Star Wars: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Star Destroyers
8. Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer Ships Were Stacked With Weapons
The Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer became a symbol of the Empire’s military might, and the flagship of their destructive fleet that terrorized the wide corners of the galaxy.
Bristling with ion cannons and turbolasers, the Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer was also equipped with eight giant turret gun stations. On top of this, a typical Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer would feature a full wing of 72 TIE ships, including TIE fighters, bomber ships and boarding craft. The ship would also be carrying a range of attack and landing craft such as AT-AT walkers for use by ground forces.
The heaviest weapons onboard were the six turbolaser turrets positioned within the two heavy ion cannon turrets. Located along the flanks of the upper deck structure, and with a diameter of 50 meters, each turbolaser was powerful enough to overload deflector shields and punch lethal holes in even the most heavily armoured enemy spacecraft. However, if you had a good enough pilot and a smaller, fast-moving ship capable of speedy manoeuvres, then you might have a chance to outrun the cannons due to lighter ships being harder to target with the heavy turret guns.