How many cap ships would it take to down the DS?

[InnocentBystander]

Sorry if it's been asked before, but I didn't find anything relating to it in my forum searchs.

So the question is:
How many regular capital ships (plus fighter escorts) would it take to destroy the death star? No super weapons, no trench runs. Assume the DS and opposing fleet is fully loaded in every way shape and form, crew, fighters, etc.

[Darksider]

Given the insane amount of firepower the DS has (Not counting the main gun), I'd say all of them.

[Isolder74]

Given the insane amount of firepower the DS has (Not counting the main gun), I'd say all of them.

All of what? The Entire Imperial Starfleet/ Or the Entire Fleet of every system in the Empire, Rebellion, etc.?

[wautd]

Well fighters could take out a great deal of DS TL's before the capital ships move in...

[Lord Pounder]

Well fighters could take out a great deal of DS TL's before the capital ships move in...

And the thousands of TIE's stationed on a fully operational DS are gonna sit in the hangers and let this happen?

[wautd]

Well fighters could take out a great deal of DS TL's before the capital ships move in...

And the thousands of TIE's stationed on a fully operational DS are gonna sit in the hangers and let this happen?

I didnt say a few TIE's

Obviously they need a shitload of fighters.

Didnt the DSI had relatively few fighters?

[Isolder74]

It had about 3,000

[Soontir C'boath]

I didnt say a few TIE's

Obviously they need a shitload of fighters.

Didnt the DSI had relatively few fighters?

Yes, the Death Star only had one squadron of fighters.

In a battle-station such as the DS, it definitely holds many fighter wings.

[Lord Pounder]

Considering the DS was attacked by just 2 squadrons in ANH Tarkin would have felt that one squadron under the command of Vader would be enough to defend the station. The OP said the DS would be fully operational and fully crewed.

[Isolder74]

Considering the DS was attacked by just 2 squadrons in ANH Tarkin would have felt that one squadron under the command of Vader would be enough to defend the station. The OP said the DS would be fully operational and fully crewed.

30 Rebel ships

Tarkin did not see them as athreat so refused to launch his fighters. Vader saw the threat and had his fighterslaunched to counter it. In ANH he did not have the authority to override Tarkin

[InnocentBystander]

So fighter swarms to snipe the turrets? And then what about actually destroying the structure of the station?

[Isolder74]

So fighter swarms to snipe the turrets? And then what about actually destroying the structure of the station?

You would need the capitol ships for that.

Really the Death Star is pretty much invinable to nearly any conventional attack. The Death Star 2 even more so.

[InnocentBystander]

So fighter swarms to snipe the turrets? And then what about actually destroying the structure of the station?

You would need the capitol ships for that.

Really the Death Star is pretty much invinable to nearly any conventional attack. The Death Star 2 even more so.

Would it have been able to hold back the YV invasion?

[Isolder74]

Its possible

The vong would have been hard pressed to destroy it

[InnocentBystander]

Its possible

The vong would have been hard pressed to destroy it

What if we were to take super weapons into account, would the DSI or II be able to survive a hit from a super laser with it's shields fully powered? I'd assume it'd have shields equal if not greater than an average core world, and I don't recall any time where a superlaser has been used against a well shielded planet.

[Isolder74]

Its possible

The vong would have been hard pressed to destroy it

What if we were to take super weapons into account, would the DSI or II be able to survive a hit from a super laser with it's shields fully powered? I'd assume it'd have shields equal if not greater than an average core world, and I don't recall any time where a superlaser has been used against a well shielded planet.

Alderaan was well shielded.

I doubt it could. I think it would be a case of MAD

one fires the other returns fire and they blow each other up

[Prozac the Robert]

If the death star had so many fighters, why did the rebels think they could get their fighters anywhere near it?

I know they were desperate, but odds of 100 to 1 before even getting to thr fixed defences are just insane.

[Lord Revan]

If the death star had so many fighters, why did the rebels think they could get their fighters anywhere near it?

I know they were desperate, but odds of 100 to 1 before even getting to thr fixed defences are just insane.

