Reading Heir to the Empire

[Aotrs Commander]

My understanding is that "Star Destroyer" in SW doesn't mean a utility escort, as it means in our world. It means a vessel capable of inflicting destruction on an inhabited system. Hence the term STAR destroyer as opposed to just "destroyer" .

As an adjunct to this, it is worth noting that the etymology of "Destroyer" comes from "torpedo boat Destroyer" i.e. a vessel made to destroy torpedo boats. The word has become associated so much with it being its own thing in the entire century since it was shortened to "destroyer" that you would think it's child-logic its called "destroyer" because its destroys things. To the point where I, as a child, called a class of vessel designed to hunt fighters (basically a bigger, more well armed smallcraft) a "fighter destroyer" but in later years just assumed that was child-logic and took to calling stuff like that "fightercruisers." Fast forward to a few years ago, when actually (for an alien race) looking up the origins of naval terminology (as said aliens would use slightly different terms) and found out that, no, I had been basically right in the first place. (And in fact, was probably always right to question why a "guided missile destroyer" or "helicopter destroyer" is the old game Sea Strike carried, but not destroy, guided missiles and helicopters respectively...)

Further, it perhaps also pertient to note that "destroyer" is now the nearly unilateral large ship classification in modern navies, with really on the US and Russia having larger classes.