California-class Guided Missile Cruiser
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The California-class cruisers were a set of two nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers operated by the United States Navy between 1974 and 1998. Other than their nuclear power supply and lack of helicopter hangars, ships of the California-class were comparable to other guided missile cruisers of their era, such as the Belknap-class. The class was built as a follow-up to the nuclear-powered cruisers Long Beach, Bainbridge, and Truxtun. Like all of the nuclear cruisers, which could steam for years between refuelings, the California-class was designed in part to provide high endurance escort for the navy's nuclear aircraft carriers, which were often limited in range due to their conventionally powered escorts continuously needing to be refueled.
Unit Run[edit | edit source]
- USS California (CGN-36)
- USS South Carolina (CGN-37)
