An Alaska-sized nuclear Long Beach

What if USS Long Beach used an Alaska-sized cruiser hull with three triple 8-inch autoloading turrets?

The ship would be more powerful, carry more missiles, and create a cruiser lineage suited to deterrence and presence missions while encouraging foreign competitors to pursue comparable large surface combatants.

An Alaska-sized hull could carry the proposed Des Moines-derived 8-inch battery together with a larger missile outfit, producing a formidable nuclear surface ship. The historical California-class lineage grew from destroyer-leader design practice instead of a true cruiser hull. If Long Beach or the later strike cruisers established the larger pattern, the U.S. Navy would gain particularly visible ships for deterrence and overseas presence. China and Russia would probably pursue answers of their own, with Britain and France also pulled toward the competition.