Want an idea as to the scope of the Kuat Shipyards?

[consequences]

Its not just manpower to take over the Empire, there would also have to be a continuous flow of raw materials into Kuat to keep the production going, and the flow of resources would stop as soon as the Empire realised what Kuat was up to.

[Howedar]

I fail to see anything in this picture, really, besides a big hole with a few ISD noses pointing towards it.

[Vympel]

Not to make a me too post- but considering my post count/custom title/ lack of need to spam-

but what exactly does this picture establish?

[Cal Wright]

The only thing I can tell, is that it establishes the sheer scope of the Kuat Drive Yards. Basically what we see is an opening for a structure that produces the Imperial Star Destroyer. This pic shows one exiting and it looks as if two more off to the side. That's the closest I can tell, everyone's so busy jerking off to the concept of how large this might be, that they're all talking jibberish.

[Vympel]

Well it was always pretty obvious that KDY was big

Like 25,000 Star Destroyers produced in a roughly 20 year time period. That's 1,000 per year, to be ultra simplistic.

[Raptor 597]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but given the manpower, couldn't Kuat defeat the Empire? Given it's ability to produce the Empires vast quantity of warships, as well as ships for nonwarships, I think that if Kuat were to plan in advance they could build enough starships to crush the empire, given the manpower.

This alone makes any trek debate puny and insignificant. I mean, a fucking CORPORATION can crush the empire and we all know what the empire can do to the trek galaxy..

But then, that's like saying if Boeing constructed enough planes they could take over the US. Which they could. .. Oh my.

The Empire was paranoid. It probably only gave Kuat the resources it needed too build it's current contracts. Why Kuat couldn't take on the Empire was because Kuat probably lacked the resources while the Empire supplied them. It's as simple as that.

[His Divine Shadow]

I'd still like to see these quotes on the scale of Kuat Drive Yard, that picture for all we know can be just one of many many smaller spherical slips, or berths, or whatever the word is in english.

[Typhonis 1]

Slipways? I believe is the term not sure though

[Warspite]

Slipways? I believe is the term not sure though

Slipway is the term used for an inclined plane, where a ship is built. You've all seen a ship being christened and then slipping into the water.
Modern steel shipyards (post-70's) don't have them anymore, since ships are built by blocks on dry docks. When finished, the docks are refilled and the ships just float away. But, the term is correct and still aplicable.

[NecronLord]

I would imagine based on the image that it is probably a construction dock (No shit sherlock I hear you all cry... Well Kaut has repair docks, as boba fett takes a ship there to be repaired) The fact that the ISD's leaving would indicate that vessels exit this dock completed. The ring at the end is probably a force field for containing an atmosphere.

Dry Dock


Dry Dock, a concave structure in which a ship is supported out of water on blocks so that maintenance and repair work can be done on its underside. A graving dock is a walled basin built into the shore; a floating dry dock is a buoyant structure that can be lowered and raised in the water to receive and lift a ship. Both kinds of dry docks can be filled with water and emptied.

Graving Dock
In docking a ship within a graving dock, the basin is filled with water, the ship is floated into the dock, and then an entrance gate is closed. As the water is removed by pumping, the ship settles on blocks on the dock floor. The blocks support the ship while maintenance and repair work is done, utilizing mechanical and electrical service outlets and hoisting equipment on the periphery of the dock. After repair work is completed the dock is flooded, the gate is opened, and the ship is floated out.

Emptying and Filling Systems. A graving dock (see illustration) has two sidewalls that have tunnels and openings for water flow in emptying and filling the basin; an additional means of filling often is provided by openings in the entrance gate. The water flow is regulated by electrically or hydraulically operated sluice gates and gate valves. Pumps located in one sidewall usually empty the basin in 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Filling takes about 1 hour.

Entrance Gate. The floating-caisson entrance gate, the most common type in the United States, has ballast tanks for lowering and raising it in dock seats. Caisson gates that slide or roll into position are commonly used in England.

Ship-Positioning Equipment. Power capstans and cables, placed at intervals around the periphery of the basin, are used to maneuver a ship into position over the blocks before the dock is unwatered. One capstan can pull a load as great as 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg).

Blocks. After a ship is properly centered in the dock and the water is removed, the ship settles on blocks previously arranged so that they conform to the hull profile of the ship being docked. One line of blocks, called keelblocks, is located along the dock centerline; other lines of blocks, called bilge blocks, are located off the centerline. The blocks, which are made of wood, cast iron, and steel, rise 3.5 to 5.5 feet (11.6 meters) above the dock floor. Besides supporting the dead weight of the ship, they provide a level base and give workers access to the underside of the ship.

Service Outlets and Hoisting Equipment. Along the service altar, outlets are located in groups to supply electric lighting and power, steam compressed air, fresh and salt water, and gases for metal-cutting torches. These outlets are connected to flexible lines to carry the services to work locations on the ship.

