Pelta-class frigate

The frigate model known as the Pelta-class was produced by Kuat Drive Yards, measuring 282 meters in length and requiring a crew of 900 individuals. It came equipped with a deflector shield generator as well as a Class 2 hyperdrive. During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire, the emerging Alliance to Restore the Republic enhanced Pelta-class frigates with turbolasers and point-defense laser cannons to enable them to fulfill additional roles. The Alliance also introduced modifications to create Pelta-class Assault Ships and Pelta-class Command Cruisers, which were specialized versions of the standard Pelta-class frigate. The Pelta-class Assault Ships were outfitted with weapons systems along their hull, granting them the capacity to engage enemy ships with broadside attacks. The Pelta-class frigate was designed to include sixteen escape pods. Some models of escape pods that the Pelta-class could be equipped with included Republic escape pods and RGC-6b escape pods. Pelta-class frigates had the ability to dock with Haven-class medical stations, both horizontally and vertically with respect to the docking ports.

Positioned on the aft section of the Pelta-class frigate, adjacent to its engine, were a pair of pivoting "wings" that could be deployed. The rebellion took advantage of this design by incorporating supplementary, albeit smaller, engine units onto the vessel's aft. Furthermore, the Pelta-class frigate featured a docking port on both the starboard and port sides, located near the mid-section of the ship, with later modifications altering the door and frame of the docking ports. Alliance modifications also replaced the ramp and cargo bay with a ventral hangar bay that was able to accommodate eight starfighters, including at least five RZ-1 A-wing interceptors. The hangar bay had walkways located above the starfighters to allow pilots to enter their respective starships.

Modified Pelta-class frigates were also equipped with deflector shield generators. On one occasion, a Pelta-class frigate was destroyed by a single TIE Advanced x1 starfighter after only several strafing runs, despite having a deflector shield.

The interior of Pelta-class frigates featured ventilation shafts and white corridors with controls, and the frigates were equipped with a variety of facilities for the passengers and the crew, including a barracks for escorting troops, private quarters for higher-level passengers, and a mess hall for dining. The private quarters featured at least four beds, one located above the other, and was equipped with computer consoles on the opposite side of the entrance. The barracks were situated between the private quarters and the mess hall. The barracks had doors on opposite sides, and the bunk beds were lined parallel to the middle corridor. The mess hall also had two entrances, one opposite the other, with the food serving station positioned on one side, vertical to the doors.

The bridge of the Pelta-class frigate was located at the top of the vessel and was the upper-most point of the ship. The Alliance to Restore the Republic would later use the bridge as a communications array, while another bridge was retrofitted at the bow and utilized as the ship's command center. Ray shields were equipped in a passageway to reach the bridge, acting as a security measure. Pelta-class frigates also had a cargo bay for supplies, a reactor control room that included the controls for the coolant and power systems, and an aft communications station. The Pelta-class frigate also had a ramp on the keel that opened up for easy transportation of supplies, as well as six landing gear legs.

Throughout its operational history, the Pelta-class frigate fulfilled numerous roles, particularly during the pan-galactic Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance. Within the Republic Navy, it primarily functioned as a hospital ships and supply ships. Additionally, it served as a freighters, picket ships, escorts, and light assault ships. In its capacity as a hospital ship, the Pelta-class frigate was equipped to transport patients and rescue personnel from stranded escape pods. During the Clone Wars, honorable Separatist generals were known to refrain from attacking these Pelta-class frigates. The Alliance to Restore the Republic also utilized Pelta-class frigates as command ships and medical vessels. Following weapon upgrades, these frigates assumed more substantial combat and command responsibilities, in addition to providing fire support, engaging in anti-starfighter operations, and managing communications.

Rebel Pelta-class frigates, such as the Phoenix Home, were modified to accommodate eight starfighters, including at least five RZ-1 A-wing interceptors, within a makeshift hangar bay, effectively serving as starfighter carrier. When operating as a carrier, the frigate was typically accompanied by escorts, such as rebel CR90 corvettes.

