Star Cruiser

The term was at times a general descriptor for spacecraft, sometimes appearing in lowercase as star cruiser. It also denoted a specific class of large battlecruiser. Furthermore, it served as the designation for a series of hammerhead-shaped Republic warships during the time of the Great Galactic War. Later, it was used to refer to a line of substantial Mon Calamari warships during the era of the Galactic Civil War.

The Galactic Republic apparently used the term to characterize their hammerhead-shaped warships, such as the Thranta-class corvette, which were deployed during the Great Galactic War. Hylo Visz, a smuggler, knew these ships by this designation, drawing a comparison between the Defender-class prototype and the larger vessels that shared a similar appearance.

The renowned Mon Calamari Star Cruisers served as the primary capital ships for both the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic. During the Galactic Civil War, a standard Star Cruiser measured approximately 1200 meters in length, exemplified by the well-known MC80 Liberty type Star Cruiser. However, the term could also encompass smaller vessels like the 500-meter Kuari Princess, as well as larger Mon Calamari ships such as the Home One.

The term "star cruiser," written in lowercase, was also applied to Imperial Navy warships, functioning as an alternative name for Star Destroyers. It was also used synonymously with the standard designation of cruiser, which encompassed all combat warships exceeding approximately 400 meters in length, such as the Strike-class medium cruiser. Even smaller warships, like the CR90 corvette, were occasionally referred to as "star cruisers."

Certain ships designated as "Star Cruisers," with the uppercase spelling, exceeded the size of typical Star Destroyer designs. Their substantial size led some to classify them as Super Star Destroyers. They formed a distinct class of Imperial warship, separate from both Star Destroyers and Star Dreadnoughts, and were regarded by some as a subtype of battlecruiser according to the Anaxes War College System. The inclusion of this subtype into official ship classification systems was a point of contention among many naval historians. A prime example of this Star Cruiser design was the Allegiance-class battlecruiser, a Super Star Destroyer model measuring 2200 meters in length and employed by the Galactic Empire. Similarly, the Secutor-class Star Destroyer's length technically qualified it for the Star Cruiser classification, but its relatively weaker armament and its role as a carrier led to its classification as a Star Destroyer.

The phrase "star cruiser" initially appeared in dialogue within Star Wars, appearing as "star-cruiser" and "starcruiser" in various versions of the script. Early Expanded Universe materials, such as Marvel's Star Wars comics, used the term rather loosely, even applying it to the Executor. In the script for The Empire Strikes back, the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate is referred to as a "Star Cruiser," with capitalized letters. However, since Return of the Jedi, the term has become most commonly associated with Mon Calamari Star Cruisers.

Jason Fry mentioned in his endnotes for The Essential Guide to Warfare that he had planned to provide an explanation for Luke's question about whether C-3PO and R2-D2 were aboard a Star Cruiser, but this explanation was removed before the book's publication. Furthermore, influenced by input from a TheForce.net test reader known as Tzizvvt78, Fry positioned the Star Cruiser line towards the smaller end of the overall battlecruiser ship class. Fry favored this concept because it maintained continuity for Star Cruisers while preserving the West End Games cruiser ship classifications that were integrated into the Anaxes War College System.

• Mon Calamari Star Cruiser : MC80 Star Cruiser MC80 Home One type Star Cruiser MC80 Liberty type Star Cruiser MC80a Star Cruiser MC80B Star Cruiser MC90 Star Cruiser
• Allegiance-class battlecruiser