Grievous's frigate

Grievous's frigate was a Munificent-class star frigate used as the personal flagship of General Grievous in the Confederacy of Independent Systems' naval forces during the Clone Wars between the Confederacy and Galactic Republic. In 22 BBY, when the heavy cruiser Malevolence was lost under his command, Grievous was forced to post his command aboard numerous disposable frigates, using one in a number of engagements and claiming several victories with it. With five other frigates accompanying his own, the general targeted the strategic world Bothawui after capturing the planet Falleen.

Later that year, the frigate fleet moved to capture Bothawui to advance in the Mid Rim. Coming into contention with the fleet of Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, Grievous's fleet was unwittingly drawn into a trap set prior to the battle. With deflector shields all angled forward, a tank brigade scattered throughout the asteroid field came out of hiding and out-flanked the frigates, which were destroyed in quick succession, including Grievous's flagship. The general himself escaped aboard his starfighter Soulless One into hyperspace.

Description

Incorporated into the Confederacy of Independent Systems Navy, the Separatists used a Munificent-class star frigate as General Grievous's flagship. Otherwise used for ship-to-ship combat as a warship,^[1] Grievous's frigate^[6] reached 825 meters in length, 426 meters in width, and 243 meters in height.^[2] The command bridge was on a forward-facing platform placed along the dorsal surface, where the vessel's captain oversaw operations from a central chair. The rest of the crew operated from several other chairs and monitor screens, some of which displayed progressing battles or tactical information on other starships. Surrounding the bridge were numerous^[1] high-performance sensor antennas that were designed to monitor a fleet's perimeters at light-day ranges. Grievous's frigate was also equipped with numerous docking rings, superdense reactant tanks, and two port and starboard hyperwave supralight transceivers.^[3]

The frigate received its sublight-to-hyperspace propulsion capabilities from seven ion drive thrusters^[3] and a hyperdrive generator, the former of which were physically shielded by the ship's hull. Meanwhile, the frigate was protected by a deflector shield projected from a forward-to-aft angling generator and powerful hull armor that could withstand multiple asteroid strikes and heavy firepower.^[1] For offensive measures, the Munificent came mounted with a weapons array of two heavy turbolaser cannons that slowly maneuvered on an elevation platform, which were deadly to other warships. These cannons were supplemented by an additional two prow-mounted heavy ion cannons situated directly under the bridge and thirty-four twin light turbolaser cannons.^[3] To engage in ship-to-ship combat, the Munificent was loaded with a maximum of four squadrons of forty-eight vulture droid starfighters.^[2] Grievous's personal Belbullab-22 heavy starfighter Soulless One launched from a port hangar bay.^[1] The ship employed up to 150,000 battle droids for ground assault and anti-boarding actions.^[2]

History

Grievous's Separatist conquest

General Grievous's frigate was constructed for the Confederacy of Independent Systems, designed for combat-communications, and built to assist with fleet navigation and coordination through enemy territories.^[2] Early in the Clone Wars between the Separatists and Galactic Republic^[1] in 22 BBY,^[4] the Separatist navy was robbed of both an effective anti-Republic warship^[7] and Grievous's flagship^[8]—the Subjugator-class heavy cruiser Malevolence—at the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula following^[7] a months-long Malevolence Campaign.^[9] Grievous's reputation had greatly suffered from such a significant defeat, which prevented him from holding command over further important vessels. As punishment, the general was forced into posting his command aboard disposable Munificent-class vessels,^[7] making one his flagship for a time early in the war.^[1]

Even with the numerous setbacks, the Separatists simply progressed their galactic conquest.^[5] From a six-ship fleet of Munificent-class frigates,^[1] Grievous personally directed campaigns in the Outer Rim Territories with information gained by the Skytop Station listening post in^[5] the Mid Rim's^[10] Ruusan system. Within a month, the Republic's foothold of the Outer Rim became jeopardized by the general's invasions and blockades of hyperlanes for^[5] the planets^[8] Bespin, Kessel, and Mon Cala. Advancing the campaign into^[5] the Mid Rim,^[11] Grievous set his sights on the world Bothawui, a strategic location and vital planet to Republic Intelligence. However, the general altered the plan after learning that Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and a fleet of three Venator-class Star Destroyers were assigned to protect Bothawui. Grievous used his fleet,^[5] which included his own frigate,^[1] to force the Republic out of hyperspace and into a brief skirmish before they reached Bothawui. The Republic nevertheless reached Bothawui, forcing Grievous to adapt his strategy by stopping his pursuit of Skywalker and commanding his forces to attack the planet Falleen instead, resulting in the Republic's loss of their defending battle group.^[5]

