Grand Admiral Thrawn after meeting with
Emperor Palpatine on Coruscant...
(photo: TREYNARD, 1/95)
Grand Admiral Thrawn after meeting with
Emperor Palpatine on Coruscant...
(photo: TREYNARD, 1/95)
Grand Admiral Thrawn has reportedly approved the recent command appointments in Delta and Epsilon Squadrons in the Emperor's Hammer Strike Wing. General Adams (TACT/Adams/Delta-1/T-D) has been confirmed as the new Tactical Officer and Delta Squadron Commander. General Adams replaces the recently deceased Gerneral Cli4ord. In addition, General Andrew (CMDR/Andrew/Epsilon-1/T-D) has been confirmed as the new Epsilon Squadron Commander, replacing the recently transferred General Assassin.
A Territorial Fleet (24 ISDs!) being assembled in the
Outer Rim Territories to hunt down the remnants of
the Rebel Alliance forces. It is rumored that General
Ronin may be placed in command of an ISD Strike Fleet
with the ISD Avenger as the flagship...
(photo: TREYNARD, 11/95)
Due to the recent resurgence of the Rebel Alliance, Emperor Palpatine has ordered the formation of a Territorial Fleet to be comprised of 24 Imperial Star Destroyer Fleets (4 Sector Squadrons!) including their escort craft! A Fleet of this magnitude has not been assembled since the days of the Clone Wars. It is rumored that Kuat Drive Yards and Sienar Systems have been granted unlimited budget resources with the provision that they boost capital ship profuction by 200% in the next six months. The mission of this Territorial Fleet will be to patrol the Empire with the purpose of hunting down and destroying the remnants of the Rebel forces. It is rumored that Lord Vader's Squadron consisting of the SSD Executor, ISD Avenger and ISD Devastator will be the lead Task Force (3 Star Destroyers) for the Territorial Fleet.
In a related matter, another series of high level meetings were held between Grand Admiral Thrawn and Emperor Palpatine regarding the expansion of the Elite Strike Wing Emperor’s Hammer stationed on board the ISD Avenger. Although no final decisions have been reached, the Emperor is said to be now favoring creation of an Imperial Star Destroyer (ISD) Fleet with the ISD Avenger as flagship. It is anticipated that the Fleet will be composed of the following capital ships, in addition to the standard Fleet escort craft:
Imperial Star Destroyer (ISD) Avenger (6 squadrons)
Interceptor Cruiser (INT) Harpax II (1 squadron)
Nebulon-B Frigate (FRG) Imperator (2 squadrons)
Nebulon-B Frigate (FRG) Ardent (2 squadrons)
It should be noted that the Emperor's Hammer Strike Wing will still have the original ISD Avenger Wing (72 TIEs) as its core Wing. However, the additional TIE Squadrons will provide much needed flexibility against the Rebel threat. Pilots placed in the new capital ships will have the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as pilots on the ISD Avenger. However, the Command Officers (Wing Commander, Executive Officer, Tactical Officer and Flight Officer) remain the highest ranking Officers in the Wing. The Wing Commander has proposed the following preliminary unit designations/functions for the new escort capital ships to be assigned to the Emperor's Hammer Strike Wing:
FRG Imperator
MU Squadron (Strike) - 1 TIE, 1 TIE Interceptor, 1 TIE Advanced (12 TIEs)
NU Squadron (Support) - 1 TIE Bomber, 1 TIE Advanced (12 TIEs)FRG Ardent
PI Squadron (Assault) - 2 TIE Bomber, 1 Missile Boat (12 TIEs)
PHI Squadron (Strike) - 1 TIE, 1 TIE Advanced, 1 TIE Defender (12 TIEs)INT Harpax II
IOTA Squadron (Escort) - 1 TIE Advanced, 1 TIE Defender, 1 Missile Boat (12 TIEs)
It should be noted that some of the squadrons listed above have not received their full complement of upgraded replacement fighters.
The proposed expansion will necessarily entail the promotion of General Ronin to Admiral. In addition, the other Command Officers of the Emperor's Hammer (Executive, Tactical and Flight Officers) would be promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral. Pilots/Applicants interested in leading squadrons on the new capital ships will be notified of application procedures in Newsletter No. 10 (due out on 2/23/95).
It is said that Palpatine and Thrawn are waiting on submission of the latest construction schedules from Kuat Drive Yards (KDY) prior to implementing the proposed expansion plan. In addition, Grand Admiral Thrawn would also like to wait until the Hammer has acheived approximately 90% recruitment in its Pilot Roster prior to expansion. More details to follow in subsequent Newsletters...
The following description of the ISD Avenger was presented in Newsletter No. 1.
IMPERIAL STAR DESTROYER (ISD) AVENGER
The ISD Avenger following recent refit at Platform D-34...
She is ready for duty...
(photo: TREYNARD, 1/95)
The Avenger is a member of the Imperial Class Star Destroyers. The Imperial Class has been developed as a replacement for the obsolete Victory Class which was produced during the Clone Wars. Unlike the Victory Class, which was designed for planetary defense, assault and ground troop support, the Imperial class is designed for primarily ship to ship combat. The Imperial Class Star Destroyer possesses enough firepower to reduce entire fleets and planets to their knees. Although the Empire wields a great weapon with the Imperials, their presence alone is generally sufficient to accomplish the assigned task. The costs to build and maintain these behemoths rival the GNP of most star systems.
The Avenger has had a long and valorous history. It has been involved in more than 450 missions since its commissioning. The Avenger is currently assigned to Lord Vader's personal Task Force consisting of the SSD Executor, ISD Avenger and the ISD Devastator.
