The Most Important Rebel Starship: the untold GR-75 story

The rebel GR-75 transport is a common sight in fleets and bases as a cargo ship, but the original artists actually intended for it to start its life as a passenger transport. What would that look like? Let's explore!
Credits:
Animations: Ryan Fletcher / @skyforgefilms
Still renders: Angelos Karderinis www.artstation.com/angeloskar...
Background music : Alcablast (Bastien Boiton)
Mastering : Studio Oleoproteus
oleoproteus.bandcamp.com/music
Brought to you by amazing supporters on Patreon:
/ echenry

[@SpaceWizardus47]

The GR-75 always looked so regal yet tough so this backstory makes sense thx Henry

[@andyb1653]

I always thought it looked like a scaled-down Mon Cal design. Like if Admiral Raddus had an old GMC Vandura in his driveway at home (he liked to go camping/fishing on the weekend) it would look like that.

[@zuo3063]

Lol "thx"

[@lukerope1906]

I suddenly realized that they should have used GR-75s as refugee ships in Episode II. When I was a kid I made a little LEGO model. And my head canon was that the Rebellion would turn them into gunships. Equipping them with all kinds of lasers.

[@Lava589]

Oh yeah, I didn't even think of that! Like when Anakin and Padme get on the bus looking transports (a little past the 30 min mark), those should've been GR-75s.

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@Lava589 Or had a few more on the docks.

[@Deadeye313]

They did have some interesting mods. I think in one of the shadows of the empire comics, the first one, i think, we see a Gallofree with a giant ion cannon on it reminiscent of the one at hoth. It does fire at an imperial ship, but i forget the details of that engagement.

[@Seriona1]

Honestly I am surprised the Alliance hasn't turned one of these into a gunship. They are used to bring soldiers, tanks, and air speeders into battle so it makes sense to use it as a support attack unit.

[@agravemisunderstanding9668]

​@@Seriona1 In this cannon its still a cruise liner, sure it might not explode in one shot, but filling it with ammunition and then intentionally putting it IN the line of fire would be a horrible idea, it has no armour

[@Defender-hi3vb]

Picking up ejected pilots is the best explanation I've ever heard for why there are GR-75s in all the space battles and I got a bonus stunning ship model to look at, absolutely stellar work once again!

[@wilhufftarkin8543]

I agree. Honestly, I think it would be a cool idea for a game to pilot a GR-75 around a space battle, having to pick up ejected pilots, or doing other tasks like jamming communcation, divert missiles or draw fire in order to protect other ships. All that while not being able to shoot back, because your ship doesn't have any guns installed. Imagine that in VR. That would be cool.

[@mrichar9]

Put a chick in it Make her gay And make it lame!

[@Isteak80]

I would love to see one of these turned into a Q-ship

[@briant7134]

My first thought, too. Or maybe an escort carrier.

[@antonisauren8998]

Real in-universe conversions to escort carriers already had large open cargo holds that could be used for hangars. Why would one bother with complete rebuild, while having such ships aviable?

[@kyleaugustine6886]

I have always thought that this ship could be modified to have it cargo pods be missle/torpedeo launchers. Just act like you lost a container or two, let it drift or be caught by a Star Destroyers tractor beam and BOOM! There a dozen or more missiles flying every which way, or just deploy all the containers at once and swarming whole fleets and massive fighter squadrons. A similar concept was used in the movie _Gundam Wing Endless Waltz_ with the Preventer Shuttle which had 19 cargo pods that fired 8 missiles each.

[@warshield924]

I always thought these would make great arsenal ships, just loaded with concussion missiles and proton torpedoes to fire in large volleys then leave or fire ships loaded with explosives to ram ISDs or bases. Both could make do with droid crews.

[@TimberWolf99]

@@warshield924 Fun fact, according to Legends the GR-75 was frequently utilized as a fire ship.

[@notnotkevinjohn]

I always loved the GR-75, and I love the idea of having unarmed ships serving in the Rebellion, just like we've always had unarmed vessels serving in our own militaries. I've always felt like the GR-75 felt sort of like the C-47 Skytrain of it's day; in that it was a vital component of the Alliance's Star Lift (as opposed to Air Lift) capabilities, and that's a component to any military.

