Over three decades old, the Victory Star Destroyer (VSD), has stood the test of time very well. The only ship that can really match it is the Imperial Star Destroyer. At its time, the VSD was the ultimate capital ship, and was the main component of the Navy just after its conception during the Clone Wars.
The Victory’s armament is much smaller compared to the ISD, but it is still strong enough to fend off many attackers. Ten quad turbolasers, forty double turbolasers, eighty concussion-missile launchers, and ten tractor-beam projectors make the VSD a worthy opponent. At nine hundred metres long, the wedge-shaped ships are a sight to behold, and are far more graceful than their size and shape make them out to be. Five thousand beings crew the ships, and two squadrons of TIE fighters are stationed aboard each VSD.
Victory’s were designed for three specific missions. The first was planetary defence, followed by planetary assault and ground-troop support, with the third being ship-to-ship combat. As a VSD can carry two thousand ground troops, with support vehicles consisting of AT-ATs, Ubrikkian HAVr A9 Floating Fortresses, juggernauts, troop transports, and planetary drop barges, the Destroyers were more than capable of fulfilling the first two missions. A Class One hyperdrive unit meant that the Victory could reach a battle or planet in half the time it took an Imperial Destroyer. In times of planetary assault, the Victory had one major advantage: it was able to operate effectively in atmosphere, and did not need to rely on orbital bombardment. Instead of having to attack a ship that was in space, the enemy found themselves staring at a Star Destroyer directly above their heads.
Ship-to-ship combat was another matter, however. Although the VSDs weapons were more than enough to overcome most cruisers, their LF9 ion engines were not very good. Not enough speed could be generated for deep-space actions, and VSD captains often looked on as their prey outran them. The Victory had to be placed in a good position from the start in order to overcome this weakness. If it was on its own, the Destroyer would often try to keep the enemy in a planet’s gravity well, thus not allowing the enemy to jump into hyperspace. When assigned an interdictor and a few other support ships, the VSD was in its element.
As the ISD started to come more and more into the limelight, the Victory saw itself being decommissioned and sometimes even sold off to planetary defence forces, such as the Corporate Sector Authority which bought two hundred and fifty of the ships. Those VSDs that were kept on were assigned to planetary defence, or to fleets deep in the Core. Those fleets were rarely used, and hardly ever heard from.
When Thrawn came to power and made his bid for conquest of the galaxy, he saw the usefulness of the VSD. The Imperial Star Destroyers were not in plentiful supply, especially after Endor. A lot of Victory Star Destroyers were refitted and saw action under Thrawn. When he was eventually killed, VSDs continued to be used, as they were greater in number than any other Imperial capital starship.