Hull form returns as the central issue in assessing the end of Long Beach's career. A heavy-cruiser-shaped ship might have accepted Aegis more cheaply, especially after Long Beach served in Desert Storm, Provide Comfort, Fiery Vigil, and escorted Missouri. The proposed modernization required a major superstructure rebuild, and adding vertical-launching-system capacity would have pushed the conversion further. The counterfactual cuts both ways: a nuclear Aegis cruiser with VLS would have been formidable and politically difficult to retire amid the Navy's struggle to decommission Ticonderoga-class cruisers. A nuclear-powered fourth Zumwalt hull is offered as the kind of successor that preserving Long Beach might eventually have compelled the Navy to build.
Chapter · 46:33-49:11
Gulf War service and the Aegis-VLS counterfactual
Long Beach's recent Gulf War service made retirement debatable, but rebuilding her for Aegis and VLS would have required a costly transformation of the ship.