All heavy materials for a dry-docked ship are handled by cranes that operate from tracks along the dock sidewalls. A traveling crane has a lifting capacity in the range of 20 to 75 tons (18 - 68 metric tons).

All of these are present in the Kaut shipyard (if you look carefully on the lower right you can see what seems to be an SSD, Excecutor class,(from the angle of the bow, It might be a vengance.) resting on her blocks, with a tower, (Tractor/repulsor beam tower? as cranes) A difference between Kaut and our primative docks is that the atmosphere would remain there in order to let the workers work while ships leave, we have seen the falcon leave a pressurised bay before, alternately the gold rimmed area may function as an airlock.

[Durandal]

Frankly, it's not hard to imagine Kuat Drive Yards being truly system-encompassing. Remember the plant that you had to destroy in Rebel Assault II? It was at least half the height of the planet it sat on, and it was built, in secret.

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

Well it was always pretty obvious that KDY was big

Like 25,000 Star Destroyers produced in a roughly 20 year time period. That's 1,000 per year, to be ultra simplistic.

For a shipyard that big, even 1,000 ISDs per year seem like an understatement.

The Federation was always screwed. After all, there are private corporations in the SW galaxy that posess more territories than the Federation.

[Cal Wright]

They could have pressure and atmosphere in there easily. Remember they use mag cons for thier bays. The only drawback is that it doesn't keep heat in. However, I hope they have another exit. I don't see how an Executor is going to fit out that hole.

[Cpt_Frank]

They probably have drydocks of various sizes.

[NecronLord]

I don't think that that shadow looks like an Imperator, It's the wrong angle. It probably comes from, looking at the shape, a "Admiral Giel's battleship" class

[Publius]

According to a close friend's Notes on the subject:

Kuat Drive Yards

KDY is one of the largest and most successful starship design and production corporations in the galaxy, and one of the Empire’s chief defence contractors. In addition to its well known naval and military designs, KDY produces a number of bulk transports and small freighters. Its corporate headquarters is in orbit over Kuat, and the corporation remains in the hands of the Kuati ruling families, with the position of chief executive being hereditary within the Kuat family [The Mandalorian Armor; Slave Ship]. The majority of its factories is usually franchised out to governors of poor planets [Dark Empire Sourcebook].

KDY's relationship with the Trade Federation and other commercial and industrial associations soured in 14 PED, when the entire seven-member Trade Federation Directorate was assassinated on Eriadu by its own 'droid security contingent; two of the four human directors had been from Kuat [Cloak of Deception]. Additionally, KDY had joined the Galactic Corporate Policy League, and was a secret corporate ally of then-Senator Palpatine, whose home world Naboo was shortly thereafter blockaded by the Trade Federation [Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook; The Phantom Menace]. In the subsequent years, KDY continued to loyally support Senator Palpatine, as he became first Supreme Chancellor, then Emperor. KDY then became a signatory and voting sponsor of the Corporate Sector Authority.

Even after the Battle of Endor, KDY remained loyal to the Empire, although one plot to wrest control of the corporation from Kuat of Kuat by Kodir of Kuhlvult led to an attempt by Kuat of Kuat to destroy them, an effort foiled by famed bounty hunter Boba Fett [Hard Merchandise]. Imperial loyalists remained in control of KDY until 26 ED, when the New Republic seized control of the system, in the process causing such extensive damage to the yards that all production was suspended indefinitely. The main KDY design team fled to the Deep Core aboard the partially-completed Eclipse [The Essential Chronology].

KDY's hard-line Imperial loyalists were replaced by pro-New Republic administrators [The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology], although parts of KDY not in New Republic space continued to do business with the Empire and rogue warlords. By 31 ED, the yards had been completely repaired, and in one year manufactured a substantial part of the vessels of the New Class programme, having constructed a large portion of the New Republic Fifth Fleet [The Essential Chronology].

Under the KDY label, the corporation has produced numerous naval warships, including the EF76-B Nebulon-B escort frigate, the Lancer-class frigate, the Star Galleon, the escort carrier, the Imperial Star Destroyer, and the Super Star Destroyer. KDY's strategic importance to the Empire was accented by the fact that fifteen Imperial Star Destroyers were assigned to defend the main facility at Kuat; Kuat of Kuat, the chief executive, also had high-power explosives installed throughout the yards, determined that none should be able to take control of the yards by force [Star Wars Encyclopedia; Slave Ship].

KDY maintains, in addition to its shipyards, a planetary weapons department, which has produced such designs as the v-150 Planet Defender ion cannon and the w-165 planetary turbolaser [Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition]. It also produces some armoured cavalry units, such as the HAVw A5 Juggernaut and the All-Terrain Armoured Transport (AT-AT), and even produced the A-9 Vigilance interceptor for use as a supplement to rival Sienar Fleet Systems' TIE starfighter series [The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels].