During the High Republic Era, a pair of these ships were included as part of a Republic rescue fleet dispatched to aid Trymant IV following an Emergence in the wake of the Great Hyperspace Disaster. This Emergence, however, coincided with a Nihil attack on the planet, and one frigate became part of a blockade hastily set up to prevent the escape of a Nihil Spider Cruiser. Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro had the cruiser fire upon the medical frigate as a distraction for its escort of Jedi Vectors, allowing the pirate ship to escape into hyperspace. At one point, the Jedi Order utilized the Athylia, a Pelta-class prior to the Order's destruction. Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, the protocol droid AD-3, and the astromech droid LX-R5 served aboard the craft.

The Pelta-class frigates saw early action on the onset of the Clone Wars, with three being deployed to the planet Christophsis in 22 BBY to deliver much needed supplies to Senator Bail Organa and his relief effort, which had been cut off by Separatist forces during the early stages of the Battle of Christophsis. The frigates were escorted by Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, Admiral Wullf Yularen, and three Venator-class Star Destroyers from Skywalker's task force. Although Skywalker was instructed not to engage the Separatist blockade by Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker decided to engage the Separatist armada regardless and was soon outnumbered and outgunned, as the Separatist fleet consisted of Munificent-class star frigates, Lucrehulk-class Battleships, and the Invincible, a Providence-class Dreadnought. Unbeknownst to Skywalker and Yularen, the Separatist fleet was led by none other than Admiral Trench, who was thought to have been vaporized by a Jedi-led task force at the Battle of Malastare Narrows when his flagship was destroyed.

Skywalker and Yularen were able to briefly contact Organa, who informed them that his positions were in danger of being overrun by Separatist ground forces. The transmission was cut off just as one of Skywalker's Venator-class Star Destroyers was hit by a barrage of Separatist laser fire. Soon, the Invincible began bearing down on the Republic fleet unopposed, and Trench ordered his forces to separate the Pelta frigates from their escorts. The Invincible launched a salvo of laser fire at the Republic fleet, resulting in the destruction of a Pelta frigate. Kenobi soon arrived in his flagship, the Venator-class Star Destroyer Negotiator, contacting Skywalker and advising him to retreat as he had brought a new secret weapon that would give the Republic an advantage in the battle. Skywalker reluctantly agreed, ordering the two remaining Pelta frigates to retreat to Kenobi's position behind Leesis, the moon of Christophsis, while Skywalker's Venators covered their retreat. Eventually, Trench was defeated when Skywalker used the secret weapon, a stealth ship, to destroy the Invincible, with Trench still onboard.

As the battle continued on the surface, Yularen and a Venator-class Star Destroyer were dispatched to a Haven-class medical station to pick up supplies and reinforcements, with several Pelta-class frigates also docking with the station.

When the Separatists invaded the planet Ryloth in 22 BBY, the Republic Outer Rim garrison led by Jedi General Ima-Gun Di and the Twi'lek Resistance led by General Cham Syndulla were quickly overrun, and Di attempted to contact the Jedi High Council for reinforcements. After a period of heavy fighting, Republic supplies were exhausted, and Republic forces were being overwhelmed. Di ordered the Republic fleet in space led by Admiral Dao to attempt to contact the Jedi High Council again for immediate reinforcements. Although Dao finally managed to contact the Jedi Council and inform them of their dire situation, the Republic fleet was destroyed and Dao was killed mid-transmission.

Ryloth was too far from the nearest Republic base to help in time, while the planet Toydaria was the closest potential base to launch a humanitarian mission. As such, the Jedi contacted Senator Organa and informed him of the situation on Ryloth, asking him to negotiate alongside Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks of Naboo to persuade the Toydarians to open up their world as a supply base for several Pelta frigates to launch their aid mission to Ryloth from. After failed negotiations with the Toydarians at the impediment of Senator Lott Dod of the Trade Federation, King Katuunko of Toydaria approached Organa and Binks, stating that the Toydarians could not turn a blind eye to the suffering on Ryloth, and that the Republic may use Toydaria as a supply base on the conditions that it would only be the supplies that the Republic have already brought with them and that the Trade Federation would not be aware of the aid mission and Toydaria's involvement.