Because the Rebels did know that the imperial commander would not send his fighter to fight th Rebel starfighter as the attack was irrelevant (or Tarkin did think so)

[YT300000]

Sorry if it's been asked before, but I didn't find anything relating to it in my forum searchs.

So the question is:
How many regular capital ships (plus fighter escorts) would it take to destroy the death star? No super weapons, no trench runs. Assume the DS and opposing fleet is fully loaded in every way shape and form, crew, fighters, etc.

Just blasting away at the DS until it was destroyed, no weakness? Shit, you'd need billions of ships to take out all the TLs, and it would take days (at least) to dig a hole through the hull, going into the core. Assuming the DS didn't hyper out in that time.

[CaptainChewbacca]

So fighter swarms to snipe the turrets? And then what about actually destroying the structure of the station?

You would need the capitol ships for that.

Really the Death Star is pretty much invinable to nearly any conventional attack. The Death Star 2 even more so.

Would it have been able to hold back the YV invasion?

It has been hypothesised that the Emperor knew about the coming threat and was building the DSs to defeat the invasion.

I mean, you'd need the DS to hit a worldship. No Dovin Basals could absorb the beam.

[Alyeska]

It is entirely possible a well executed attack using a Sovereign or Eclipse class SSD on the opposite side of the DS from the SL could win victory.

[consequences]

It is entirely possible a well executed attack using a Sovereign or Eclipse class SSD on the opposite side of the DS from the SL could win victory.

Profoundly unlikely though. Disregarding the 2/3rds power argument, and actually analysing the described effects of the mini-superlaser makes it unlikely that the DS shields will be exceeded by any useful quantity.

Also, the 7000 TIE fighters attributed to the DS1 is very likely much lower than the real number, as they underestimate the size by 40 km of diameter, and the weapons numerical density by orders of magnitude.

Realistically, taking the known shield capacity of the DS(somewhere around 1E32 joules, taken from the Alderaan detonation that would have hit it) and taking it as its maximum available defense, you are going to need more than a million ISDs to have any real hope of taking it down conventionally. Since the DS1 can conservatively provide ten times that much power to continuously charging the Superlaser, the needed number of ships is almost certainly much higher.

[Techno_Union]

Question, kind of off topic, sorta, but how would a Galaxy Missile do against the DS1 or II? Would it be able to withstand TL blasts long enough to actualy get to the DS?

[consequences]

Question, kind of off topic, sorta, but how would a Galaxy Missile do against the DS1 or II? Would it be able to withstand TL blasts long enough to actualy get to the DS?

Funky chain reaction, but its possible that Pinnacle base was on a shielded planet. Bottom line, "Dunno"

Successful point defense interception will depend on speed of projectile, alert state of DS and warning time they receive, and exactly how tough that damned missile is(which is pretty much unknown).

[Alyeska]

It is entirely possible a well executed attack using a Sovereign or Eclipse class SSD on the opposite side of the DS from the SL could win victory.

Profoundly unlikely though. Disregarding the 2/3rds power argument, and actually analysing the described effects of the mini-superlaser makes it unlikely that the DS shields will be exceeded by any useful quantity.

Also, the 7000 TIE fighters attributed to the DS1 is very likely much lower than the real number, as they underestimate the size by 40 km of diameter, and the weapons numerical density by orders of magnitude.

Realistically, taking the known shield capacity of the DS(somewhere around 1E32 joules, taken from the Alderaan detonation that would have hit it) and taking it as its maximum available defense, you are going to need more than a million ISDs to have any real hope of taking it down conventionally. Since the DS1 can conservatively provide ten times that much power to continuously charging the Superlaser, the needed number of ships is almost certainly much higher.

The Death Stars planetary shields are limited by its surface area. Putting such a powerful shield on something with that much surface area has its limitations. Because of this the concentrated form of power in the mini SLs on a Sovereign or Eclipse has a real possibility of being able to penetrate through the Death Stars shields and cause significant damage. You need not down shields in order to get through them.