Virginia-class cruiser

The Virginia class, also called the CGN-38 class, was a group of four nuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers of the United States Navy that included Virginia, Texas and Arkansas. They were the last nuclear-powered surface combatants built for the fleet other than the nuclear aircraft carriers, and they were derived from the California-class cruisers that came before them. Two pressurized-water reactors let them hold more than 30 knots for long periods as escorts for nuclear carriers. They were double-ended ships with Mark 26 missile launchers fore and aft and an unusual below-deck helicopter hangar, which leaked and was later given up for Tomahawk box launchers. Virginia was laid down by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in 1972. Eleven ships were planned but only four were built, and the cost of nuclear refuelling led the Navy to retire the whole class in the 1990s.