing games.
Saga Edition does a pretty good job of explaining of why Star Destroyers are called as such and not star dreadnoughts:
“Though the term “Star Destroyer” is typically used only to describe the dagger-shaped capital ships used by the Empire, the designation is general enough that it can be applied to many other heavily armed capital ships. However, during the time of the Empire, the term “Star Destroyer” comes to be colloquially associated with the Imperial-class Star Destroyer. As such, most references to a Star Destroyer are actually to the Imperial I- and Imperial II-class ships. Some larger ships, such as the Executor-class star dreadnought and the Eclipse, are often referred to as Star Destroyers, though this is not an official designation and more of a generic descriptor.” —Starships of the Galaxy, page 175
The Star Destroyer and Super Star Destroyer designations are further explained (oddly enough, earlier than the previous quote):
“Some confusion exists about the official name of the Super Star Destroyer classes, much of it rooted in the idea that nothing 19 kilometers long qualifies as a mere “destroyer,” super or not. This misunderstanding is based in the fact that the term Star Destroyer does not indicate a Destroyer-class[1] vessel that happens to be a starship (unlike the terms star cruiser and star dreadnought). A Star Destroyer is named after the idea of a ship that has the power needed to destroy entire star systems, an ominous naming convention tat goes back to the days of the Old Republic. Any ship that follows the design basics of those early ships (including a combination of massive firepower and a dagger shape to focus that firepower forward) can be a class of Star Destroyer. For this reason, the term Star Destroyer is always capitalized, unlike star frigate or star cruiser. A typical Star Destroyer qualifies as a star cruiser, and a Super Star Destroyer qualifies as a star dreadnought.” —Starships of the Galaxy, page 136
To summarize…
- The term Star Destroyer indicates that a star cruiser has enough firepower, ordinance and military resources to effectively destroy all life in a star system.
- The term Super Star Destroyer is applied to any Star Destroyer that is large enough to be considered a space station.
On a slightly-related-but-not-really-germane-to-the-conversation note, the size of the Executor may not be what you think it should be. See Star Wars Mysteries: Exacting Executor Measurements for more details.
Footnotes and References
Please see the following pages or sites for further information:
- ↑ This is technically incorrect. It should actually read “destroyer type”. See Wikipedia: Ship Class for clarification.