[@t65bx25]

Just like the C-17 and A400M today

[@jeffbenton6183]

Might be more equivalent to ships of a military sealift command, but still the same idea.

[@notnotkevinjohn]

@@jeffbenton6183 Yeah, I think you could also compare these to the Liberty-class ships in WWII in the Battle of the Atlantic. Or maybe even the LST from Normandy/Pacific.

[@jeffbenton6183]

@@notnotkevinjohn I like that idea. Liberty ships in space. Thanks.

[@drewjohnson-85]

@@jeffbenton6183 the crazy thing about space craft is that they share similarities with both aircraft and sea craft so space lift can be seen as an analogy to both

[@zachbeaudoin4884]

GR-75s, the hero’s of every Awakening of the Rebellion rebels play through

[@farawaygaming_]

Is that a star wars Battlefront 2 thing it sounds familiar

[@fakenuke7487]

Honestly, what makes your videos so unique isn't just your head canon lore, but also your artistic view, I love how the colors pop, the details and grain are still there but now accompanied by a really impactful color palette that just pops at you in the best way possible, its certainly one of my favorite aspects of your work.

[@Angelos_K]

Thank you.

[@poenpotzu2865]

I love you renderings. The color theory utilized reminds me of the 70s paints made by Ralph mcquarrie

[@Angelos_K]

Cheers

[@ignaciorodriguez5636]

Would love to see what a pre-clone wars Republic Fleet would look like, based on Consular-Class Frigate and the CSS-1 Corellian Star Shuttle we see in The Phantom Menace. In the Clone Wars Yularen mentions losing men before the start of the war in a blockade by the Trade Federation.

[@lonelystrategos]

I don't remember what it's called, but there's a comic about the Stark Hyperspace War, in which we see the Republic's Judicial Forces fleet. The Katana Fleet was also a pre-CW Republic unit.

[@MrMorvana]

It depends of the lore. It sometimes implied the Republic wasn't centralized at all and didn't have a real army at all before the clone war, just small security forces to guard leaders and ambassadors (ex: the clone army was immediatly considered to be the army of the Republic --> it imply there wasn't one before). It can works as long as you have strong entities with the same objectives as the Republic, but when something as big as the Trade Federation have largely different interest the Republic can't do much by herself. It's members needed to do the job but with the corruption nobody wanted or even had interest in opposing them.

[@isaiahsmith7123]

As another person has mentioned before, read the Stark Hyperspace War comic, it has a good depiction of what a fleet could look like even the the Outland Regions Security Force, was technically a sector army from Seswenna if I recall properly.

[@jeffbenton6183]

@@MrMorvana There would also be local planetary defense forces, but I don't think those would've been under a unified Republic command, and certainly wouldn't be sent as expeditionary forces (though doing so might've been what was being debated before the clones were discovered)

[@jeffbenton6183]

You're referencing the episode which introduced Admiral Trench, right? I seem to remember thinking that it was a Corporate Alliance blockade, not a Trade Federation one, but I could be mistaken.

[@kre8or465]

Hu, the GR75's being used to pick up evacuees from destroyed vessels actually makes a ton of sense, well done. New head-canon accepted.

[@turtek12]

Your pre-Clone Wars GR75 has a nice look to it--definitely catches the curvier, more organic looks we saw in a lot of Prequel ships. Could almost pass for a Naboo ship if it were chrome.

[@sodadrink8363]

One of my headcanon uses for the GR-75 in the movies is as an electronic warfare ship. Most warships have built-in EW suites, but Mon Calamari ships were never designed with them and the rebels had to get creative. The GR-75s we see have been loaded up with EW equipment in their containers, flooding star destroyer sensors with jamming signals that force them into close range

[@danielkorladis7869]

yeah, that's one of a number of roles I could see them playing.

