How big was the fleet that took the 2nd Death Star Out?

[Guest Admiral_Antilles]

I was just thinking about this as i was watching ROTJ. It seemed quite large, but it should have been shouldn't it? If my memory serves me correctly it was every Rebel Ship in the Alliance. Correct Me If I'm wrong. Just thougt It was a good topic to discuss. I am very curious to see just how large the fleet was.....

 

 

 

Admiral Out!

[Trejiuvanat]

I cna imagine it being pretty large, since the goal was destroying the DS II and Palpy, they probably brought most their fleets.

WE saw plenty of Calamari Cruisers, Corvettes, and Neb Frigates. Since they weren't a match for the fifty (correct me if I'm wrong) ISDs. And the SSD.

Most likely about 100-150 ships would be my guess, more than enough against a disabled DS, but useless agaisnt 50 ISDs.

About 4000 TIEs vs. ~1000 Rebel Fighters.... and...AND the Millenium Falcon.

[Guest Admiral_Antilles]

Thanx for the reply Trejiuvanat,

 

That Millenium Falcon really does make a difference doesn't it. ^_^

Anybody else have an idea or response to this post?

[igorimp]

Nice question. Return of the Jedi doesn't mention any numbers.

 

I remember being able to count 24 ISDs and the Executor in the very begining of the battle. There is a scene where the Rebel fleet turns around and gives a brief shot of the entire imp fleet. Unfortunatly, the Imps are too far away to make a certain guess, but I wouldn't have putten the Empire's numbers at more then 30 ISDs. As for the Rebels, no more then 3 Calamari cruisers were seen at any time, but consider this:

 

DS2 could fire one destructive shot every hour. Imagining the Imperials had enough brains to take out the strongest ships first, they would have wacked about ~3 Mon Cals. Including the Home One and add a few more to be totally sure - I'd say no more then 6-8 Mon Cals. I know it's an educated guess, but that's my thought on the subject.

[Lord_La_forge]

We should check out the final XWA missions, that could be a clue too...

4000 ties is a bit too much against 6-8 Cals.

[Guest Admiral_Antilles]

We should check out the final XWA missions, that could be a clue too...

4000 ties is a bit too much against 6-8 Cals.

 

even if it was 6-8 cals there were plenty of other ships like, Nebula B Frigates, Corelian Corvettes and other various ships plus 1000 Fighters.

[Lord_La_forge]

Well, I don't know then. There film only shows a small fleet for the rebs. The imperial side is more uncertain...

[Trejiuvanat]

I don't think tht the XWA missions are o fuse here, there were backdrops to simulate more Impstars. Doesn't the official site say anything about it?

[TK421]

I'm wondering why the Empire didn't use Interdictor cruisers at the battle of Endor.

100/150 ships are far too much. The Alliance doesn't have that many combatships. Except for the Medium Transports they only sended battleships of course, why take all your cargo haulers and shuttles to a battle? To impress the babes?

24 SD's on Imperial side is reasonable. But only imagine the costs of maintaining such a fleet. Keep also in mind that the Empire used SD's as mobile command ships, and not for entering full combat.

[igorimp]

Personally, I think LucasFilms was very carless about Return of the Jedi. They didn't really think a lot about fleet sizes - mearly threw in a couple of models to make it seem like a fleet; and there you go. You do know there are rumors of a boot appearing in the Rebel fleet (never found it, through).

 

As for RotJ is concerned, the Imperial ranking blop proves everything (every Imp had the same rank in the movie - that of captain; which means a LOT of captains).

 

As for Interdictors, they were intoduced by Timothy Zahn (some 10 years after RotJ came out). However, Admiral Piett mentions "keeping them from escaping", so I presume the mere presance of the fleet was enough to block escape to hyperspace.

 

As for fleet size, it gives completly the wrong impression. The Empire has 25'000 ISDs. It is silly, at the least, to seem like the Emperor thought just 24 will be enough to squash the Rebellion. The size makes it seem like the Empire doesn't have that much of a fleet - and that's wrong.

 

As for the Rebellion's troop transports... well, we all know the Rebels don't have much of industrial capacity to have a big fleet... so they use what they have...