Chief gunnery officer

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Chief gunnery officer, also called gunnery chief, was an assignment given on Imperial Navy Star Destroyers and Sentinel-class landing shuttles. The position was also on Y-4 Transports and pirate and privateer ships, being known as weapons officer in the second and third cases. In the Imperial Navy, under the gunnery captain's command, the chief gunnery officer managed the Star Destroyer's main weaponry. On Sentinel-class landing shuttles, they handled the laser cannons mounted on the ships' main troop compartments. For pirate ships, they were in charge of drills, supervising weapon and shield maintenance, and commanding tactical situations, and were also responsible for ship-wide security and boarding teams for privateer and other, larger vessels. During the Galactic Civil War, Lieutenant Hija, Niclara Varnillian, and Reagal Eron all served as Imperial chief gunnery officers.

Description

Chief gunnery officer,^[4] also referred to as gunnery chief,^[5] was an assignment on Star Destroyers of the Galactic Empire's Navy, which could be given to a naval lieutenant. Only one chief gunnery officer could serve on a given starship.^[4] Those assigned to the role managed the main weaponry of the vessel under the command of the gunnery captain^[1] and wore a black Imperial Navy crewman's uniform.^[2]

The chief gunnery officer, also known as gunnery chief, was a position on Sentinel-class landing shuttles as well.^[6] Interchangeably called head gunnery officer in the role,^[7] they were the head gunner and part of a crew consisting of the pilot, co-pilot, and two other gunners. The gunnery chiefs handled the four laser cannons mounted on each side of the Sentinel-class landing shuttle's main troop compartment, while the other gunners handled the vessel's ion cannons, repeating blasters, and concussion missiles.^[8] Y-4 Transports also used chief gunnery officers as part of the command crew, along with the pilot, and a second gunnery officer. The chief gunner handled the transports' forward weaponry, which included two fire-linked laser cannons and a recessed concussion-missile launcher with a magazine of six missiles. T-4 Transports saw usage by the Empire, the Rebel Alliance, as well as civilians, and went on to be popularly used by Zsinj's Empire.^[6]

Chief gunnery officer, or weapons officer, was also used on pirate vessels, having responsibility for drills, supervising weapon and shield maintenance, and commanding tactical situations during actions. When the pirates proceeded to boarding target ships, the chief gunnery officers would use threatening laser cannon fire to make sure their targets would quickly heel, alongside ion cannons and tractor beams to bring in prizes. On privateer and other larger ships, chief gunnery officers were also responsible for ship-wide security and boarding teams.^[9]

History

Lieutenant Hija

The Human^[2] Lieutenant Hija served the Imperial Navy as the chief gunnery officer aboard^[1] the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer^[2] Devastator, and managed the Star Destroyer's main weaponry.^[1] Around 7 BBY,^[11] Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader ordered the bombardment of the planet Falleen in order to stop a bacterial plague that was spreading from a laboratory on the planet.^[10]

Around seven years later,^[12] during the battle of Tatooine in the Galactic Civil War, Hija, still serving aboard the Devastator, spotted an escape pod jettisoned from the captured Tantive IV, one of the Alliance's CR90 corvettes.^[1] However, his^[13] superior, Gunnery Captain Bolvan, ordered him not to fire because the Star Destroyer's gunnery sensors indicated that no lifeforms were aboard. The escape pod, in truth, contained the Rebel droids C-3PO and R2-D2, in possession of the stolen plans for the Empire's Death Star battle station.^[1]

Other chief gunnery officers

The Human Niclara Varnillian became chief gunnery officer on the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Pulsar^[14] that same year,^[12] between the Empire's destruction of her homeworld Alderaan and the Battle of Yavin.^[14] In 3 ABY,^[15] Varnillian was on leave on the planet Ord Mantell when she recognized Alliance operatives Lieutenant Commander Anson Blazer and Lieutenant Alton Lochner. Along with Imperial soldiers, Varnillian botched her attempt to capture the pair, resulting in a firefight that led to several Imperial soldier and civilian fatalities. After all but two of the Alliance operatives escaped, Varnillian returned to the Pulsar and was demoted for the failure.^[14]

In 0 ABY,^[16] a lieutenant served as the chief gunnery officer aboard the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Liquidator. He answered to Captain Skeezer, who was tasked to go to the Yavin system to investigate why the Star Destroyer got no message from the Death Star. Neither the Liquidator's commanding officer, Admiral Terno, nor anybody else aboard the Destroyer knew the Death Star was destroyed in the Battle of Yavin. The lieutenant was among those dispatched with Skeezer in a long-range modified Carrack cruiser. He answered Skeezer's query about which of the moons of Yavin could support life with his understanding of Yavin 4, 8, and 13. Skeezer decided to take the cruiser to Yavin 4, being the closest one, before the cruiser was discovered by the Alliance presence at the Great Temple on the moon and the freighter Millennium Falcon shot the cruiser down. In the subsequent battle, Skeezer's forces were defeated while he was captured by the Alliance.^[17]

