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In Rogue One, Admiral Raddus called in a Hammerhead Corvette to ram an Imperial Star Destroyer and crash it into a second ISD, leading the two to subsequently come crashing down onto the space station in a bid to disable the planetary shield blocking transmissions from Scarif.

Looking at other questions containing answers which cite the novel, the in-universe physics for this is only possible because the ISD in question is dead in space after Y-Wing ion strikes disabled the ship.

Incidentally, the particular Hammerhead in question was available for use because it had withdrawn to the rear after suffering significant damage in battle.

Are other ship types of similar or larger size (e.g Corellian Corvettes, Nebulon B Frigates, Mon Calamari Cruisers, even fellow Imperial ships) capable of ramming said ISD head-on and complete its task without getting totalled and disintegrated in the process? Or is the Hammerhead the only one with a tough enough "head"?

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  • I think it was just a coincidence, any ship would have been able to ram the ISD. – Max Jul 18 '17 at 1:22
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    Seeing as the Lightmaker was destroyed in the process of ramming the ISD, I don't see how that's an example of a ship "safely" ramming an ISD. – Null♦ Jul 18 '17 at 2:27
  • Also, the way you've phrased this I think the Death Star would qualify as a "ship type of...larger size" capable of ramming an ISD. The Death Star II was not destroyed when a Super Star Destroyer crashed into it. – Null♦ Jul 18 '17 at 2:29
  • Oh, didn't know it didn't survive...thought it did. – thegreatjedi Jul 18 '17 at 10:55
  • I just assumed it had a big front bit that made it ideal for ramming. – Valorum Oct 23 '17 at 20:44
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The exact answer would be that no ship is safe to ram another ship. In the scene right after where the ISD slices down into the Shield Ring, the Hammerhead corvette is still lodged into the side of the ISD. This would imply that it was known that the ship would be sacrificing itself, and the Mon Calamari Admiral knew that the Hammerhead had the best chance just because of it's structure. If it was a "safe" ramming, it would be likely that the Hammerhead could simply reverse out and avoid going down with the ISD.

I haven't read any books that would even suggest that shields would help to save a ramming ship, or help to inflict more damage upon the victim ship before the ramming ship itself was shredded. In Empire strikes back, I'm sure that even those two ISDs with full shields had to return to spacedock to bang out some serious 'dents'

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