One notable subsidiary of KDY is the short-lived Kuat Systems Engineering, formed during the last days of the old Republic. Despite having produced several highly successful ships, including the modular CloakShape fighter and the Firespray-class patrol and attack ship [The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels], and despite its status as a signatory to some degree of the Techno Union [Databank: "Techno Union"], Kuat Systems Engineering failed to perform sufficiently well, and it was reorganised under the parent KDY, and dedicated to after-market starship upgrades. Shortly before the Battle of Endor, it was sold to a group of investors mistakenly believed to be Imperial loyalists, but who were actually Vaathkree merchants with strong counterrevolutionary sympathies. Kuat Systems Engineering is now a pro-New Republic company [The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels; Arms & Equipment Guide Extras! describes the sale of Kuat Systems Engineering as the sale of KDY itself].

Another subsidiary with a notable history is Rothana Heavy Engineering, which produced the Acclamator-class trans-galactic military transport ship, the All-Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE), the Self-Propelled Heavy Artillery – Turbolaser (SPHA-T), and the Low-Altitude Assault Transport/infantry (LAAT/i) gunship used by the Republic during the Clone War [Episode II Incredible Cross-Sections].

As an interesting sidenote on the subject of some Star Wars private entities having greater resources than the United Federation....

As of Attack of the Clones, the House of Tagge maintained a private fleet of over 5,000 "armed scout starships" and a private army with more than one million of soldiers in arms, according to HoloNet News -- an army larger than the Grand Army of the Republic. The Corporate Sector Authority governed 30,000 star systems, and kept a picket fleet which included Victory Star Destroyers, according to the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook.

[Galvatron]

Frankly, it's not hard to imagine Kuat Drive Yards being truly system-encompassing. Remember the plant that you had to destroy in Rebel Assault II? It was at least half the height of the planet it sat on, and it was built, in secret.

You mean this?



The planetoid is big, but not that big. Just measure the curvature of its surface against the ISDs. The facility itself is certainly nothing on par with a Dyson's Sphere (or even the original Death Star for that matter).

[Galvatron]

Damn thing is suppossed to be system spanning right? Well if it is enclosed like we see above, it's bigger then a dyson sphere.

Uh...

How do we know it's not simply an upscaled Trek-like spacedock for Imperial warships? Assuming it's a Dyson's Sphere is a huge leap and I wouldn't blame the Trekkies for balking at it.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Count me in as another who doubts this is a Dyson Sphere the size of a solar system. That would seem just too massive, and a total waste of resources and time.

Not to mention kind of moronic...

[Shadow]

Is there any text that goes along with this picture, or any othere pictures of the same source? What is the source? Is there any evidence that this is part of a structure that encloses the Kuat system?

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Yeah, I mean is there any text that says exactly what the hell are we looking at?

[Ender]

If you read my second and third posts (as in, after I had 30 seconds to stop and think), you'll note that I pointed out it was likely a large DS style station, a globe inwhich things were built, as there would still be planets inside a sphere, something unlikely. I also said I wanted to wait until Coruscant and the Core Worlds, the book that pic is from came out before any final calls were made, because the fluff would have to explain alot, most notably the contradiction with Iron Fist.

[Robert Treder]

Yeah, I agree with the skeptics on this one.
All the picture shows is a structure that spans about 5 miles. There is undoubtedly stuff beyond the edges of the picture, but we can only speculate about that.

Seriously, five, or even fifteen miles isn't really much compared to the Death Stars. The Death Stars were constructed in secret, while this is out in the open, so it wouldn't be surprising even if it was very much larger than the Death Stars.

I'm not saying that the Empire can't make Dyson-Sphere scale structures, I'm just saying this is not necessarily a picture of one.

[Illuminatus Primus]

There'd be no point: the Empire can easily tap more power then a enclosed Dyson Sphere can create anyway and there's no point to build such uber structures to build 1 mile long destroyers and 17 mile long commandships.

And I still doubt that the Grand Army is 1.2 million individuals. I maintain it is 1.2 million divisions. 1.2 million individuals could be considered almost too little to even occupy just Geonosis.

[Sea Skimmer]

There'd be no point: the Empire can easily tap more power then a enclosed Dyson Sphere can create anyway and there's no point to build such uber structures to build 1 mile long destroyers and 17 mile long commandships.

And I still doubt that the Grand Army is 1.2 million individuals. I maintain it is 1.2 million divisions. 1.2 million individuals could be considered almost too little to even occupy just Geonosis.

Given that the earth has about ten times that many troops of course its far to few. However the novel says Clones not units. The Army is 1.2 million, not even enough to form a calvarly screen for the size of an army the Republic would really need.