The Praetorian-class frigate was a 180-meter long capital ship, durable and powerful for its size. Its weapons were geared toward defensive fire, leading to heavy use of the class in an escort role. It carried 12 starfighters and had a standard class two hyperdrive.
Three Praetorian-class frigates monitor the flight of a Quartermaster-class supply carrier.
The Praetorian-class was first used during the Great Sith War and served at the Battle of Koros Major. During the galactic reconstruction efforts after the war, the Republic Senate authorized the sale of the ships to private organizations and planetary governments. Thereafter, they served primarily in an escort role, defending convoys and relief missions against pirate attacks.
The Praetorian-class was the predecessor of the larger Hammerhead-class cruiser. Eventually, Rendili Hyperworks sold the design to the Corellian Engineering Corporation, which retooled the hull into the Class VI bulk freighter, which continued to serve as late as the Galactic Civil War. A similar design, the Thranta-class corvette, saw service in the Republic Navy during the Great Galactic War.
The visual design of the Class VI freighter originated in the French magazine Casus Belli 89 illustrated by Fred Blanchard who later illustrated the Heir to the Empire comic adaptation and inserted a ship of the same visual profile into a scene. That illustration later provided the basis for capital ships at the Battle of Koros Major illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards. This created a disparity in the known roles of the design.
This was resolved in the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, which explained that the warship was the Praetorian-class frigate and was developed into the later Class VI freighter.
A visually similar vessel later made a cameo in the Star Wars: Rebellion comics, though it is now unclear whether it was the warship or the freighter.
- The New Essential Chronology
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
- The Essential Guide to Warfare