The Praetor-class Star Battlecruiser, also referred to as the Praetor-class battlecruiser or the Praetor-class battle cruiser, represented a type of warship manufactured by Kuat Drive Yards near the end of the Galactic Republic's existence, during its final years. This four-kilometer battlecruiser served as the replacement for the Procurator-class Star Battlecruiser, although both models suffered limitations in hyperdrive technology and available weaponry due to the constraints imposed by the Ruusan Reformation.
During the period of the Clone Wars, the Quaestor was among a number of Praetor-class battlecruisers that underwent modifications to enhance their armor and offensive capabilities before spearheading incursions into the heart of Separatist territory. The Quaestor met its end at Pammant when a hyperdrive malfunction, the result of sabotage, caused it to collide with the planet, leading to its destruction and the fracturing of the world itself. Following the establishment of the Galactic Empire, the Praetor-class battlecruiser Battalion was deployed to pursue remnants of the Separatist forces, participated in the events of the Sy Myrthian Insurrection, and played a role in the elimination of a faction located at Trasemene. While operating within the Dalchon sector, the commander of the ship, Adar Tallon, became disillusioned with the Empire and chose to abandon his military post, taking a loyal portion of his crew with him. To conceal their departure, Tallon orchestrated the Battalion's destruction with the assistance of his acquaintance, the pirate captain Quist, staging it as a fabricated rescue operation of a freighter supposedly under attack by pirates.
The Praetor Mark II-class battlecruiser eventually superseded the Praetor-class. During the Galactic Civil War, Rebel forces salvaged a derelict Praetor, repurposing its reactors to supply power to the facilities at Echo Base on the ice planet Hoth, which included its defensive systems.
The initial mention of the Praetor-class battlecruiser occurred in the publication Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy. The reference work The Essential Guide to Warfare, released in 2012, retroactively classified the Quaestor, featured in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections, and the Battalion, from the West End Games roleplaying game adventure Tatooine Manhunt, as belonging to the Praetor-class of battlecruisers.