They were similar overall, but had higher sublight speed, improved shields and hull armor, a thicker connecting spar, and additional weaponry.įollowing the Battle of Endor, Kuat Drive Yards followed up on its successful Nebulon-B design with a new starship class, the 275 meter-long Corona-class frigate.
Kuat Drive Yards eventually produced an improved version of the Nebulon-B, the Nebulon-B2 frigate. The most famous medical frigate was the Redemption, where Luke Skywalker was treated for his injuries suffered on Cloud City. These ships could not carry any fighters, and their armament was reduced to 6 turbolasers (with computer-assisted targeting) and 8 laser cannons. The crew was slightly modified to included an additional 80 medical personnel and 30 medical droids (such as the 2-1B model). Weaponry and hangar space was sacrificed to make room for treatment facilities, 15 bacta tanks, 745 beds, and other hospital suites. The Rebels converted some of their Nebulon-B frigates into medical vessels, which served as mobile hospitals.
In small, shorthanded, Rebel task forces, Nebulon-B frigates often served as command ships.Īll available Rebel Nebulon-B frigates were deployed at the Battle of Endor, where they took a pivotal part in the battle. Escort frigates were used as long-range scouts, search and rescue ships, or to relay information to command ships during battle. The Rebels were able to find other uses for the ships which took advantage of their sophisticated sensors and deep-space multifrequency antennas. The sale price was 19,400,000 credits, cited as a twentieth of the cost of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. It was rumored that Kuat Drive Yards would sell the frigates to interested third parties through secret fronts so as not to upset the Imperial Navy. The Rebels were not the only ones beyond the Empire to acquire Nebulon-B frigates. The Rebel Alliance also acquired a number of these ships through defection, capturing them in battle, or by outright theft. In their starfleets, Imperial Admirals Thrawn and Demetrius Zaarin often used Nebulon-B frigates as command ships in lieu of the standard Star Destroyer.īefore the formal founding of the Rebel Alliance, the escort frigate Resurgence, was used by the Alderaanian Resistance forces allied with Alya Aldrete and Bail Organa.
They were also often used to support larger capital ships, such as Imperial-class Star Destroyers and Rebel Mon Calamari Star Cruisers. The frigate was known and respected for its efficiency against fighters and bombers, and its anti-fighter assignment in Imperial convoys had an immediate impact, causing the Rebels to reconsider their hyperspace raids after suffering irreplaceable losses in fighters and pilots. The EF76 was used extensively by both sides in the Galactic Civil War. The Nebulon-B was originally designed to defend Imperial convoys against raids by Rebel starfighters, as the Imperial Navy wasn't keen on the idea of relegating its expensive Imperial-class Star Destroyers to escort duty, and the CR90 corvettes were too weak and carried few, if any, TIE Fighters. It largely phased out the Class-C frigate. The EF76 was introduced as a counter-insurgency ship after the Clone Wars.
It could be split open by concentrated heavy weapons fire, venting the frigate's atmosphere and killing most of the crew. While generally well-armed for a vessel of that size, its midsection connecting spar was a vulnerability.
It was designed to carry twenty-four TIE series starfighters. The standard Nebulon-B frigate was armed with twelve turbolasers, twelve laser cannons, and two tractor beam projectors.