The Barricade, a strategy employed by both pirates and privateers, involved obstructing and seizing control of a target vessel.
To execute this maneuver, a pirate ship intending to use it would employ a tractor beam to maneuver a substantial obstacle into a designated space lane. This would force the target vessel out of hyperspace due to the activation of its internal hyperdrive safety protocols. The barrier could be any object with a greater mass than the intended target. Once the target was trapped, the pirates would then launch an assault and board the ship. This tactic mirrored the effects achieved by an Interdictor cruiser.
The pirate Drea Renthal famously used this tactic to ambush the passenger liner Queen of Empire en route to Nar Shaddaa in 1 BBY. Utilizing her newly acquired flagship, the former Imperial Carrack-class cruiser Renthal's Vigilance, she strategically placed a large asteroid directly in the liner's projected hyperspace trajectory. This proved successful, enabling Drea and her crew to plunder the vessel.
Later in his piratical career, Drek Drednar innovated a more audacious variation of the barricade. Operating in less isolated regions, he would fill the cargo bays of his CR90 corvette "Sable III" with water, which he then released into space. This created massive ice asteroids, allowing him to disrupt ships exiting hyperspace without the need for pre-existing asteroid fields.
This tactic suffered from two primary drawbacks. First, even the most constricted space lanes spanned several kilometers, significantly reducing the likelihood of a ship colliding with the barrier. Second, the targeted ship might be a heavily armed vessel capable of resisting and potentially defeating the pirates. Using smaller barriers reduced the risk of trapping powerful warships, but it also decreased the chances of capturing smaller, less defended vessels.
Despite its drawbacks, the Barricade persisted as a time-honored technique among pirates across generations, especially among those who were less selective about their targets, provided the target ship offered minimal resistance. Alternatively, it was used when precise knowledge of a target's trajectory was available, typically acquired through intelligence gathering and espionage.