Fleet tenders were non-combatantcapital ships attached to fleet forces like theImperial Navy and theNew Republic Defense Force, designed to carry military cargoes along interstellar supply-lines to replenish front-line vessels.
Little is known of Imperial fleet tenders such as theMoff Weblin, but it is known that 300mStar Galleon cargo/escort frigates were used as support ships forStar Destroyers byGrand AdmiralThrawn, while the full variety of cargo vessels in an ImperialForce Support ranged fromcorvettes to massiveField Secured Container Vessels.
In the early years of theNew Republic, a shortage of suitable vessels meant that combat warships like theLarkhess were stripped of their crews and put to hauling cargo, but subsequently,Hajen-class tenders were built as a standard component of theNew Class Modernization Program were, using the same 375m hull as theSacheen-class light escorts, and shared the same fasthyperdrive.
Hajen-class ships were heavily automated, with a crew of just six, plus a sizable complement ofdroids; Imperial vessels likeMoff Weblin were probably significantly less automated than this: their crews included a captain, a chief engineer, and at least two duty watches.
In part, the increased prominence of Fleet tenders under the New Republic was due to a wider difference in capital ship design philosophy. The vessels used by the Imperial Navy were designed to be self-sufficient: Star Destroyers could go several years without resupply, and smaller cruisers could similarly operate unsupported for a year or more—up to two years in the case of aDreadnaught Cruiser or anescort frigate. In contrast, none of theNew Class designs were capable of more than a few months' operation before needing resupplied, and in practice, the New Republic's fleets were constantly being replenished with new supplies by a stream ofHajen-class ships traveling between their patrol areas and bases far to the rear.
This strategy, however, made New Republic military supply-lines vulnerable, and this may, in part, account for the reversion to older, more self-sufficient Imperial-stylecapital ship designs during and after theYuuzhan Vong invasion.
Appearances[]
- The Last Command(andunabridged audiobook)(First appearance, in book)
- The Last Command abridged audiobook
- Before the Storm
- Before the Storm abridged audiobook
- Shield of Lies
- Shield of Lies abridged audiobook
- Tyrant's Test
- Tyrant's Test abridged audiobook
Sources[]
- The Star Wars Sourcebook(as fleet resupplier)
- Imperial Sourcebook
- Cracken's Threat Dossier