
Imperial Gunner - The members of the Imperial Navy who man the various weapons of the Empire's capital ships and military bases. Imperial Navy Crewmen - The technicians and specialists that are the heart of the Imperial Navy. TIE Pilot - The Empire's elite starfighter pilots. Special Navy Force Trooper - An elite unit created to establish beachheads on targeted planets without the aid of the Imperial Army or Stormtrooper Corps.
Imperial Navy Trooper - The Imperial Navy's soldiers and security guards. The Imperial Navy relies mostly on the Imperial Army and the Stormtrooper Corps to handle battles not dealing directly with ship combat the most frequent case of this cooperation being boarding actions but they still have a few distinctive units of their own. When Thrawn became Regent of the Empire, the Imperial Navy became more accepting of women and non-Humans in the fleet. Under Palpatine's rule, the vast majority of personnel in the Imperial Starfleet were male Humans, although some Human females, such as Admiral Daala, and even other species were also in the service, such as the Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn. The Imperial Navy conducts itself by the Imperial Naval Code, a set of martial laws and regulations created to guide the massive military organization. The Imperial Navy also performs orbital bombardments as needed, transports major ground force deployments, and supports them with space and aerial support. Specific responsibilities of the Imperial Navy include defending Imperial citizens from space-based threats such as pirates, smugglers, and other armed governments, enforcing Imperial will, and overseeing commerce through customs and blockade operations. Individual planets are deemed "too insignificant" for the Imperial Navy to worry about unless otherwise ordered by Imperial Command. Unlike the Old Republic Navy, the Imperial Navy is not required to answer an emergency call from a local government.
The Imperial Navy is broken down into four key branches: the Line Branch handles strategy and administration, the Flight Branch handles combat vessel flight operations, the Fleet Support Branch handles vessel maintenance and repair, and the Service Support Branch handles the supplies and services that allow naval personnel to carry out their jobs. The huge shapes of Star Destroyers and the simple shapes of TIE Fighters became the identities of the Imperial Navy, which controlled planets, systems, and sectors through fear of attack as much as sheer numbers.
While the stormtroopers became the visible aspect of the Imperial Military, it was the Imperial Navy that helped secure the early safety of the Galactic Empire. At its peak, it fielded millions of warships, logistics vessels and fighters, maintaining Imperial control throughout the galaxy. The Imperial Navy, also known as the Imperial Starfleet, Imperial Fleet, Imperial Battlefleet, or Imperial Space Service, is the naval branch of the Imperial Military of the Galactic Empire.