Venator-class Star Destroyer Mark I

Called a Star Destroyer, the Venator-class is more akin to a fleet carrier than a true Star Destroyer. It lacks the heavy armament of its successors as well as dedicated ground assault forces, focusing mainly on starfighter combat. Although the Empire largely phased the Venator out in favor of the Imperator-class Star Destroyer after the Clone Wars, the ship still sees service in Imperial fleets as a more powerful version of the common Escort Carrier.

The Venator has also made its way into the navies of independent governments.

History
Kuat Drive Yards quickly positioned itself as the preeminent supplier of powerful warships to the Republic during the Clone Wars. Its secret development subsidiary, Rothana Heavy Engineering, had clandestinely constructed the first generation of military hardware for the Grand Army of the Republic. When that army was publicly revealed during the Battle of Geonosis, Kuati executives were quick to downplay Rothana's name, crediting the whole venture to the foresight and inventiveness of the parent company's leadership. A media saturation campaign crediting Republic victories to the ships of Kuat Drive Yards helped spread this message across the galaxy. The Venator-class Star Destroyer was one of several wedge-ship designs to come out of the development think-tank led by engineer Lira Blissex. At over a kilometer in length, it was big and powerful enough to tangle with the Separatist fleets, but it was also quite fast. Its huge reactor-powered sublight engines afforded the Venator-class Star Destroyer respectable speed, enabling it to chase down blockade runners and smaller combat vessels.

Its surface was dotted with eight heavy turbolasers, two medium dual turbolaser cannons, 52 point-defense laser cannons, four proton torpedo tubes and six tractor beam projectors. In a creative move, some captains would use carried SPHA-T walkers to fire out of the ventral docking bay, supplementing the ship's considerable firepower without taxing its energy reserves.

Though it was capable of making planetary landings, this versatile Star Destroyer was used mostly as a spacebound fighting ship. This meant its hangars were stocked with starfighters rather than ground craft. Its standard complement included 192 V-19 Torrent or V-wing fighters, 192 Jedi starfighters, 36 ARC-170 fighters, and 20 LAAT/I gunships.

While the Venator Star Destroyer offered much for its developers to take pride in, the relentless taskmaster Blissex was not content. She had bigger plans in mind. She used her past successes to green-light the ultimate warship of her dreams, the Imperator-class Star Destroyer. Shortly after the end of the Clone Wars, the first test-bed models of this mighty warship were already functioning in classified Imperial shipyards accessible only the New Order's elite.

After Blissex's marriage to Denn Wessex, one of Palpatine's first regional governors to be installed, she used her newfound political clout to prioritize the expansion of the Star Destroyer program. From these early designs, the final Imperial-class would forever change the way order was maintained in the galaxy.

Link
Some Information courtesy of The Star Wars Databank