The following presents the statistics for the Avenger, as published in the Stele Chronicles released with TIE Fighter (1994):
Name/Model #: Imperial-1 Class
Designer/Manufacturer: KDY
Combat Designation: Capital Starship
Length: 1,600 meters
Crew: 37,085 (4,520 officers and 32,565 enlisted)
Power System: SFS I-a2b solar ionization reactor
Weapons:
60 Taim & Bak XX-9 heavy turbolasers
60 Borstel NK-7 Ion Cannons
10 Phylon Q7 tractor beam projectors
Starfighter Squadrons: Emperor's Hammer (One Wing of 6 Squadrons - 72 TIEs)
Planetary Assault Troops:
Full standard stormtrooper division
12 landing barges
20 AT-AT walkers
30 AT-ST walkers
Other Craft:
8 Lambda Class Imperial Shuttles
15 Stormtrooper Transports
5 Assault Gunboats
The following description of the Nebulon-B Frigate was taken from The Star Wars Sourcebook (Bill Slavicsek & Curtis Smith, West End Games, 1987).
Nebulon-B Frigate (FRG)
Nebulon-B Frigate Imperator, which may be
re-assigned to the proposed ISD Avenger Fleet...
(photo: TREYNARD, 1/95)
During the early days of the Rebellion, the Alliance had significant success attacking Imperial supply convoys. The Imperial Navy was loath to relegate its expensive Star Destroyers to escort duty, and TIE fighters were unable to jump through hyperspace with the convoys, leaving them vulnerable to attack at their destination until joined by new escort TIEs. For a while the Empire employed Corvettes as escorts, but they were easily outmatched by the more maneuverable X-Wings. What was needed was a vehicle cheaper than a Star Destroyer, but similarly equipped with heavy firepower to deal with large attackers and capable of carrying TIE fighters to defeat smaller, faster enemies.
The Empire found the perfect solution in the Kuat Drive Yards Nebulon-B Frigate. The Nebulon-B Frigate is well armed with turbolasers and laser batteries, has good shields and tractor generators, has very good long-range sensors, and can carry two TIE fighter squadrons (24 starfighters). The Frigate is slow and unwieldy - as are most vessels of this size - but its TIEs can handle anything too quick (or small) for the Frigate.
Since the Imperial Navy has begun regularly assigning Nebulon-B Frigates to escort duty, the Rebel X-Wing pilots have found that attacking Imperial convoys is no longer the joy ride it once was. Unable to stand up to prolonged dogfights with TIEs supported by a Frigate's heavy guns, the Rebels have had to resort to lightning-fast hit-and-run raids against enemy transports - and even then, the Rebellion is losing more pilots and ships than it can afford.
Craft: Kuat Drive Yard (KDY) Nebulon-B Frigate
Type: Escort Frigate
Length: 300 meters
Crew: 920 (78 officers, 842 enlisted)
Troops: 75
Cargo Capacity: 6,000 metric tons
Weapons: 12 Turbo Laser Batteries
12 Laser Cannons
2 Tractor Beam Projectors
Starfighter Squadrons: 2 TIE Squadrons (24 TIEs)
The following was taken from the Imperial Capital Ship Manual, authored by
TACT/Adams/Delta-1/T-D (Ja24), as presented in Newsletter No. 7.
Interdictor Cruiser (INT)
Three recently constructed Interdictor Cruisers leaving
space dock on Coruscant to join the new Territorial Fleet.
(photo: Zach Slaton, 1/95)
When the Empire developed a working gravity well projector, it was determined that a special vessel would need to be constructed to provide the necessary power output the device required. So the Interdictor-class Heavy Cruiser was designed by Sienar Fleet Systems. The gravity well generator works on a simple principle. When focused, it sends out waves of energy that disrupt mass lines in space, thereby simulating the presence of a large stellar body such as an asteroid or planetoid. The presence of so much mass prevents ships in the area from engaging their hyperdrives, and it also drops ships already in hyperspace back into realspace. The Interdictor Cruiser serves as an escape cut-off, strategically stationed out of direct combat but in a postion that provides maximum fire arc. It projects fields of gravity throughout a battle zone, rendering all hyperdrives inoperable. This greatly reduces the chance of Rebel ships, which normally survive by using quick hit and run tactics and then escape into lightspeed. These Heavy Cruisers also perform as ambush vessels, hiding along a known hyperspace lane and projecting gravity fields that produce mass shadows. Any ships travelling along the hyper route must slip back into realspace when confronted with gravity projections. Once in realspace, other Imperial vessels can engage them in direct combat or board them for customs inspection.
Craft: Sienar Fleet Systems' Immobilizer 418
Type: Interdictor-class Heavy Cruiser
Length: 600 meters
Crew: 2,807
Troops: 80
Weapons: 20 Quad Laser Cannons, 4 Gravity Well Projectors
Starfighters: 1 TIE Squadron (12 TIEs)
Other Craft: 1 Lambda-class Shuttle, 3 Stormtrooper Transports
EMPEROR’S HAMMER RECEIVES REPLACEMENT FIGHTERS
Sienar Fleet Sytems Cargo Carriers deliver
replacement TIE Defenders to the ISD Avenger
(photo: TREYNARD, 1/95)
The ISD Avenger received its final shipment of TIE Defender fighters this morning at 03:30 which completes the TIE Defender complement for the Emperor’s Hammer. This last direct shipment of fighters from Sienar Fleet Systems also included enough spare parts, fighters, equipment and ordinance to allow the Hammer to operate without additional support for extended durations in the Outer Rim Territories.