Once a ship has been cut apart, rearranged internally, and rebuilt around new weapons and sensors, the old hull may not offer much of a saving. The Navy was preserving cheap hull construction or existing machinery, yet the yard still had to carry out a near-total reconstruction. Chicago's two-year delay behind Albany and Columbus sharpens the point because even the third conversion took about five years. A purpose-built missile cruiser could plausibly have been cheaper and easier while still carrying the Chicago name.
Notable Point · 5:42-7:11
The conversion economics look doubtful
A five-year rebuild of three heavy cruisers raises the question of whether conversion saved enough money compared with building new missile cruisers.