Organa devised a plan which included a special dinner for Katuunko, several of his advisors, and the representatives of the Trade Federation, all of which was a ruse to distract the Trade Federation of the three Pelta frigates which were loading up the supplies and leaving for Ryloth. The Trade Federation was unaware of the ruse until it was far too late, and three Pelta-class frigates, including blockade runner 0-9-9, were able to load supplies and successfully pass through the Separatist blockade of Ryloth and drop relief supplies to the Twi'lek Resistance and their families after the sacrifice of Di and his men to cover their retreat. The Twi'lek Resistance were able to capture the supplies and continue their campaign.

In 22 BBY, after the Battle of Abregado, the new Separatist weapon, a Subjugator-class heavy cruiser named the Malevolence under the command of Supreme Commander of the Droid Army General Grievous, was tasked with destroying a convoy of at least three Pelta-class frigates and their escorting Venator-class Star Destroyer. The successful attack led to the entire convoy being destroyed, with survivors attempting to flee in escape pods. During the engagement, Grievous was given new orders by Separatist Head of State Count Dooku to target and destroy a Haven-class medical station, the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center, as it housed tens of thousands of wounded clone troopers, making it a target ripe for destroying. With Grievous forced to take a longer route around a large nebula to reach the station, the Republic deduced that based on the previous attack, the medical station was the next likely target, and Skywalker was dispatched along with his padawan Ahsoka Tano, Jedi General Plo Koon, and the BTL-B Y-wing starfighter/bomber Shadow Squadron, to the medical station and destroy the Malevolence.

The frigate of the Pelta-class was a highly adaptable and frequently utilized design from Kuat Drive Yards, and it came in a number of different configurations. These frigates were used extensively by the Republic Navy during the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance, serving as a vital aspect of their military efforts. While the Pelta-class strike frigate was the most typical combat type, others were used as hospital ships, like the Pelta-class Medical Frigate, which was used to safely ferry injured clone troopers to medical stations for treatment. In addition, Pelta-class Transport Frigates functioned as supply ships to deliver armaments, medical supplies, and food rations.

During the Battle of Ryloth and the Battle of Christophsis, these vessels were essential to Republic activities, and Pelta-class frigates were employed as blockade runners, supply ships, and medcenters. As hospital ships, a number of medical frigates were involved in the evacuation of the Republic Kaliida Shoals Medical Center, which was targeted by the Separatist heavy cruiser Malevolence, captained by General Grievous, who was the Supreme Commander of the Droid Army. During the second year of the Clone Wars, Geonosian brain worms infected the clone troopers of Tango Company on the Pelta-class Medical Frigate TB-73. A frigate took part in the recovery and rescue efforts after the Venator-class Star Destroyer Endurance was sabotaged. Pelta-class frigates also served as supply ships during the mercy mission to Aleen. The Pelta-class frigate Athylia was used by Jedi Master Kelleran Beq to train Jedi Initiates.

During the rule of the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance, which was nascent, used Pelta-class frigates as medcenters, and a few of them were retrofitted with turbolasers. The rebel Phoenix Cell used the Pelta-class vessel Phoenix Home as its command ship until Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, destroyed it during the Siege of Lothal. Pelta-class frigates were heavily modified by rebels into Pelta-class Assault Ships and Pelta-class Command Cruisers. Many Pelta-class frigates would later serve in the Citizens' Fleet against the fleet of the Sith Eternal, the Final Order. The frigates fought in the Battle of Exegol, which resulted in the Sith Eternal's defeat and sparked a galactic uprising against the First Order.

