Ranking the Galactic Starfleets of Star Wars | Power Projection, Operating Forces, & Leadership

Many powers have attempted to take control of the galaxy, but there rule only extended as far as their starfleets. So which of them possessed the most capable fleet?

00:00 | Introduction
01:49 | The Contenders & Grading Factors
03:52 | The Republic Navy of the Galactic Republic
07:09 | Separatist Navy of the Confederacy of Independent Systems
10:30 | Imperial Starfleet of the Galactic Empire
13:51 | Rebel Fleet of the Alliance to Restore The Republic
16:45 | New Republic Defense Fleet of the New Republic
18:54 | First Order Navy of the First Order
21:07 | Final Rankings

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[redmm]

I think the key to both the failings and successes of the republic, CIS and Empire is Palpatine. If he were removed from the equation I think they will be very different organizations. Thrawn proved that in spades during his campaign.

[vallahdsacretor]

I would say that the X factor for the Separatists is that their navy was, by and large, extremely cost effective. Utilizing droids cut down on required man power for basically everything that didn't require a critical eye. Most fighters were mass produced droid fighters designed for a purpose, most ships were retrofitted from standardized carriers and cargo freighters, and they had numerous manufacturing facilities across the Galaxy. It wasn't quality that was giving them an edge. Just like with their ground forces, they utilized quantity to get results. Every soldier was expendable since another 5, 000, 000 were already in production, every ship lost was much less costly given the minimal amount of crew, and thus skill, lost, and there was always more to come.

[inquisitorgarza]

In truth both the Old Republic and the Confederacy were the only true naval powers within the Galaxy that revolutionize combat doctrines, created inventions that shape the Galaxy to come, and it was the Clone Wars that many of the factions on this list that they learned their lessons from.

[thecoolerrats]

The most important ship introduced by the imperial starfleet that filled a gap in the republic fleet weren’t the dreadnoughts, it was the Interdictor.

[desel]

one *BIG* problem between cis and republic is the fact, that they are controled by ONE single person who told the cis AND republic command how and where to attack or withdraw directly or indirectly.

[ZandrParkour]

I strongly disagree with the assessment on the CIS's "Area Denial". Blockades were a core tenant of their doctrine, and were repeatedly shown to inflict heavy losses on Republic assets. The only instances I can think of where the blockades were shown to be broken were all through the intervention of a handful of specific Jedi using unorthodox strategies, often resulting in the sacrifice of at least one Venator, or in one instance exploiting a prototype cloaking device. These are exceptions, not the rule.

The rest of your assessments I generally agree with.

[Edge-wxhv]

honestly, given their reliance on battle droids (and the sheer scale of that industrial operation) the Confederacy had an enormous numerical advantage that, had they been led properly, would have meant their victory. Holding might have been a different matter, but they are the only galactic power that could meaningfully employ ground invasions in numbers that would matter, and bulk up their starship crews such that they could have conceivably gone for a quantity over quality approach and flooded the galaxy. though i dont think its *just* sith sabotage and egomania in their leadership that are responsible for their failure to employ this advantage effectively, as the Galaxy has indicated that droid manufacturers and the populace at large are in fact, paranoid about a potential AI uprising that a CIS victory might well have made possible. an uprising that may *still be* possible what with the enormous amount of materiel the CIS built and eventually left derelict. space is hard on electronics, and a gamma ray in the wrong place, another droid with force-connective lubricant, or a careless salvager might obviate the shutdown commands keeping them inert.

[spacedog]

The First Battle of Geonosis was a mess. The Republic just threw their clones at the droid army which resulted in a slaughter.

[coldraget]

Yeah that thing your missing about the CIS and Clone war fleets is that the republic was outnumbered on a scale of at least 10 to 1 most of its battles. They were much higher quality but they had to slowly widdle down the massive numbers the CIS used agaisnt them to get close to winning

[rexlumontad]

I am glad the EU Legends New Republic didn't disband 90% of their Navy and used them to fight off all major threats they have faced.

