Class Description
The ships were derived from the earlier California class nuclear cruiser (CGN-36 class). They were decommissioned as part of the early 1990s "peace dividend" after the Cold War ended. A fifth warship, the CGN-42, was canceled before being named or laid down. It was found that, while it was possible to mass-produce nuclear-powered warships, the ships were less cost-efficient than conventionally-powered warships and the new gas-turbine-powered ships then entering the fleet -(the Spruance class destroyers) - required much less manpower. Following the end of production of this class, the U.S. Navy continued conventional destroyer/cruiser production, and it redesignated the DDG-47 class of guided missile destroyers as the CG-47 Ticonderoga class cruisers. Three of the four Virginia-class ships were authorized as guided missile frigates (in the pre-1975 definition), and they were redesignated as cruisers either before commissioning or before their launching. The last warship, the USS Arkansas, was authorized, laid down, launched, and commissioned as a guided-missile cruiser.
Read more about this topic: Virginia Class Cruiser
Famous quotes containing the words class and/or description:
“A theory of the middle class: that it is not to be determined by its financial situation but rather by its relation to government. That is, one could shade down from an actual ruling or governing class to a class hopelessly out of relation to government, thinking of gov’t as beyond its control, of itself as wholly controlled by gov’t. Somewhere in between and in gradations is the group that has the sense that gov’t exists for it, and shapes its consciousness accordingly.”
—Lionel Trilling (1905–1975)
“He hath achieved a maid
That paragons description and wild fame;
One that excels the quirks of blazoning pens.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)