7

In Rogue One I can't see any Y-wings helping the X-wings and the U-wings on the surface of the planet but when I searched for information about Blue Squadron in this wiki, I found that they had Y-wings according to the Star Wars: Rogue One - The Ultimate Visual Guide.

enter image description here

With that in mind, why don't we see any Blue Squadron Y-wings in this battle? Were they present on Scariff but simply not on camera?

3 Answers 3

4

I don't know of an official answer, but because this is about Y-wings specifically, the idea that they're doing something nobody really wants to see as Valorum suggested above is pretty plausible. If you look at the Rogue Squadron 1998 game manual it describes the Y-wing a bit.

enter image description here

Long story short, they do all the boring work; they're slow, heavy, clunky and they maneuver with the grace of an elephant. Their primary job is typically to dump a ton of bombs or torpedoes on something and pray they don't get blown up in the process, because they can't dodge anything. Because evidently their weapons weren't enough to break through the shield infrastructure in this fight, they would have been pretty irrelevant, at least as far as the effort to support the ground troops was concerned.

2
  • Nice contribution, but in the manual say "making it ideal for bombing and strafing runs against surface targets". This is important in this mision, cause for support the small group of ground troops vs all the base of Scariff you need this bombers, you need atack the bunkers and atack the heavy defenses like AT-ACT, the y-wings will be a magnific distraction and are really resistant.
    – Gawey
    Sep 21, 2018 at 6:45
  • I suppose I should have phrased that as "the effort to rendezvous with the ground troops". Yes they would have been useful on the surface but only once they could actually get there, and only if they hadn't used all their heavy munitions in the space battle first.
    – Jamie
    Sep 21, 2018 at 14:02
4

Assuming all of the ships mustering above the Raddus were members of Blue Squadron, then we see at least two Y-Wings gathering in the formation. They don't seem to take any part in the subsequent battle, or at least they're not visible at any point later in the film. Presumably they're off doing something less exciting.

enter image description here

Of the four Y-wings that are supposedly in the squadron, only one pilot is mentioned in the Visual Guide by name; Paril Ritta. This actor isn't named and he doesn't appear in the film.

4
  • Why u are assuming this "Assuming all of the ship mustering above the Raddus are members of Blue Squadron" ? i'm not sure about this afirmation, cause why all squadron go to Scariff and thi 2 Y-wings no?
    – Gawey
    Sep 20, 2018 at 8:31
  • 1
    @Gawey - As that scene progresses we zoom in and see six clearly marked Blue Squadron X-Wings and two clearly marked Blue Squadron U-Wings. The Visual guide indicates that there were more than 12 Blue Squadron ships. It seems quite reasonable that the (twenty or so) ships hovering around the top of the Raddus were all part of the same squadron. As to why they didn't make it to Scarif, that might be down to their lower maneuverability or top speed. Note that only a small number of blue squadron x-wings (and one U-Wing) made it through the gate and only by powering through straight away.
    – Valorum
    Sep 20, 2018 at 8:53
  • Most of Y-wings over Scariff were from Gold squadron
    – rs.29
    Sep 22, 2018 at 8:59
  • 2
    There are only X-wings in that screenshot... The top one is very clearly an x-wing, you can see the blasters on the wingtips. The lower one is less clear as it's more side on, but still perfectly consistent with the other x-wings in the shot.
    – Harabeck
    Sep 24, 2018 at 22:22
-1

  Most of Y-wings were from Gold squadron, primary mission was to attack Shield Gate

In the Battle of Scarif only X-wings (12) and one U-wing made it to the surface to help ground forces. No Y-wings as we can see, presumably because they were to slow to attempt this (even some X-wings didn't make it).

Shield Gate was most important objective for the rest of the Rebel fleet, because with the shield up members of Rogue One could not transmit Death Star's plans even if they got them. Secondary target was small Imperial fleet above Scariff (2 SD and TIE's ) . Y-wings engaged Shield Gate, losing some in the process, but they really could not do much damage to Shield Gate . Instead, suicide attack with Lightmaker was used.

Overall, most of Y-wings in the battle were from Gold squadron which was dedicated Y-wing unit. Blue squadron was mixed unit, but X-wings made majority of their fighters. I assume few Y-wings they had joined Gold squadron in their attacks, since majority of their unit was on the surface and they were separated from them.

7
  • This doesn't really explain where the Y-Wings were in Blue Squadron
    – Valorum
    Sep 22, 2018 at 8:03
  • @Valorum Were they could be except with the rest of the Y-wings attacking Shield Gate and SD as secondary target ?
    – rs.29
    Sep 22, 2018 at 8:56
  • Guarding the Raddus, perhaps?
    – Valorum
    Sep 22, 2018 at 9:02
  • @Valorum How do you guard ship with bombers ? Y-wing were not designed to serve as interceptors, they are offensive weapons. Also, Admiral Raddus didn't came there to be guarded, he was willing to risk everything (including his own life) in order to fulfill his mission.
    – rs.29
    Sep 22, 2018 at 10:29
  • They also have cannons, not just torpedoes. Either way, this question doesn't explain where Blue Squadron's (missing) Y-Wings are since we see the attack on the shield gate and they aren't there
    – Valorum
    Sep 22, 2018 at 11:01

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.