At some point between 0 ABY and 4 ABY,^[18] Reagal Eron served as the chief gunnery officer of the Star Destroyer Eradicator. Eron was happy with that assignment, and at one point recounted serving as the adjutant of Imperial Governor Isis, and witnessing bounty hunter Boba Fett collect his reward for the capture of pirate Feldrall Okor. Eron considered the chief gunnery officer assignment to be far better than serving as Governor Isis's adjutant.^[3]

In 2 ABY,^[19] a chief gunnery officer was assigned to serve aboard one of 100 Victory-class Star Destroyers which had been refurbished with havod alloy plating. As the refurbishing made the ships a reddish color, the chief gunnery officer was one of many who subsequently requested transferring out of their assignments aboard the refurbished Destroyers.^[5]

Behind the scenes

The position of chief gunnery officer first appeared in the 1976 novelization of the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.^[1] Hija's scene also appeared in the film itself, which saw release in 1977.^[2] In the novel,^[1] which was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster,^[20] Hija is referred to as one of Bolvan's chief gunnery officers,^[1] before only one such officer was established to serve on the Devastator by the Star Wars Encyclopedia,^[21] released June 30, 1998.^[22] In fall of the same year, Star Wars: Behind the Magic repeated that only one chief gunnery officer served on the Devastator,^[4] and 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia mentioned the same thing.^[13]

Other names

March 19, 1996's^[23] The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels also included the chief gunnery officer, and interchangeably called the role chief gunner. This article makes no assumptions about if chief gunner is another official in-universe designation.^[6] Of note, on January 21, 2014,^[24] "The Devious Neimoidians Revealed," an article written for the 147th issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine, coined the term of "Chief Gunner" for Jull Dremon, a Neimoidian^[25] who was onscreen and serving the Trade Federation in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.^[26] This article does not automatically assume the positions are the same role, nor does it assume that any other usage of "chief gunner" in Star Wars media is a reference to a chief gunnery officer if not literally specified as such.

In May of that year, a chief gunnery officer also appeared in the "Galaxywide NewsNets" feature of West End Games' Star Wars Adventure Journal 10, and was called a "gunnery chief," which is the only time this article assumes that a reference to a "gunnery chief" in Star Wars media is a reference to a chief gunnery officer.^[5] The 1997 sourcebook Pirates & Privateers noted that the chief gunnery officer position was also known as "weapons officer" aboard pirate and privateer vessels.^[9] Note that while the weapons officer term was coined in 1984's A Guide to the Star Wars Universe,^[27] this article does not treat the positions as globally the same in-universe, and treats only the weapons officers mentioned in Pirates and Privateers as confirmed chief gunnery officers as that source directly says that pirate and privateer vessels recognize both terms for the position.^[9] On September 25, 2002,^[28] the 39th issue of The Official Star Wars Fact File identified "chief gunnery officer" as "head gunnery officer."^[7]

Appearances

Explore all of Wookieepedia's media for this article subject:
Audio · Images

• "The Lesser Evil" — Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook
• Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
• Star Wars: A New Hope novelization (and unabridged audiobook) (First appearance, in book)
• Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope junior novelization
• Star Wars: A New Hope - The Special Edition 1 (Voice only)
• Star Wars Manga: A New Hope 1
• Star Wars Missions 1: Assault on Yavin Four
• "This Guy Just Doesn't Care" — Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters
• "Galaxywide NewsNets" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 10 (First identified as gunnery chief)

Non-canon appearances

• William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope (and audiobook)

Sources

• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe
• The Star Wars Rules Companion
• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
• "Wanted by Cracken" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 8
• The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
• Pirates & Privateers (First identified as weapons officer)
• Star Wars Trilogy Sourcebook, Special Edition
• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: Behind the Magic
• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded
• Rebellion Era Sourcebook
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 39 SEN 1-2: Sentinel-class Imperial Landing Craft (First identified as head gunnery officer)
• Episode IV Visual Guide — Chapter 4: Artoo's Mission on StarWars.com (original site is defunct) (Picture only)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (Mentioned in multiple entries, but without own entry)
• The Official Star Wars Fact File Part 45 SEN 1-2: Sentinel-class Imperial landing craft (as head gunnery officer)

Notes and references