The Bothan-5 was a New Republic Correctional Transport that carried prisoners of the New Republic. The mercenary crew of Ranzar Malk were sent to rescue the prisoner Qin from the prison ship, utilizing the Razor Crest, the starship of the Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin. Against Djarin's wishes, the crew killed the sole living crewmember aboard, Lieutenant Lant Davan, who activated a distress signal before his death, leading New Republic forces to the prison ship's location. After rescuing Qin, the crew betrayed Djarin and left him trapped aboard the ship, but Djarin escaped and incapacitated the mercenaries, imprisoning them within a cell aboard the Bothan-5.
Eventually, the ship was found derelict near the Dilestri system, with security records showing that Djarin had risked his life to save that of Davan, and the bounty hunter left three wanted fugitives aboard, including Migs Mayfeld, who was apprehended for his part in the rescue. Those records, once accessed by a pair of X-wings on patrol, convinced the pilots not to arrest Djarin when they encountered him.
The ship first appeared in the sixth episode of Jon Favreau's 2019 television series The Mandalorian. Recognizing the Spaghetti Western film influence that pervades the series, concept supervisor Christian Alzmann sought to evoke the feeling of a stagecoach or steam train robbery in his design of the prison ship. Alzmann repeated boxy shapes, like a train, on the vessel's exterior, even mimicking a cow-catcher on its front. The round prison cell doors on the interior suggested an Old West bank vault door.
The ship first appeared in the sixth episode of Jon Favreau's 2019 television series The Mandalorian. Recognizing the Spaghetti Western film influence that pervades the series, concept supervisor Christian Alzmann sought to evoke the feeling of a stagecoach or steam train robbery in his design of the prison ship. Alzmann repeated boxy shapes, like a train, on the vessel's exterior, even mimicking a cow-catcher on its front. The round prison cell doors on the interior suggested an Old West bank vault door.