# Explain how a teeny A-wing can bring down a Super Star Destroyer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2004, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258 "2004-08-04T08:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/21 "2004-08-04T18:28:57Z")
> [@Steve MB](#): > > As it was put in a different fictional universe: > > “This [staff weapon] is a weapon of **terror**. It’s made to **intimidate** the enemy. This [P90 SMG] is a weapon of **war** ; it’s made to **kill** your enemy.” --Col. Jack O’Neill Thanks to that episode, I picked the P90 for a whole day while playing Counterstrike. It didn’t work that well… ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/22 "2004-08-04T18:34:57Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Also, it kind of bugs me that the whole thing would light up like a Ford Pinto when it hit the Death Star. Wouldn’t it just kind of ‘pierce’ the Death Star a bit? Or bounce off/skid? 😕 In the 1980s, the special effects (or budget) was probably not enough to show more than an explosion. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/23 "2004-08-04T20:37:40Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Okay, so nobody remembers the squid-boy Admiral saying “Concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer”? No, but I do seem to recall him saying… **"It’s a trap!"** ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/24 "2004-08-04T20:39:47Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > In Army-Talk this is called a ‘Golden BB.’ History is full of them. And the space opera genre is even fuller! ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/25 "2004-08-04T23:55:02Z")
It’s possible that the Super Star Destroyer didn’t even have an auxilary bridge. The SSD is the biggest, toughest, most bad-ass warship in the galaxy. It’s so huge, it has a docking bay that appears to be big enough to dock _Star Destroyers_ in. It’s possible that the ship’s designers figured that the Rebels would never be crazy enough to actually atttack the thing, and so they didn’t design in very much redundancy. Or maybe, like the Titanic, the crew figured that their ship was indestructable, so they were a bit lax about training for emergency procedures. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/26 "2004-08-05T01:21:01Z")
I am not a Star Destroyer (but I play on TV). The parallel battle is the Rebel X-wings vs the Death Star in Episode IV, which is obviously meant to capture some possibly erroneous analogy between the British troops _vs._ the American colonial minutemen, to wit: the (Galactic) Empire never believed their Death Star would ever be under attack by mosquito-sized one-man spacecraft. The Rebel general observes that the Death Star’s defenses are designed around a direct large-scale assault; its stationary defenses are wholly inadequate to shoot down a single X-wing. I wonder if Lucas was clumsily drawing a parallel (Asian pilot, remember) to the kamikaze pilots in World War 2 who were able to significantly damage US battleships with the use of the collision course. Now that I recall, there is a Star Destroyer evidently destroyed (or severely incapacitated) while pursuing the _Millenium Falcon_ through an asteroid field. There is a quick shot of an asteroid colliding with the bridge tower—quick cut to Vader as he speaks to several hologrammatic Imperial officers, one of whom is cringing and flickering out. So it’s clear that the force fields in Star Wars aren’t very good. Except, um, those on the _Millenium Falcon_, because _it_ gets hit by an asteroid and… um… doesn’t explode. But a couple of shots on the back quarter by Star Destroyer turbolasers and their shields go down! Which means … um … that the turbolasers on a Star Destroyer are more powerful than an asteroid. But wait a minute, TIE fighters are one-man fighters _without_ shields, right? They’re designed for speed and heavy weapons, not for defenses. (Clone pilots are expendable.) They go nose-to-nose with Rebel X-wings which are slower but which have shields. So maybe the Empire’s military strategy is balls-out attack and to hell with defense? Look man, I don’t know. The only thing that _really_ bugs me is when two Star Destroyers fly right at a third in an attempt to trap the _Falcon_ in some kind of pincer movement but realize (stupidly) that they’re driving into each other nose first. Um, duh. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/27 "2004-08-05T01:38:49Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Also, it kind of bugs me that the whole thing would light up like a Ford Pinto when it hit the Death Star. Wouldn’t it just kind of ‘pierce’ the Death Star a bit? Or bounce off/skid? 😕 I guess it was a Ford Star Destroyer. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/28 "2004-08-05T01:52:03Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Well, the entire bridge crew was shown doing what I call “The Toonses Response” to danger, which is to scream and gesticulate wildy while careening your vehicle into oblivion. Meh - that’s there response to everything. Like when they got “buzzed” by the Millenium Falcon and then lost it on radar. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/29 "2004-08-05T02:33:48Z")
