The first Star Destroyer to appear in Star Wars is of the Imperial class, and this type most frequently appears in the original trilogy. Although the ship appears in A New Hope (1977), the term "Star Destroyer" is not used in dialog until Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
In the original draft scripts of the movie that would become Star Wars, the term "Stardestroyer" refers to two-man fighters flown by what would become the Galactic Empire in later drafts. Industrial Light & Magic built a 91-centimeter shooting model of the ship for A New Hope; they built a 259-centimeter model, equipped with internal lighting to provide a better sense of scale, for The Empire Strikes Back.
Imperial-class Star Destroyers are constructed by Kuat Drive Yards and hold a distinguished place in the Imperial Navy, symbolizing the Empire's military might with a peak number of more than 25,000 vessels. Like the Victory- and Venator-class ships that precede it, the Imperial Star Destroyer is most notable for its massive size and overwhelming firepower; a single Imperial-class ship is capable of overwhelming most starships or devastating a hostile planet, and its mere presence is often enough to deter rebellion. At 1,600 meters long, Imperial-class Star Destroyers are armed with turbolasers, ion cannons and tractor beam projectors. They carry 72 , numerous ground forces (including stormtroopers, AT-ATs, AT-STs and AT-PTs), a prefabricated base for rapid deployment to planetary surfaces and a variety of support and landing craft.
Following the climactic Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance captured several Imperial-class ships and added them to their own fleet. As the Rebel Alliance transitioned into the New Republic and gradually took large portions of the galaxy from the remnants of the Empire, it was able to procure more of the powerful ships as well as the vital shipyards and facilities with which to operate them. Although the New Republic eventually upgrades its starfleet with newer ship types, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer remains in service well into the New Jedi Order era and fights during the Yuuzhan Vong war.