The Raven-type starships were small, modular long-range Federation exploration vessels. They mildly resembled the Danube-class runabouts. They were designed to be operated by a minimum crew. According to the MSD of the USS Raven, 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. (VOY: "Dark Frontier") It's hull was partially composed of tritanium. (VOY: "The Raven")
Ships commissioned
- USS Raven (NAR-32450)
Appendices
Appearances
- VOY:
- ENT: "Future Tense" (database image)
Background information
Sternbach's changes to the Raven CGI model for use in "Dark Frontier"
For the Raven's first appearance in "The Raven", Rick Sternbach admits 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. (Star Trek: The Magazine Volume 1, Issue 1, p. 59)
The circular helm console of the ship appears to have been a reuse of the stock console used for USS Pasteur bridge. (citation needed • edit) The viewscreen appeared to be a reuse of the USS Enterprise-D's battle bridge. [1]
Additional information on designing the Raven-type was included in Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection (Issue 66) released 17 February 2016.
Apocrypha
This type of vessel is listed in the Starships expansion volume of Decipher's Star Trek Roleplaying Game as an Aerie-class surveyor. It is also called Aerie-class in WizKids' Star Trek: Attack Wing game.
The design of the Raven also appears in Star Trek: Armada II as a colony ship.
External link
- Aerie-class at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works