[AlexanderofThebes]

I think it’s unfair to say the CIS had poor leadership as they had the only truly experienced generals and admirals as the republic military leadership was just deployed (ie. clones) or had only in book experience. The CIS on the other hand had leaders who saw and won battles the best example being Grievious as he lead the entire CIS military like when he lead his native Kaleesh species against the Huk which he practically won if it wasn’t for the intervention of the republic, he was the mastermind for that Coursant raid. The only reason we see them as poor is because Dooku and Palpatine sent them to battles and campaigns they knew they would lose. The CIS also had one of if not the best tactical leaders in the super tactical droid I would rate them at least fair or average.

[Kubinda]

I generally agree however I would like to point out some things.
Just like the CIS lost battles due to Palpatine's manipulations, the GAR won them out of them same reason. And since the entire Clone Wars were just Palpatine's schemes, it kind of screws the perspective.
The Rebel Alliance generally understood what type of war it fought, however it also made some big blunders. Rights after the destructions of the Death Star, it started a Mid Rim Offensive which however quickly turned into Mid Rim Retreat since the Empire had infinitely more men and ships than the Alliance. After that they returned back to the guerilla war and with some exceptions (e.g. Hoth) remained in it until Endor.
The New Republic followed the same line of thinking as pre-Clone Wars Galactic Republic meaning that the central military was very small and the planets/systems were supposed to take care of themselves.
Anyway it's funny that Palpatine was de facto supreme commander of 4 out of 6 of those fleets 😀

[admiralcasperr]

The byproduct of the CIS's scrambled navy was that most of their purpose-built warships were the best the galaxy could provide. Each of them was doubly sieved, first through the megacorps, and then by the CIS itself. They weren't designed specifically to fit together, but even in today's armies, nothing is. All systems are chosen so that they fit best instead.

[dianabarnett]

In Legends, the New Republic adopted much of the Empire's equipment and infrastructure. While they largely stuck with their excellent fighters from the rebellion era, they incorporated many captured star destroyers into their navy. A far more pragmatic choice than in Disney canon. (Also, way cooler)

[ImmortalAbsol]

Just because the Rebels won it doesn't mean they suddenly had resources.
There were surviving Imperial holdouts that weren't part of fronts to prepare the First Order or Final Order, so they couldn't just liquidate Imperial assets, at least, not very fast.

[darth_elsa]

I know a lot of it has to do with budget requirements for movies and shows....but I always feel that Navy sizes and fleet battles in Star Wars are too small in scale considering the size of the Galaxy and the resources available....with the Battles of Coruscant and Exegol being something close to the appropriate size.

Maynot be a fair comparison but once I got used to the scale of Warhammer 40k...I feel Star Wars and even Star Trek should be a considerable larger.

The Reinmagined series you guys did does an excellent job of correcting that.

[ElysiumCreator]

CIS because they had the coolest sounding engines

[marty]

Nice, though it would be nice to also have some Legends factions for comparison... Yuuzhan Vong, Imperial Remnant Fleet, Galactic Alliance Navy, Legends version of New Republic Navy (that, unlike the NR Navy from the continuity under Disney, was far larger and battle-ready... and it operated pretty interesting roster of ships including an Executor-class Star Dreadnought and several Star Defenders) and so on...

[ElladanKenet]

One thing I think is unfair with regards to the Republic is the total level of transparency between it and the CIS, thru Palpatine. Palpatine was playing both sides. He deliberately shared sensitive information whenever it suited the Sith plan. He outright told them about the Separtists on Utapau. Sure, the Commandos were able to verify it, but that kind of a play is simply unheard of in the upper echelons of war. So saying the Republic dragged on the war they should've been able to win easily is kind of unfair when Palpatine is deliberately sabotaging them to prolong the war. Same with the CIS.

[Selenkate]

I know it's closely tied with leadership, but I feel like some more consideration for the individual admirals commanding the fleets would have been worthwhile. The republic had pretty average admirals none of which are noteworthy, the CIS however did have some noteworthy admirals such as Grievous, even if they weren't the best either. The big ones that stick out to me however are Thrawn of the Empire and Hux. Thrawn was by far the most capable admiral seen in Star Wars, and the Empire dedicating him to the outer rim during the rebellion is another example of their bad leadership. Hux on the other hand is so incompetent that it's laughable, and yet he still managed to fight the new republic