Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc.

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Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. (HKD), also known as Hoersch-Kessel Driveworks Inc., was one of the most successful starship design firms in the Galactic Republic, and had the distinction of being wholly owned by Duros investors. when the company fell on hard times, it was sold off to a Nimbanese clan, which dismantled many of the company's less profitable divisions. However, the quest to develop a leaner bottom line destroyed morale, driving many designers to work for other starship firms. The manufacturer remained in business despite a succession of owners over several centuries, although the company was a shadow of its former self. HKD then specialized in constructing supertransports and container vessels, producing fewer than one hundred ships per a standard year.^[3]

History[]

Hoersch-Kessel Drive, Inc. was an influential business that was originally owned by members of the Neimoidian species^[4] and was in existence since at least around^[5] 4000 BBY.^[6] Around that time, the company was facing financial difficulties and was fending off a buyout attempt by a group of Nimbanese.^[5]

Later it was secretly a subsidiary of the Trade Federation and produced for it numerous vehicles, including the Lucrehulk-class battleship. After the Trade Federation's defeat at the Battle of Naboo, the company was first sold to Duros investors^[7] and then, around the end of the Clone Wars,^[1]^[7] to a Nimbanese clan^[7] of businessmen and investors.^[1]

Hoersch-Kessel Drive helped produce starships for the Confederacy of Independent Systems along with the Free Dac Volunteers Engineering Corps, which included the Recusant-class light destroyer and the Munificent-class star frigate and even the R60 T-wing interceptor.

In an attempt to make HKD more profitable, its Nimbanese owners closed down the corporation, shutting down hundreds of factories and entire design divisions. This drove many designers and engineers away from the corporation, further weakening the company. Ownership of HKD changed many times between the Clone Wars and the end of the Galactic Civil War.

By the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Hoersch-Kessel Drive had returned to its roots, producing transports and container ships, though it was still unprofitable and produced very few ships.