CT Fleet size at the battle of Yavin IV

We see at the end what amounts to relatively small numbers of X-Wing and Y-Wing squadrons against a massive number of TIE Fighters and the lasers of the Death Star. Given that these crafts were dodging lasers every minute it does not seem plausible they could get within range to fire at the exhaust port.

Does anyone have any estimates of the number of ships the Rebel Alliance put into space in order to penetrate the Death Stars overwhelming power. It seems that more than the number shown on screen were involved in the assault perhaps going after other sections of the Death Star keeping it preoccupied. Alternatively they may have concentrated their attacks on the lasers near the exhaust port to enable Luke and his squadron room to fly in and blow up the death machine.

 

As stated in the movie, it's 30 fighters. Whether or not that's all they had or all they could scramble under short notice is another debate. I like to assume the Alliance was very decentralized for their own safety. They could probably put together a ragtag fleet if needed but it wouldn't have done much good against the DS, which (again, as stated in the movie) was built to effectively fight bigger ships - not fighters.

By the time of the Battle of Endor, a bunch of planets/systems had defected to the Alliance. That's why they were able to put together a formidable (though still outclassed) armada for that engagement.

 

30 ships was that the number mentioned that includes the X-Wings & Y-Wings. I know the Y-Wings were supposed to be responsible for firing on the exhaust port and X-Wings were for cover.

 

The beginning of the battle in the Special Edition shows all 30 ships. They're all Red Squadron X-Wings and Gold Squadron Y-Wings.

 

Vader's aide counted 30 ships but I did an extensive research study on the Great Temple's exterior, analyzing all the footage from Shepperton's H stage hangar shots, according to which we are looking at a total

• 19 X-wing fighters
• 15-17 Y-wing fighters

(the Special Edition hangar panoramic shot added more, but I think we can assume that some fighters in the hangar were being repaired and did not take part in the battle)

I have to disagree with darklordoftech, according to the authentic 4th draft from April 19, 1976 (page # 102) Dodonna stated

"Yellow Squadron will cover for red on the first run. The green will cover for blue on the second. Any questions?"

In the final film "red" has become "Gold Squadron" while "blue" has become "Red Squadron" but the screenplay clearly suggests that more squadrons were involved, i.e. blue, green and/or yellow ("yellow" had probably become "gold").

I think at least Blue Squadron was involved, judging by the blue crest of Alderaan being displayed on many pilots' helmets.

 

If I remember right, if you count the ships in the SE shot of them approaching the death star, it's like 21 x-wings and 9 y-wings.

 

Then most of the Y-Wings we saw in the hangar were being repaired. The hangar set on Shepperton's H Stage set only had one lifesize X-Wing and one 3/4 built Y-Wing and an equal amount of cardboard fakes for both. In the departure scenes in ANH they were permanently rearranged, some shots were mirror-inverted and so on. But crazy as I am I did a count, matched it with the interior arrangement of the temple and its columns and arrived at the figure mentioned in my previous post.

 

My guess at the Squadron breakdown, based on 21 X-wings (movie approach shot) and 15-17 Y-wings (Lt. Hija's research) would be either:
Red Squadron: 12 X-wings - We know there's a Red 12, so this is probably a full squadron.
Blue (?) Squadron: 9 X-wings - The remainder of the 21 seen on screen.
Gold Squadron: 12 Y-wings (9 operational) - We see 9 flying but there are more counted in the hangar. We can assume the ones left behind were not operational.
The remaining 3-5 Y-wings as squadron or station hacks. Even if operational they would've been stripped of weapons.
Or:
X-wings as above
Gold Squadron: 9 Y-wings
Green or Yellow (?): 6-8 Y-wings
I don't think either of the Y-wing squadrons would be full if none of the ones left behind were hacks. Having a squadron of only 3-5 ships makes little sense when you can form two slightly understrength units and ease the workload on the squadron commanders.

 

Just when I needed a reason to go watch the most mind-blowing movie of the human race... you step up.

 

No comprende

 

The Death Star's defenses weren't a huge concern for the fighters. It's implied they're meant for use against larger ships. As when Vader is informed that there are 30 ships, but they're so small that they are evading the tubolasers. Which is why they launch the TIE fighters to destroy the ship to ship.

 

If anyone has played the new battlefront, if you ever take control of a turbo laser turret, you really see how hard it is to hit a starfighter with them.

Their fire rate is slow, their turning speed is slow, and of course the fighters themselves are small and fast. You either have to get a lucky shot, or hit them when they are coming straight on.

 

Yep, only one turbolaser managed to score a hit on an X-wing in the film. Poor Porkins...

 

Went back, there are 32 pilots in the briefing room including Luke. I'm guessing Luke as an untested pilot wouldn't have been allowed to bump another pilot from his slot, so perhaps two ships had to turn back after launch? Probably Y-wings, since we've been told they were fairly worn out in-universe.

 

Or, a couple of pilots came down with something and were declared "not well enough to fly" by the medics, between the briefing and the actual takeoffs.

I recall that being quite common in sci-fi - Starship Troopers (novel) did something similar.

 

Sarchet wrote

Went back, there are 32 pilots in the briefing room including Luke. I'm guessing Luke as an untested pilot wouldn't have been allowed to bump another pilot from his slot, so perhaps two ships had to turn back after launch? Probably Y-wings, since we've been told they were fairly worn out in-universe.

Not untested according to the radio drama. Luke had to demonstrate his skills in a flight simulator and his results were above the average. The radio drama also made it clear that Yavin IV was in desperate need of experienced pilots.

 

The newcanon novelization of ROTJ recanonized some scenes from the radio drama - Luke training in a simulator and doing brilliantly, was one.

 

The nuCanon novelization of ... ROJ?

 

Nerds

 

Sorry - that should be of ANH.

 

IIRC, the novelization said the Rebels launched 38 fighters, and an Imperial said they were attacking with at least 30.

 

Ok, I'll go pick up the new novelization and look. I only have a old copy (1st ed, 15th printing), and have never heard the radio version.
Sarge - 38 fighters would match perfectly with the upper number on screen, determined by 21 X-wings (approach shot) and 17 Y-wings (Lt. Hija's hangar research).

 

It's called A New Hope: The Princess, The Scoundrel and the Farmboy, and is not written by Alan Dean Foster but by Alexandra Bracken. So far it seems to be pretty well regarded.

Links to Preview chapters can be found here (as well as to the other two):

http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...en-adam-gidwitz-and-tom-angleburger.50030805/

 

Sarchet wrote

38 fighters would match perfectly with the upper number on screen, determined by 21 X-wings (approach shot) and 17 Y-wings (Lt. Hija's hangar research)

I...don't believe it. That's really quite a coincidence, then, because that research took me countless viewings and frame-by-frame analysis of the hangar footage.