Gourt Home::Gourt :: Carrack-class light cruiser
The Carrack-class Light Cruiser is a starship from the fictional Star Wars Expanded Universe. It is a carrack that has been a part of the Imperial Starfleet since the earliest days of Palpatine's New Order; indeed they appear to have entered service as early as the Clone Wars.
Specifications
The Carrack-class is 350 meters long and armed with 10 heavy turbolasers, 20 ion cannons and 5 tractor beam projectors, and has a crew of around 1000. Some variants are equipped with 20 quad laser cannons in place of the 20 ion cannons; a modification designed to further improve the class' already formidable anti-starfighter capabilities (but at the cost of effectiveness in capital ship engagements). The standard Carrack possesses no hangar bay, but can be fitted with an external rack capable of carrying 5 TIE fighters- typically they are so outfitted, and the TIE fighters were reconnaissance varieties.
In addition, the cruisers were one of the few Imperial starship designs possessing features designed to safeguard the lives of the ship's crew. A compartment system inside the hull provided extra protection against the dangers of hull breaches, and it was common to find survivors on board the wreckage of these vessels.
Use
Carrack-class light cruisers are still part of the present day Imperial Starfleet, which consists of just over 200 Star Destroyers and support ships. The Imperial 3rd fleet consists of 4 Imperial Star Destroyers and a flotilla of Carrack-class ships.
Carrack-class cruisers are not featured in any of the six Star Wars films, but the novelization for Revenge of the Sith states that these craft were in use during the Battle of Coruscant.
Carrack cruisers were some of the most versatile cruisers available, used in roles as varied as protecting Bakura from the Ssi-Ruuk incursion, to acting as personal transports for important personages like Imperial Moffs, to being outfitted with special cannons to destroy the interstellar plankton of the Oswaft of the interstellar ThonBoka nebula.
References
- the Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, 1st printing, 1996. Bill Smith, ISBN 0-590-02361-6
- Revenge of the Sith ( novelization), 1st printing 2005. Matthew Woodring Stover, ISBN 0-7126-8427-1
External link
"Carrack-class light cruiser"