The Pelta-class frigate, measuring 282 meters in length and manned by a crew of 900, was a frigate model produced by Kuat Drive Yards. It was outfitted with a Class 2 hyperdrive and a deflector shield generator. During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire, the Alliance to Restore the Republic retrofitted Pelta-class frigates with turbolasers and point-defense laser cannons to perform other duties. The Alliance also modified Pelta-class Assault Ships and the Pelta-class Command Cruisers, which were variations of the standard Pelta-class frigate. The Pelta-class Assault Ships had weapons mounted on their hull, allowing the ship to broadside opposing ships. The Pelta-class frigate had sixteen escape pods available. The Republic escape pods and RGC-6b escape pods were among the escape pod types that the Pelta-class could be equipped with. Pelta-class frigates were capable of docking with Haven-class medical stations in both horizontal and vertical orientations with respect to the docking ports.

The Pelta-class frigate had two "wings" at the aft by its engine that could pivot and open. The rebellion took advantage of this by adding more, albeit smaller, engine units to the vessel's aft. The Pelta-class frigate also featured a docking port on the starboard and port sides, close to the vessel's mid-section, and later modifications would alter the door and frame of the docking ports. Alliance modifications also replaced the ramp and cargo bay with a ventral hangar bay that was able to accommodate eight starfighters, including at least five RZ-1 A-wing interceptors. Walkways were situated above the starfighters in the hangar bay to allow pilots to board their respective starships.

Modified Pelta-class frigates were also fitted with deflector shield generators. On one occasion, a Pelta-class frigate was destroyed by a single TIE Advanced x1 starfighter after only several strafing runs, despite having a deflector shield.

The interior layout of Pelta-class frigates was lined with ventilation shafts and white corridors with controls, and the frigates were equipped with a variety of facilities for the passengers and the crew, including a barracks for escorting troops, private quarters for higher-level passengers, and a mess hall for dining. The private quarters featured at least four beds, one located above the other, and was equipped with

Yularen informed the medical station about the approaching danger, and Chief Medical Scientist Nala Se responded to Yularen, explaining that even with available transports, evacuating all the injured in the limited time was impossible. Soon after, Kenobi contacted Nala Se, relaying that Naboo, a nearby planet, was dispatching ships to assist with the evacuation efforts. As Grievous advanced towards the medical station, Pelta frigates began to arrive, prioritizing the loading of more stable patients while the critically injured awaited transport. Upon the arrival of Grievous and Skywalker, Grievous chose to initially target a departing group of Pelta frigates before confronting Skywalker and his squadron. Following the destruction of the fleeing Peltas by Grievous, the Malevolence and its accompanying starfighters engaged Skywalker and his squadron, resulting in nearly half of Skywalker's squadron being lost in the subsequent conflict. Influenced by Tano and Koon, Skywalker shifted his strategy from attacking the bridge to targeting the ion cannons of the Malevolence.

This change in tactics proved effective, inflicting critical damage on both of the Malevolence's ion cannons and its hyperdrive, along with widespread damage throughout the ship. The arrival of three Venators led by Kenobi and Yularen forced Grievous to abandon his attack, retreat, and request reinforcements. Following the battle, the surviving Pelta frigates returned to the medical station. Jedi General Luminara Unduli and her forces engaged the Separatist reinforcements. Ultimately, the Malevolence met its end after its hyperdrive was sabotaged, causing it to crash into the Dead Moon of Antar.