[@4mobius280]

I had the same thought

[@duartevilelas9688]

When a single star wars fan, makes a better star wars hotel/cruise ship than the entirety of Disney's theme park design team Excelent work as always 👏👏👏

[@aligatorade_]

I'm stunned you managed to find a way to have a bunch of unarmed transports make sense in larger fleet operations, I (and likely many others) never even thought about it being used as a rescue ship. You never cease to amaze, both in your lore and fantastic models and shots.

[@JamesM.1776]

I could have sworn a passenger GR75 was used in the book of Boba Fett in one of those Mando heavy episodes.

[@antonisauren8998]

Nah, that was completly new design. One time they did something nice in those new tv series. :)

[@Obiwan7100]

The GR-75 is basically a space Zeppelin.

[@carterh8431]

This ship was my absolute favorite as a kid, I'm glad to finally see it get the respect it deserves.

[@Shaggy_Rogers0001]

This kinda reminds me of how important the Acclamator assault ship was during the Clone Wars.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

If only they kept the element of them being the Republic mainstay flagship until almost halfway into the Clone Wars, as seen in the Clone Wars Multimedia Project works like Clone Wars 2003 and Republic Commando. Alas, Dave Filoni and co. missed the hint by apocryphally having the Venator into the war stages early.

[@jedimasterpickle3]

@@michaelandreipalon359 I'm not sure those are fair examples. Both of those were made before Revenge of the Sith premiered, therefore before the public was introduced to the Venator. There simply was no other Republic cruiser yet.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

@@jedimasterpickle3 Tell that to the Venators already getting introduced as of the MedStar duology of novels, which were released at least a year before RotS.

[@jedimasterpickle3]

@@michaelandreipalon359 Then perhaps that writer was privy to information others weren't. Republic Commando was released just two months before ROTS and didn't feature Venators or Phase II Clone Troopers. But it did have a cameo from Grevious and Magnaguards. So maybe different media had access to different pieces of upcoming concepts?

[@The2ndQuest]

@@michaelandreipalon359 Part of that is due to the shifting timeframe of The Clone Wars series as it developed. It was originally conceived to be set in the middle, or even final year, of the war, set after much of the previous multimedia content (but before the full transition to ROTS designs had occurred).

[@kommandantgalileo]

It's beautiful, bloody beautiful.

[@ashfacts915]

Always got to click right away when EC Henry uploads

[@undraftedboomer5055]

I swear, EC Henry's videos are such incredible quality. From the detailed models, to the art, to the awesome storytelling. I have no problem considering his videos part of my SW head cannon. Keep up the great work!

[@TheMalootrager]

As always Henry an impressive redesign and fan lore created, it is always such a blast to watch you bring these less unknown ships into the lightside and flush out incredible stories and lore for each of them, I look forward to seeing more of this Henry. May the Force be with you always

[@asphaltmemories4597]

So glad you did this, many a game of rogue squadron I remember gnashing my teeth at failings to rescue the rebel transport. It may not be much but it’s still one of my favorite ships. Though talk about a ship whose scale is completely wonky.

[@michaelandreipalon359]

Gotta love them especially in Rogue Leader. Still strange that they don't appear much in the X-Wing series of video games.

[@The2ndQuest]

@@michaelandreipalon359 I would suspect that may be due to rendering rounder shapes being more difficult for game tech at the time to model/render than hard-edged, boxier shapes like the BFF-1s introduced in the X-Wing game (which I would also suspect were created as GR-75 substitutes).

[@Alex-fn2hl]

I'm a huge fan of these sorts of video. Very plausible feeling fanfiction that's derived directly from the source material.

[@Sekir80]

I'm amazed by the artstyle! It's like straight out of some behind the scenes vault from the 80s. Very nicely done!

[@Angelos_K]

Cheers

[@cmedtheuniverseofcmed8775]

Excellent work on this, EC Henry. Some would question why bring these ships into battle. But if you were a Rebellion that is starving to bring every gun and vessel to bear against an Imperial fleet, then the GR-75s, at the very least, were there to soak up some of the fire. Need cargo hauled? What about loading a ship with explosives and ramming it against an Imperial ship? Add some random guns to it? Carry troops and personnel? These ships probably did everything and more.

