Casting its huge and menacing Dark shadow over its attendant Imperial-class Star Destroyers, Kuat Drive Yards' Super Star Destroyer Executor made an impressive entrance into the Star Wars universe in The Empire Strikes Back. Ever since that memorable introduction, it has been surrounded by a shroud of confusion and controversy.

To start, there is the very name of the class itself. Several sources have called it the Super class, while a smaller portion of Star Wars fandom refer to it as the Executor class. The former probably stems from the assumption that in calling it "Super Star Destroyer" in the movies, it is therefore Super-class, while the latter is likely based on the backstory of the Executor being the first of its class (usually, class names derive from the name of the class's first ship). Neither case is especially strong. Super is unlikely for two reasons: the phrase "Super Star Destroyer" may or may not indicate class name, and "Super" makes a horrendous name for any ship, especially one intended to strike fear into Rebel hearts. Executor is a much better choice, and it would probably be the only choice if not for two small details: it is not actually stated in the movies that it is called Executor and that it was the first of its class, and while the books do hold that to be true, some contradict themselves by continuing to refer to it as a Super-class Star Destroyer. In choosing which name I would use in referring to this class, I decided that the case for Executor was the stronger.

Then, there is the problem concerning the ship's length. The vast majority of Star Wars source material state that the Executor was 8000 meters in length, five times the length of the standard Star Destroyer. However, this figure seems to have been based on one promotional statement made early on, which said that the Executor was larger and more powerful than five Imperial-class Star Destroyers. The wording was such that it may have actually meant that the ship was larger and more powerful than the five Star Destroyers which were seen with it in one scene of The Empire Strikes Back, not that its power was only comparable to that of five ordinary Star Destroyers. This interpretation seems much more likely, since the movie makes it very clear that the Executor was far larger than five Imperial-class ships. In fact, according to calculations based on visual observation made by Curtis Saxton in his extensive Star Wars Technical Commentaries, the Executor was actually between eleven and twelve times the length of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. This would then place its length at between 17,600 and 19,200 meters and make it even longer than the later Eclipse- and Sovereign-class Super Star Destroyers. Additionally, this would make its two main docking bays far larger than those of the Eclipse and Sovereign; the main bay of the Eclipse could swallow a Victory, while the Executor could likely devour a handful of Imperials in its forward bay.

If we assume the 8000 meter figure to be true, however, we do get more information. Sources backing that number also tell us that the Executor class is crewed by 279,144 and 1590 gunners and is armed with 250 each of heavy turbolaser batteries, turbolaser batteries, ion cannons, and concussion missile launchers. Yes, one must admit, that is an awful lot of concussion missile tubes. The ship also carries forty tractor beam emitters and a vast number of fighter and ground assault craft. Of course, if the Executor had actually been longer than 8000 meters, then the above numbers would change for this giant wedge in space.

There were apparently around ten of these behemoths built, according to one source, though the Star Wars Technical Commentaries reports a count of (approximately) one dozen; they seem to have all been destroyed by the formation of the New Republic.

One final note: I recommend visiting the Star Wars Technical Commentaries; it makes for excellent reading, even if you should decide not to accept its reasoning.

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