In 21 BBY, subsequent to the Second Battle of Geonosis, Republic forces stationed on Geonosis received a distress call from Jedi General Mace Windu and his troops on Dantooine. Although Windu's defenses held, the battle took a heavy toll on his forces, prompting his request for medical supplies. With Skywalker, Kenobi, Unduli, and Jedi General Ki-Adi-Mundi preoccupied with post-battle matters and transporting Geonosian Archduke Poggle the Lesser to Coruscant for interrogation, Skywalker proposed that Padawans Tano and Barriss Offee undertake the supply mission, utilizing TB-73, a Pelta-class frigate, to collect the supplies from the Ord Cestus medical station and deliver them to Dantooine. Tango Company received orders to accompany the Jedi. Unbeknownst to the others, clone trooper Scythe had contracted a Geonosian brain worm on the planet's surface. These worms had previously been observed and presumed destroyed along with the Progate Temple, where Geonosian Queen Karina the Great had employed them to form a hive mind and reanimate deceased Geonosian warriors, creating an undead army.

Scythe, now infected, gathered more Geonosian brain worms and introduced them into TB-73, leading to the infection of most of the crew. He soon seized control of the bridge after eliminating the pilots. Tano and Offee, unaware of the escalating crisis, went to the mess hall to eat, only to be attacked by infected clone troopers Ox and Edge. They decided to split up, and Tano managed to contact Clone Captain Rex and Skywalker, informing them of the situation on the frigate. Skywalker interrogated Poggle, seeking information on how to neutralize the brain worms without the knowledge of the others. After Skywalker used a Force choke on Poggle, Poggle revealed that the worms were vulnerable to cold. After Offee became infected, she engaged Tano in a duel, but Tano escaped and ruptured the ship's coolant system as instructed by Skywalker.

As the severe cold began to affect the brain worms, TB-73 emerged from hyperspace. Jedi General Kit Fisto, present on the medical station, deployed two Republic TUG-314 spacetugs to assist in guiding the ship into the docking port. The spacetugs struggled to guide the ship, with the tug pilots realizing that the pilots of TB-73 were dead and the ship was unmanned. Tano briefly dueled Offee again on the bridge, ultimately killing the brain worm infecting Offee, rendering her unconscious. The tugs successfully docked TB-73 to the medical station, preventing a collision between TB-73, the station, and other docked Peltas. Republic forces quarantined the ship and rescued Tano, Offee, and the clone troopers, all of whom recovered from the cold and the infections.

Later, following the sabotage of the Endurance, a Venator-class Star Destroyer, by Boba Fett, son of the clone template and bounty hunter Jango Fett, in retaliation against Windu for his father's death during the first battle of the Clone Wars, the Endurance crashed on Vanqor. Windu and Skywalker—who was also aboard the Endurance—survived the assassination attempt and evacuated the starship with other crew members. A Pelta-class frigate, under the command of Captain Silver, arrived in the system to rescue survivors who had evacuated before the ship entered the atmosphere. The Pelta remained in the area until the Jedi confirmed from the crash site that there were no other survivors. Later in the war, during the Battle of Sullust, at least one Pelta-class frigate participated, staying close to larger Republic capital ships.

After earthquakes struck Aleen in 20 BBY, the 104th Battalion, led by Clone Commander CC-3636 "Wolffe," was dispatched with an Acclamator-class assault ship and three Pelta-class frigates to provide supplies and aid in rebuilding for the Aleena. Subsequently, after the Battle of Kadavo and the rescue of Togruta colonists from Kiros who had been kidnapped for [slavery](/article/slavery], several Pelta-class frigates, a Venator-class Star Destroyer, and an Arquitens-class light cruiser were present to assist the colonists.

Following the attack on Obi-Wan Kenobi's fleet and its destruction by Grievous near Florrum in the Sertar sector, Kenobi and his fellow survivors were rescued and placed on a Venator-class Star Destroyer escorted by several Pelta-class frigates. Hondo Ohnaka, a pirate, and the remnants of his pirate cartel arrived with a group of Jedi younglings and Tano, who had previously been captured by Ohnaka and his gang until Grievous launched an attack.