[@StuartLugsden]

Its always a great day when EC Henry uploads a video! And its a video about the GR-75! We're in for a treat!

[@christianyaerger1751]

It's one of my favorite ships because it reminds me so much of a Protoss Carrier. :3

[@michaelandreipalon359]

I don't know, the KotOR era Interdictor sure looks more like a Carrier.

[@CATDRL2]

Could this be the precursor to the passenger liners we saw in the Book of Bobba Fett at Mos Eisley is a spaceport and the one that Din-Jarin traveled on from the Ring Planet?

[@danielkorladis7869]

that's my head-canon until proven otherwise.

[@spergicide97]

This reminds me of the post WW2 period when excess Liberty and Victory class transport ships were converted into other things including passenger ships.

[@r.h.6181]

Love the lore, the modeling and the artwork. Solid content as usual, E.C! I would geek out on a new vid from the realm of Pacific 201.

[@deltazeta5506]

Our boy EC out here making us star wars fans wish Disney cared this much

[@SterlingWhitehead]

Hero Ship of the Rebellion

[@Imforcedtodothis-id4ub]

I wish they cared too

[@numapompiliusful]

This is my canon for the GR75 now, thanks for the awesome video!

[@TKnightcrawler]

Hey, this is great! I never knew that bit of artist intention about the GR-75, and you took it and ran with it in a great direction. Great stuff, Henry, Angelos, et al!

[@Angelos_K]

Cheers 🙏

[@TheAeroAvatar]

Your redesign for the original GR-75 makes so much sense! It actually makes this little warship seem a lot more practical and functional in its unmodified state.

[@jessetheunending9357]

It's always a good day when I see EC Henry drop a video!

[@cmholcomb95]

Gorgeous work all around. Always a joy to experience.

[@shona-sof]

I love how you're able to come up with such fantastic art pieces to go along with your ship designs. With the loss of the old EU, I've come to accept pretty much all of your ship lore into my own headcanon of the Star Wars universe.

[@philtkaswahl2124]

One of the things I love about _Star Wars_ is how common the practice of modifying and jerry-rigging ships for all sorts of purposes is.

[@benjamintuck9258]

Another great video. I really like the static shots that look like concept art, especially the one at 2:15. Super, well done!

[@Angelos_K]

cheers

[@thedapperdolphin1590]

I always love the art you include with these. You do a good job of capturing the look of official concept art.

[@Angelos_K]

Cheers

[@Loxen86]

Always a pleasure seeing love and care taken further in creativity Always a pleasure

[@Aikurisu]

Call me crazy, but it was honestly my fav ship in the OT when I saw it as a kid. That pivotal scene where they escape the Hoth blockade with the aid of the ion canon always gets my love. Makes me wanna write a story where one is souped up as a pirate vessel, kinda like what Luthen Rael did with that freighter of his. =)

[@Daniel_Huffman]

These types of ships exist in real life, so your idea is pretty plausible. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_merchantman

[@Aikurisu]

@@Daniel_Huffman Exactly! Heck, imagine a pirate fleet with several of these ships acting as flak batteries or torpedo boats.

[@normietwiceremoved]

Bro, those Ralph McQuarrie style stills are to die for.

[@Angelos_K]

Cheers

[@crilbusfumperdink3823]

I love your renders and art SOOOO MUCH

[@Angelos_K]

Cheers!

[@BierBart12]

I always love seeing designs from previous videos, like the Nebulon B here 4:53, and the ejection seats right after

[@BensBrickDesigns]

This is the greatest channel in history. Keep up the excellent work.

[@qjo1999]

Outstanding work, as always. Simply impressive.

[@absaxoclar]

i find the idea of starship sales lots funny. the image of something like a toyota dealership filled with starships is such a familiar yet futuristic concept

[@jaehaerys48]

Your design is perfect! Thank you for giving the GR-75 some much deserved love.

