Imperial escort carrier

The Imperial escort carrier was a type of capital ship used exclusively by the Galactic Empire's storm commandos.

Characteristics
The Storm commandos' Imperial escort carrier[1] was different from the standard escort carrier of the Imperial Navy. It was a nimble, narrow-hulled ship, with a flared arrowhead bow, and three sublight thrusters mounted in a vertical row on the stern. Its most prominent weapons were two single-barreled cannon mounted turrets on the dorsal centerline, with a wide field of fire ahead, above, and to either flank. There were also two double-barreled weapons mountings on the ventral centerline, both fore of the hangar bay, while two small turreted cannons were mounted on the very tip of the bow.[2] They were slower than T-65B X-wing starfighters.[1]

Like normal carriers, it was capable of deploying TIE starfighters into battle, including the advanced TIE Hunter, and it had a large hangar opening on each side of the hull, but it was also capable of engaging in combat on its own account. Ships of this type were used to attack medium-sized craft and transports of the Rebel Alliance, boarding and seizing the Rebel starships and their crew.[2]

As the storm commandos were regarded as elite infantry, these ships were capable of deploying troops for planetary assault. The warship carried a complement of four escape pods in case of an emergency.