What should the unfinished Kentucky and Hawaii have been completed as?
Short answerComplete them broadly as designed - Kentucky as an Iowa-class battleship and Hawaii as an Alaska-class large cruiser - unless willing to fund an expensive missile conversion.
NotesThe existing hulls and intended classes are the economical starting point: Kentucky as an Iowa and Hawaii as an Alaska. Converting either ship into a carrier or guided-missile vessel would require much more redesign. Proposals involving Polaris ballistic missiles were technically interesting, but they would still turn unfinished hulls into expensive special projects. For Kentucky, radical conversion would also occupy scarce dry-dock capacity at Newport News, strengthening the case for completion broadly as designed.