[@crim-jim6814]

The retro futurist interiors are amazing, great job!

[@LastMammothMusic]

Those Ralph McQuarrie style renders are AWESOME!

[@Angelos_K]

Cheers

[@moffxanatos6376]

Came for the Ship, but that gorgeous city and loveletters to Ralph McQuarrie's concept art certainly made an impression.

[@Caktusdud.]

I've always been suspicious about something like this. I've always described the design as being "incomplete" now that's been practically filled in. Literally. I'd love to see more of these kinds of ships if there is any.

[@tcsmagicbox]

That was a surprisingly elegant looking render of what the GR-75 would have looked like in it's original glory.

[@ajkimball7046]

Great video! The GR-75 is a true work horse and the Gallofree Shipyard has a very rich with history!

[@ImusNoxa]

I love that you're getting people to effectively fund detailed head canon breakdowns. Especially because this is really good. If I didn't know better, I'd say this is actually how it went down in official lore. Thanks for doing this and sharing with us!

[@shawndechane9246]

Love to See a Video on Ugly Starfighter's as well as Ugly freighter's. I've got my own Design's from the 80's i Drew, and with the 4E Star Wars Saga Series book Ships of the Galaxy my Dragon Interceptor cost a Meer ; $180,000+ cdts. 🎉

[@doc_sav]

So glad you did this one. I have always been fascinated with the oddness of this ship, and when I read that it was a transport as a kid I was equally fascinated as to what their purpose in battle was and who was crazy enough to fly them there.

[@Obiwan7100]

Fun Fact:The GR-75 has a space speed of 20 MGLT, which is very slow compared to the 60 MGLT of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer and the 155 MGLT of a TIE Silencer.

[@liamthompson8563]

Hello There!

[@SpaceWizardus47]

@@liamthompson8563 general Kenobi

[@SpaceWizardus47]

@@liamthompson8563 you are a bold one

[@justinmiller3396]

Absolute favourite ship. So happy for a bit of new content.

[@QuintonMurdock]

I love the art deco/streamlinemodern design of this ship

[@robindowse7893]

This is awesome I always thought they would make great refueling ships and maybe fighter transports

[@adamlytle2615]

Outstanding. This ship looks like the big brother of the Planet Express ship from Futurama. In fact, I would love to see a version with the Planet Express colour scheme.

[@jeffreycarman2185]

This is amazing! This back story really makes it make a lot of sense that the Rebellion had some many of these in front-line combat. There is a lot of discussion out there about why this is the case. From a pure container ship standpoint it makes much more sense for the hull of a purpose-built container ship to be a half-shell, or better yet for it to be more barge style (with a large cube of interconnected shipping g containers being pushed or pulled by a ship). Either of these designs would make loading and unloading so much easier than the internal crane and track system of the GR-75. So again, it makes sense that the GR-75 would have been a hollowed-out ship rather than a true designated container ship.

[@CaptainShack]

The Hero Ship This is what we've called it in every campaign of EAW campaign for the last decade I've run. The ship that has no business being in a fleet for direct combat yet is always in the field. Don't worry. The Hero ship will save us! The Freedom, For Alderaan, FOR THE ALLIANCE! Fantastic video EC Henry. Love it.

[@callumwright7459]

Hey Shack, how's it going? I've been away from your channel a while, but looking forward to catching up.

[@CaptainShack]

@@callumwright7459 Hey! Its going good. Same old as usual. Making videos. Playing games. Thanks for asking :D

[@callumwright7459]

@@CaptainShack I've recently been painting some Clone Troopers for my Legion Army, and because i'm 'that guy' I've been naming all of my troopers, in the next batch to be painted is a lightly converted Captain Rex mini, that I was planning on naming after you, as one of my favourite content creators. What do you think?

[@Forsakenfruit]

It took five months, but you came out with another great video.

[@Mr003251]

❤ I can't believe you made a good reason for the gr 75 to be in the fleet battles. Great Work.

[@AvalancheTRA]

love "unseen" lore like this uncovered, it's always so fascinating

[@RaptorShadow]

Your additions to the lore as always incorporated into my headcanon.