With the collapse of the Galactic Republic and the rise of the Galactic Empire, both emerging rebel cells and the later Alliance to Restore the Republic employed Pelta-class frigates as hospital ships. However, some Pelta frigates were retrofitted with turbolasers and point-defense laser cannons to serve in expanded roles such as anti-starfighter combat, fire support, communications, and command. The Empire also utilized the Pelta-class frigate as hospital ships. During the early stages of the rebellion against the Galactic Empire, Kaeden Larte enrolled in a medical program in a city on the Core World of Alderaan, before being stationed on a Pelta-class frigate.

By 4 BBY, a retrofitted Pelta-class frigate, Phoenix Home, served as the flagship of Phoenix Cell under the command of Commander Jun Sato.

On one occasion, the Phoenix Home urgently needed medical supplies, leading Commander Sato to devise a plan to disguise the Phoenix Home as an Imperial Pelta-class medical frigate to infiltrate a sector hospital station and steal the necessary supplies. Sato recruited several Rebels to execute the alteration and theft, which proved successful. On another occasion, the Alliance acquired another Pelta-class frigate and modified it to match the specifications of Phoenix Home. Alliance members were assigned to conduct its shakedown cruise, which involved attacking a lightly defended Imperial sensor post. This attack was also successful.

The vessel was destroyed by Darth Vader, the Dark Lord of the Sith, during the Siege of Lothal. Vader utilized his TIE Advanced X1 in the attack, aiming to locate and destroy the fleet and capture the cell's leaders. Following the destruction of Phoenix Home, Sato and other members of Phoenix Cell discussed the loss of their command ship, recognizing the need to establish a suitable base for sustained operations.

Following the blockade of Ibaar, which occurred by 2 BBY, Mon Calamari Admiral Raddus dispatched a document, prepared by his Mon Calamari aides Caitken and Shollan, to Commander-in-Chief Mon Mothma detailing the Alliance Fleet's current status. Raddus added that the fleet was relying on smaller vessels due to the heavier starships not yet being operational, and that the Alliance was unprepared for fleet engagements against the Empire. The report outlined the fleet's primary composition, including Pelta-class frigates, CR90 corvettes, CR70 corvettes, Hammerhead corvettes, Dornean gunships, and GR-75 medium transports.

During the galaxy-wide Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, an Alliance Pelta-class Assault Ship executed a broadside attack, damaging an Imperial Raider-class corvette, while T-65B X-wing starfighters engaged TIE fighters in the vicinity. The Alliance also deployed Pelta-class Command Cruisers as command ships.

The Rebel Alliance continued to utilize the Pelta-class frigate until the Battle of Endor, a pivotal battle where the Alliance successfully destroyed the second Death Star and Emperor Palpatine was killed by Vader.

Around 9 ABY during the New Republic Era following the Empire's downfall, a Pelta-class frigate approached Borgo Prime, a pirate shadowport in the Outer Rim Territories run by Brutus's crew. In 35 ABY, to combat a resurrected Darth Sidious and the Sith Eternal, General Lando Calrissian amassed a vast fleet of over 14,000 ships to assault the Sith Eternal forces. Numerous Pelta-class frigates were part of this fleet and participated in the Battle of Exegol.

The Republic medical frigate made its initial appearance in the 2008 theatrical release, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Subsequently, the frigate appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series and played a significant role in the 2009 episode "Brain Invaders," serving as the episode's primary setting. The vessel received its official canonical name in the Databank on the StarWars.com website.

The frigate was initially named within the Star Wars Legends continuity in The Clone Wars Campaign Guide, published in 2009. However, the 2018 canon reference book Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles mistakenly identified the model as a YT-2400 in its entry for the Pelta-class frigate.

In the German magazine, Star Wars Animation-Magazine, the comic strip "Divide and Conquer" depicts Phoenix Cell possessing a Pelta-class frigate. Given that the comic is set after the third season episode, "Imperial Supercommandos," and Phoenix Cell's Pelta-class was destroyed in the second season premiere, Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal, and no other source indicates Phoenix Cell acquired another Pelta-class, this article assumes the depiction is likely an artistic inconsistency.