A missile-converted Alaska class in the early Cold War

Could a stronger postwar Red Scare produce a missile-armed Alaska class and later guided-missile battleships?

Yes; Hawaii's real conversion studies provide a starting point, especially if Soviet naval growth creates a credible operational and political demand.

Missile conversion offers an Alaska-class hull a mission that differs from the Iowa class and makes its size useful for early weapons and sensors. USS Hawaii was in fact considered for conversion before the idea ended in the early 1950s. A larger Soviet fleet or political pressure to display American naval strength could keep such a programme alive, though the scenario requires more than generalized McCarthyism.