The class history begins by contrasting Albany's status before and after conversion. As a gun cruiser she carried the American representative to the Brazilian presidential inauguration and served as an Atlantic battleship-cruiser force flagship. In that form she was useful but still one of many American heavy cruisers. Conversion made her one of the Navy's relatively few guided-missile cruisers, giving the same hull greater institutional prestige as well as a new combat role.
Chapter · 10:15-11:40
Albany moved from gun-cruiser diplomacy to missile prestige
Albany's career shows how a common heavy cruiser used for diplomacy and flag duties became one of the U.S. Navy's scarce, prestigious guided-missile cruisers.