Raven type
The Raven-type starships were small, modular long-range Federation exploration vessels. They mildly resembled the  runabouts. They were designed to be operated by a minimum crew. According to the MSD of the , this class also had a shuttlebay in the aft section.

The USS Raven was operated by two scientists – Erin and Magnus Hansen – for an extended period of time while in close proximity to a Borg cube. () It's hull was partially composed of tritanium. ()

Ships commissioned 
  (NAR-32450)

Appendices

Appearances 
 
 
 
  (database image)

Background information 

For the Ravens first appearance in "The Raven", Rick Sternbach admited the design was "not terribly well thought out," as it was only seen on screen in a crumpled and crashed state. The original studio model was rendered by Foundation Imaging, and unintentionally appeared to have 8 or 9 decks. For "Dark Frontier", Sternbach revised the design and had the windows rescaled so the model would have "four decks tops." (The master system display would go on to depict five decks.) Sternbach's other recommendations included the addition of four cargo bay doors, landing pads, and avoiding the use of the Starfleet arrowhead. ()

The circular helm console of the ship appears to have been a reuse of the stock console used for the  bridge.  The viewscreen appeared to be a reuse of the 's battle bridge. 

Additional information on designing the Raven-type was included in Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection (Issue 66) released .

Apocrypha 
This type of vessel was listed in the  expansion volume of Decipher's  as an Aerie-class surveyor. It was also called Aerie-class in WizKids' Star Trek: Attack Wing game.

The design of the Raven also appeared in Star Trek: Armada II as a colony ship.

External link 
 

cs:Třída Raven
de:Raven-Typ
Federation starship classes