Editing Star Destroyer (section)

=== Depiction ===
The ''Venator''-class Star Destroyer makes its first theatrical appearance in ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' during the opening [[Battle of Coruscant]].  Within the ''Star Wars'' setting, these ships are regarded as the most powerful capital ships of the [[Galactic Republic (Star Wars)|Republic]] Navy during the [[Clone Wars (Star Wars)|Clone Wars]], serving double duty as battleships and starfighter carriers.<ref name=USWNE303>Barr, et al. (2019), p. 303</ref>  These massive ships require a relatively small crew to operate, a deliberate feature compensating for the fact that the [[Confederacy of Independent Systems|Separatists]] can produce [[battle droid]]s faster than the Republic can grow [[clone troopers]].<ref name=SWCVNE80>Dougherty, et al. (2020), p. 78-80</ref>  As a true warship, the ''Venator''-class can feed nearly its entire reactor output (which at maximum power consumes 40,000 tons of fuel per second) into its heavy turbolasers to devastating effect.<ref name=SWCVNE80/>  As a carrier, the Star Destroyer can rapidly deploy hundreds of starfighters, including [[ARC-170]]s, [[V-wing starfighter|V-wings]], [[Z-95|Z-95 Headhunters]] and [[Jedi interceptor]]s, from a {{convert|.5|km|abbr=on}}-long dorsal flight deck.  While strong [[Technology in Star Wars#Force fields|deflector shielding]] is employed around the armored bow doors, they are slow to open or close, presenting a weakness in the vessel's design.<ref name=USWNE303/><ref name=SWCVNE80/><ref name=Walker194>Walker (2018), p. 194</ref>

During the Clone Wars these Star Destroyers, referred to also as Republic attack cruisers or [[Jedi]] cruisers, play an important role combating Separatist fleets and providing supporting fire for ground forces.<ref name=USWNE303/>  Thanks to their superior firepower, the ''Venator''-class has a strong advantage against Separatist warships, and a small flotilla of attack cruisers can easily blast through the deflector shields of a [[Trade Federation Battleship]].<ref name=SWCVNE80/>  At the Battle of Coruscant, over a thousand attack cruisers are deployed to defend the planet,<ref name=Walker194/> one of which (the Star Destroyer ''Guarlara'') delivers a devastating barrage to the [[Invisible Hand (Star Wars)|''Invisible Hand'']] at [[point-blank range]].<ref name=SWCVNE80/> After the end of the Clone Wars and creation of the [[Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Galactic Empire]], these Star Destroyers will continue to serve for decades in the Imperial Navy until eventually replaced with the ''Imperial''-class Star Destroyer.<ref name=SWCVNE80/>