[@aramisdagaz9]

I love the idea of GR-75s acting as combat search and rescue ships. It neatly explains why you see a lot of the unarmed transports during massive fleet engagements. More than the medical frigates, these transports would be a welcome sight as they’d make sure you got to see one instead of an Imperial prison cell or the cold void of space.

[@jimtilley1158]

The art in your videos is amazing.

[@Angelos_K]

Thank you

[@MechaTrekAD]

Whatever it is you want to show us is something I want to see. This stuff is amazing. Kudos EC.

[@captaindecounting8239]

I only recently discovered your channel, and I have to say, it brings back some of what I love to the fandom of SW. Top tier, excellent work, by you and your fellow creators. earned a subscribe from me, and a returning fan. CHEERS!

[@richroll9894]

Great work, man! Thank you for everything g you do! In a world of bills and stress and hardship, content like this helps keep me sane and able to keep on chugging (like a train not like a kegger)

[@HrabCOrp]

That's one adorable passenger liner!

[@SchneeflockeMonsoon]

EC out here doing George’s work.

[@TeddyLeppard]

Beautiful re-imagining.

[@apachehelicopterah64]

HOLY SMOKES!!! This was a great build! I love your videos and your ability to flesh out more of the world that is already rich in lore!!!

[@VicMorrowsGhost]

Junkball AND EC Henry posting on the same day?! We have been blessed!

[@ComfortsSpecter]

It’s So Chunky, Clean and Perfect It Fits Perfectly Beautiful Whale

[@demod2080]

I love the passion into each of your videos and this one is no different. Love the backstory of this being a cheaper passenger vessel, which got repurposed by the Rebel Alliance. Really shines in how innovative the Rebels have been, and that spirit shows in such creative ways.

[@carsonharrington1079]

Wow leave it to EC Henry to give the GR-75 an actual good reason to be in a war zone. Good work EC Henry keep up the good work.

[@MikeCaputo1984]

Props to whoever does your concept art. Amazing!

[@jansonvocmf]

Another great video! As always, very well done with beautiful images and renders to look at. Thank you

[@Trek001]

Just when you need him, EC Henry returns

[@neanderthalknight9417]

the modularity is a nice touch

[@senselessbabble1996]

I love how you worked ships from other videos into the background. Nice touch!

[@markskinner3169]

Amazing stuff as always Henry and your fellow artists that work on these wonderful projects. Always encapsulating Star Wars aesthetics flawlessly.

[@captainez4387]

Absolutely love this video and your channel. Thanks for some more speculative lore on some of the best background ships. The models are great as always too!

[@damienmayne7205]

As a kid, I designed one just like it as the perfect ship to explore interstellar space. It's perfect for a family, or a couple, or solo, to disappear into the cosmos with...always been my dream every time i see this ship.

[@darthmandalorian9]

Again, amazing video, looks like so much work goes into these videos, they really deserve more views

[@apilolomi4354]

The effort you put into all of this is amazing.

[@christ4032]

Aboslutly gorgeous, please never stop making content

[@sqweloookle]

Your remodel of a classic ship is so awesome! Well done, if only there were diecast models of it to buy.

[@S1337theoddoneout-ip9xc]

You really made this ship a new, the GR-75 is on screen just the big lumbering fodder ship getting blown up to rise the stakes. Now i have a new and much better view of the GR-75, no just fodder but an elegant looking ship as well.

[@nathangibbs2467]

Love your vids. You take so much care in your designs and lore, everything you do is head canon for me.❤

[@andrewbryant4259]

I’m imagining a used starship dealer slapping the landing strut of one of these bad boys and saying “you can fit SO much contraband inside this bad boy” and the rebel alliance being like I’ll take your entire stock lol

[@timmy3822]

Very cool imaging this design as a CSAR vessel. I used the GR75 a lot in the X-Wing tabletop game as an ECM and command platform.

[@brianmartin6016]

This was very entertaining for me as well as informative about some pre-Clone Wars history. Thanks!