The minimum-hull compromise also carried an institutional cost. The Ticonderogas were never the large surface-combatant symbols many officers associated with the cancelled nuclear cruisers and strike cruisers. Aircraft carriers remained the Navy's great public showpieces, but their identity belonged closely to naval aviation rather than the surface-warfare community. The Ticonderogas survived and performed important work, yet they could still be regarded as substitutes for the ships that community had wanted. Combat capability alone does not determine how strongly a service supports a class.
Notable Point · 30:00-31:35
The surface fleet's missing prestige cruiser
The class never supplied surface-warfare officers with the prestige flagship imagined in the cancelled nuclear cruiser programs.