Battle of Bothawui

Later in the year,^[4] Grievous returned to his attempt at taking Bothawui but received warnings from Separatist spies that Skywalker's fleet was located beyond the orbiting^[1] Fervse'dra asteroid belt.^[12] Entering from hyperspace, the frigate fleet found the warnings to be accurate; Skywalker's Star Destroyers had been waiting for them. Rationalizing a from-above attack would be to Skywalker's advantage, Grievous implemented an unusual tactic by approaching through the asteroids to engage them. While unaware of an All Terrain Tactical Enforcer brigade scattered in the field, the frigates diverted all power to their forward deflector shields as the Separatists believed that the asteroids would prevent an attack from behind. Meanwhile, Republic forces had deployed starfighters of Gold Squadron under Skywalker's personal command to lure Grievous into their trap. While the three Star Destroyers waited, the frigates fully closed in and opened fire on them, incapacitating one after continuous heavy fire and forcing Gold Squadron into evasive action.^[1]

As Grievous prepared to finish off the Republic forces, Skywalker called the tank brigade out of hiding to catch the Separatist fleet off-guard. Outflanked and having diverted power to forward shields, the frigates were fired upon by AT-TE walkers from behind, and one of them was destroyed. The surprise allowed Skywalker to enter the battle and the Star Destroyers to commence firing, an attack that destroyed the other two Separatist frigates. Realizing the battle was lost, Grievous boarded his starfighter Soulless One and jetted out of the hangar. Though he was pursued by Skywalker, the general escaped into hyperspace and allowed the Star Destroyers to destroy his flagship with the rest of the crew still aboard. After the battle, the frigate fleet's wreckage drifted in the asteroid field, where its debris was scoured by the scavenger Gha Nachkt. Grievous later replaced his flagship with another Munificent.^[1]

Commanders and crew

Although disposable in nature, the frigate became a flagship of General Grievous, who held overall command of it and other vessels of its accompanying fleet. Like all other Munificent-class vessels, Grievous's frigate^[1] required a crew of 200 personnel,^[2] including a single OOM command battle droid, at least one OOM pilot battle droid, and other B1-series battle droids. The standard B1 droids and the OOM pilot unit operated the Munificent's systems, including its deflector shields and weaponry, whereas the OOM command unit took the captain's seat and even assumed command in Grievous's stead.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Grievous's frigate first appeared in flashbacks of "Rising Malevolence,"^[13] the second episode of the first season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which originally aired on October 3, 2008.^[14] The frigate later made its full appearance in "Downfall of a Droid,"^[1] the first season's sixth episode, which aired on November 7 of that same year.^[15] It was later identified in "Modified Belbullab-22 — Souless One,"^[6] an article written by Mark Newbold^[16] and published in the "Starship Fact File" department of the fortieth issue of the Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon magazine,^[6] published by De Agostini around October 7, 2015.^[17]

There are a number of animation errors regarding the ship's droid crew in "Downfall of a Droid." In one shot, the OOM command battle droid is mistakenly depicted as a standard B1. Later in the episode, Grievous stands next to a seated OOM pilot droid, but in a wide shot from outside the frigate that occurs afterward, all of the crew are standing, with no droid beside Grievous. When the shot returns to the bridge a few seconds later, the general is again stood next to the same seated pilot.^[1]

Appearances

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rising Malevolence" (First appearance) (In flashback(s))
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Downfall of a Droid"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Duel of the Droids" (In flashback(s))
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Bombad Jedi" (In flashback(s))

Sources

• The Clone Wars Episode Guide: Downfall of a Droid on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
• "Downfall of a Droid" Episode Guide | The Clone Wars on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 40 Starship Fact File: Modified Belbullab-22 — Soulless One (First identified as Grievous's frigate)
• Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 75 Starship Fact File: The Invisible Hand (Indirect mention only)
• The Clone Wars Rewatch: A Friend Lost Among the Stars in "Downfall of a Droid" on StarWars.com (backup link) (Picture only)
• Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy
• Clone Captain Rex in the Databank (backup link)

Notes and references

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