Now, see, if it hadn’t taken until years later when Timothy Zahn started writing SW novels for the Empire to unleash Grand Admiral Thrawn on the Galaxy, we wouldn’t be having these problems, now, would we? But, no, the Emperor had to hide his absolute bestest military commander off in some obscure corner of the galaxy where he would never be able to get in on any of the significant action. So, the guy who trains his men to think on their feet and, like, show initiative doesn’t get to see much real action until both the Emperor and Vader kick the proverbial bucket. I guarantee you, if Thrawn had been in command of that SSD, the Empire would have won. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/30 "2004-08-05T03:02:49Z")
If Thrawn had been there, the Emperor and Vader would still be dead…only Thrawn would have engineered their deaths while winning a famous victory, killing Luke, defeating the Rebels, nailing Leia, and turning Chewie into a rug! Man, Thrawn was a bad-ass! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/31 "2004-08-05T03:39:38Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > Now that I recall, there is a Star Destroyer evidently destroyed (or severely incapacitated) while pursuing the _Millenium Falcon_ through an asteroid field. There is a quick shot of an asteroid colliding with the bridge tower—quick cut to Vader as he speaks to several hologrammatic Imperial officers, one of whom is cringing and flickering out. If you have the Pan-n-Scan version of the movie, this portion of the image has been cut out. “Full screen” indeed. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/32 "2004-08-05T04:15:16Z")
> [@](#): > > But wait a minute, TIE fighters are one-man fighters without shields, right? They’re designed for speed and heavy weapons, not for defenses. Not so, on approaching the Death Star, the Big Fat Pilot orders his guys to put shields on double front. For some reason I love that line. ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/33 "2004-08-05T04:32:20Z")
I think the simplest answer is that the force was with it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/34 "2004-08-05T04:42:04Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Not so, on approaching the Death Star, the Big Fat Pilot orders his guys to put shields on double front. > > For some reason I love that line. Big Fat Pilot wasn’t flying a TIE fighter, either. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/35 "2004-08-05T05:51:52Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Consider HMS Hood, she took (what seems to have been) a single shot into a weak point in her armor. The explosion was communicated down to the (ammunition) magazine and the whole thing went up like a Super Star Destroyer. “Good shot, Hans! _Hood_ went up like a Super Star Destroyer!” “Thank you, Herr Captain!” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/36 "2004-08-05T06:26:52Z")
Well the SSD was being driven by some old guy who panicked and hit the gas instead of the brake. And when the SSD didn’t stop, he panicked more and pressed his foot down harder. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/37 "2004-08-05T06:52:14Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Well the SSD was being driven by some old guy who panicked and hit the gas instead of the brake. > > And when the SSD didn’t stop, he panicked more and pressed his foot down harder. _chuckles_ I’m sure that’s the explanation they gave to the Star Destroyer Insurance Claims guy 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/38 "2004-08-08T02:13:22Z")
I always thought that it looked like that fireball was coming from the Death Star, not the SSD. As soon as it’s nose hits the Death Star’s surface, there’s this giant ball of fire racing up the length of the ship. I think they hit a major fuel storage tank or something equally volatile. Maybe just pure oxygen, to be mixed into the DS’s internal atmosphere. It’s also worth pointing out, as everybody makes this mistake (including all of the video games that feature you piloting an X-Wing against a SD), that blowing up that big globe on the top of the SD’s bridge _is not what made the shields go down._ That would be impossible, because the globes themselves would be protected by the shields. Rather, the shields had collapsed under the concentrated barrage of the Rebel fleet. When that big ball exploded was when they _realized_ that their shots were scoring actual hits on the SD’s hull. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/39 "2004-08-08T02:36:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Apparently this is severe enough for the Super Star Destroyer to swerve out of control and hit the Death Star like some gargantuan lawn dart, EXPLODING on impact. See, this is why the Galactic Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued a ban on Super Star Destroyers. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258/40 "2004-08-08T03:31:20Z")
Okay, people with way too much time on their hands have been [working up the technical specs for star destroyers.](http://www.theforce.net/swtc/isd.html) I’ll leave it as an exercise for someone else to dig through the reams of data (including the distribution of weapons on an SD) to see if there’s an answer there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-how-a-teeny-a-wing-can-bring-down-a-super-star-destroyer/258258.md?page=3)