Why the US Navy retired its older cruisers

Why did the US Navy retire its gun and guided-missile cruisers in the 1970s, and did anti-ship missiles contribute?

The ships were old, intended replacements changed, and missile-equipped ships and aircraft offered more useful ways to defeat surface threats.

The older gun and guided-missile cruisers were aging while their intended strike-cruiser replacements became a prolonged programme that did not produce ships. Ticonderoga-class cruisers supplied the needed air-defense capability and increased missile firepower, although their destroyer-derived hulls restricted space and stability for later expansion. Retaining gun cruisers to counter the Soviet Sverdlovs became less compelling once Talos and other missiles offered an alternative. Exocet, Harpoon, submarine torpedoes, and the Buccaneer's low-level attack capability added further ways to threaten those ships. The Sverdlovs are also judged to have lacked the numbers and supporting fleet needed to fulfill their intended role.