Red 5

Red 5 was a T-65B X-wing starfighter in service to the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. The fighter was assigned to Luke Skywalker to fly during the Battle of Yavin, with R2-D2 serving as the craft's astromech droid.

During the Battle of Yavin, Red 5 was hit by weapons fire from the Imperial TIE fighter Black 4. As the battle progressed, Skywalker piloted Red 5 into the Death Star's meridian trench alongside Biggs Darklighter in Red 3 and Wedge Antilles in Red 2. Pursued by Imperial fighters led by Darth Vader, Red 5 sustained a hit that damaged R2-D2. Despite the loss of his astromech, Skywalker successfully fired a pair of proton torpedoes into the battle station's thermal exhaust port, destroying the Death Star.

Red 5 was destroyed the day after the Battle of Yavin. Skywalker, taking flight in his X-wing, encountered a lone TIE fighter that had survived the destruction of the Death Star. Skywalker engaged the TIE, but his fighter's laser cannons were not energized since the Rebel had failed to carry out routine checks on the craft. Instead, Skywalker deliberately crashed into the TIE fighter, causing them both to crash onto Yavin 4.

Text and facts from the “Red 5” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.