Star Wars Ships: Names, Roles and Where They Appear

Star Wars ships have proper names, such as the Millennium Falcon and the Razor Crest, or are known by class, such as Star Destroyers. Ten ships and vehicles appear across the films: the Millennium Falcon, the Razor Crest, Star Destroyers, Imperial walkers, the Naboo starfighter, the Rebel fighter squadron, Grievous's flagship, the First Order dreadnought, the First Order flagship and the Rebel flagship at Scarif.

Chronological order, rather than release order, reads a ship's history more clearly. The Falcon, for instance, is won in a card game in Solo: A Star Wars Story long before the original film shows it to audiences. If you want the films themselves in sequence, see our star wars movies in order page. The next film, Star Wars: Starfighter, is confirmed for May 28, 2027 and is in production.

The Millennium Falcon is the most recurring ship in Star Wars, appearing in four films: Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Chronologically the story begins in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), directed by Ron Howard. Han Solo wins the Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a card game, then flies it through the Kessel Run to escape an Imperial blockade. By the end of the film he has won it back from Lando in a second card game, which explains how the ship changes hands.

In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), directed by Irvin Kershner, Han, Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO flee Hoth in the Falcon with a damaged hyperdrive, cross an asteroid field and are chased by Darth Vader. The hyperdrive is only repaired at the end of the film.

In Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), directed by J.J. Abrams, Finn and Rey escape Jakku in the Falcon and are found by Han and Chewbacca. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), directed by Rian Johnson, the Resistance survivors flee Crait in it.

The Razor Crest is Din Djarin's ship in The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026), directed by Jon Favreau.

The film's closing beat concerns the ship itself: Din and Grogu fly off together in the Razor Crest, and Din teaches Grogu to pilot it. That makes it a ship about a handover of skills, more than a ship about combat. See The Mandalorian and Grogu for the full film page.

Star Destroyers are the Empire's large warships, and two of them are crashed together at Scarif in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), directed by Gareth Edwards.

During the raid on the planet Scarif, Rebel ships crash the two Star Destroyers together, which brings down the planet's shield. That opening lets Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor get the stolen Death Star plans out and send them to the Rebel fleet. Chronologically this is the sixth film in the saga. Read more on the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story page.

The Imperial walkers are the ground vehicles that overrun the Rebel base on the ice planet Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), directed by Irvin Kershner.

After probe droids reveal the base, Darth Vader sends a large invasion force against it. The Rebels fight a desperate delaying battle so that the leadership and the transports can escape. This battle is why the heroes scatter across the galaxy for the rest of the story.

The Naboo starfighter is the ship Anakin Skywalker accidentally uses to destroy the Trade Federation droid control ship in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), directed by George Lucas.

Anakin hides in the starfighter during the battle for Naboo, and the destruction of the control ship shuts down the Federation's droid army. In chronological order this is the first film, so these are the earliest ships the saga shows. See Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace for the full film page.

The Rebel fighter squadron is the small group of fighters that attacks the Death Star in Star Wars (1977), directed by George Lucas.

Once the Rebels study the stolen plans and find a weakness, the squadron attacks the station. The film does not name individual ship models for the attack. Han Solo returns at the last moment and sends Vader's fighter spinning away, and Luke Skywalker then turns off his targeting computer, trusts the Force and fires his torpedoes into the exhaust port. This is the seventh film in chronological order. Read more at Star Wars (1977).

Capital ships in Star Wars are the large flagships and dreadnoughts that decide a battle, such as Grievous's flagship in Revenge of the Sith, the First Order dreadnought in The Last Jedi and the Rebel flagship at Scarif in Rogue One.

In Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005), directed by George Lucas, Obi-Wan and Anakin rescue Chancellor Palpatine from General Grievous's flagship. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Poe Dameron disobeys Leia and destroys a First Order dreadnought, but at heavy cost. Later Vice Admiral Holdo sacrifices herself by ramming the First Order flagship at lightspeed, which cripples the First Order fleet.

In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Darth Vader attacks the Rebel flagship at Scarif, which completes the pattern. In each case the fate of a capital ship decides what the heroes can do next.

The earliest Star Wars ships in chronological order appear in The Phantom Menace, and the latest appear in The Last Jedi.

By chronological number: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1) has the Naboo starfighter, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (4) has Grievous's flagship, and Solo: A Star Wars Story (5) has the Falcon changing hands. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (6) has the Star Destroyers and the Rebel flagship at Scarif, Star Wars (7) has the Rebel fighter squadron, and The Empire Strikes Back (8) has the Imperial walkers and the Falcon. The Mandalorian and Grogu (10) has the Razor Crest, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (11) has the Falcon, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (12) has the Falcon, the First Order dreadnought and the First Order flagship.

Attack of the Clones (2), The Clone Wars (3), Return of the Jedi (9) and The Rise of Skywalker (13) fall between these entries. The full sequence of films is on our star wars timeline page.

The X-wing, TIE Fighter, Y-wing, A-wing, Imperial Shuttle and Ghost are not named in the plot summaries of these films, so no role in a specific movie is assigned to them.

The Rebel fighter squadron at the Death Star is treated the same way: no individual ship models are named for that attack. Their absence says nothing about their importance. To follow the films where ships matter most, start with our star wars movies in order page.

The Millennium Falcon is the coolest ship in Star Wars in our ranking, based on its role in four films. In my opinion it is the clear first pick, and the order below is my own.

The Falcon takes first place because it changes hands in a card game in Solo: A Star Wars Story, limps through an asteroid field with a broken hyperdrive in The Empire Strikes Back and then carries Rey and Finn out of Jakku in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. No other ship in the ranking has a story across four films.

The Star Destroyers at Scarif take second place, because Rogue One: A Star Wars Story turns two of the Empire's largest warships into the weapon that drops the planet's shield. The Imperial walkers on Hoth are third, because they force the Rebels into the delaying battle that lets the leadership and transports escape. The Razor Crest is fourth: its payoff is quiet, a piloting lesson at the end of The Mandalorian and Grogu, and I rate it lower only because it appears in one film. The Naboo starfighter is fifth, since the accident that destroys the droid control ship is a smart plot device.

If you are new to the saga, start with The Empire Strikes Back to see the Falcon at its best. Our full film verdicts sit on the star wars movies ranked page.