Nebulon-B frigate
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| Star Wars craft | |
 Nebulon-B Frigate before entering into hyperspace |
|
| Nebulon-B Frigate | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Kuat Drive Yards |
| Specification | EE76 Escort Frigate |
| Type | Frigate |
| Length | 300 meters |
| Weapons | 12 turbolaser batteries (4D) and 12 laser cannons (2D), 72D per salvo |
| Shield | 2560 U |
| Hull | 1520 U |
| Crew | 920 optimal, 307 skeleton crew |
| Top Speed | 12,000G or 4 Space Units |
| Troop Capacity | 75 |
| Affiliation | Rebel Alliance,Galactic Empire |
| Cargo Capacity | 6,000 metric tons |
| Passengers | None |
The Nebulon-B Frigate is a starship from the fictional Star Wars universe, and it has also been known as the Escort Frigate or the Rebel Cruiser. Built before and during the Galactic Civil War, this ship was used by both sides of the battle as a support ship for the large capital ships, such as Imperial Star Destroyers and Rebel Mon Calamari Cruisers. It was often used by the Rebellion during the war, with the most famous instance of this ship being the Medical Frigate seen in the movies The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
It was and is built by a subsidiary of the massive galactic Kuat Drive Yards corporation, and the ship mounts twelve turbolaser batteries and twelve laser cannons. It can outgun an Imperial Carrack-class light cruiser.
It had a sublight velocity of 4 Space Units or 12,000G, and had a Class 2 hyperdrive.
The Nebulon-B was successful in its design role as convoy escort for Imperial convoys and an anti-starfighter warship. The job was contracted to KDY after a string of embarrassingly successful and frequent Rebel strikes.
It also filled a crucial gap between costly Imperial-class Star Destroyers and weak Corellian Corvettes. Its moderate firepower and twelve laser cannons made very effective for deterring Rebel starfighter raids from hyperspace. Enemy forces soon found countermeasures and a number of those frigates defected to the Rebel Alliance. For a time the Rebel Alliance used them as command ships for raids into the Empire but they were replaced by the far more capable Mon Calamari cruisers and modified for other uses or became dedicated fleet escorts.
However, it was a relatively cheap escort and was found in great numbers across the galaxy despite its slow speed and vulnerability at the rear end. As demonstrable in most Star Wars-themed space combat video games, only a few turrets are mounted near the engines. Once these are taken out, the frigate cannot target enemy fighters attacking from behind due to its cylindrical design.
[edit] Medical Frigate
Some Nebulon-B frigates were converted into Medical Frigates in the Rebellion. Some examples were the RAS Medical Frigate, Salvation, Mercy, and Redemption, and the NRS Warden. It had a crew of 901, but also had 30 medical personnel and 30 medical droids.
It had a sublight velocity of 4 Space Units as the unmodified Nebulon B, but had a slower Class 3 hyperdrive.
The cargo capacity was cut to a sixth: only a 1000 metric tons. The weaponry was also reduced to six turbolaser batteries and eight laser cannons. The starfighter hangar was also removed. However, the medical frigate sports 745 beds and 15 bacta tanks, and patients have a 98% survival rate. The shields were also enhanced.
[edit] Nebulon-B2 Modified Frigate
Some time before the destruction of the second Death Star, an improved version called the Corona was created specifically for the Galactic Empire. The Corona looked similar to two of the original type fixed together at a 90 degree angle (to each other, ±45 degree angle to the vertical axis), so that the bottom-facing "wings" made an upside-down "V" shape, increasing the ship's surface area while enabling the mounting of more weapons. It has sometimes been called the Nebulon-B2. The Nebulon-B2's first appearance was likely in the PC flight simulator Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994), where it was also known as a Modified Frigate.
The B2 was fifty meters shorted than the original Nebulon-B, and sported a warhead launcher backed by light turbolasers. The trooper capacity was doubled as well.
| Vehicles of the Rebel Alliance / New Republic | |
|---|---|
| Ground vehicles and repulsor craft | |
| Snowspeeder | |
| Starfighters | |
| X-wing | Y-wing | A-wing | B-wing | |
| Expanded Universe | |
| K-wing | E-wing | |
| Capital ships | |
| Mon Calamari Cruiser | Corellian Corvette | Nebulon-B Frigate | |
| Other | |
| GR-75 Medium Transport | Millennium Falcon | |
| See also | |
| Star Wars air vehicles | Star Wars aquatic vehicles | Star Wars ground vehicles | Star Wars starfighters | Star Wars support craft |
| Vehicles of the Galactic Empire | |
|---|---|
| Entries in italics denote vehicles from the Expanded Universe | |
| Ground vehicles | |
| AT-ST | AT-AT | AT-TE | 74-Z Speeder Bike | Juggernaut | AT-PT | TIE crawler | |
| Starfighters | |
| TIE Fighter | TIE Interceptor | TIE Bomber | TIE Advanced x1 | TIE Avenger | TIE Defender | TIE/D fighter
TIE Hunter | TIE Phantom | Assault Gunboat | Missile Boat | Skipray Blastboat | A-9 Vigilance |
|
| Capital ships | |
| Star Destroyer | Super Star Destroyer | Executor | Nebulon-B Frigate | Corellian Corvette
Lancer-Class Frigate | Interdictor Cruiser | Carrack-Class Light Cruiser |
|
| Other | |
| Lambda-class shuttle | Death Star | Walker Dropship | World Devastator | Sun Crusher | |
| See also | |
| Star Wars air vehicles | Star Wars aquatic vehicles | Star Wars ground vehicles | Star Wars starfighters | Star Wars support craft |
|
