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_underway_at_sea,_in_1987.jpg) USS California underway
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by | |
| Succeeded by | Virginia class |
| Built | 1970–1974 |
| In commission | 1974–1999 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Active | 0 |
| Retired | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Guided-missile cruiser |
| Displacement | 10,600 long tons (10,800 t) |
| Length | 587 ft (179 m) |
| Beam | 61 ft (19 m) |
| Draft | 31 ft 6 in (9.60 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × General Electric D2G reactors generating 60,000 shp (45,000 kW) |
| Speed | In excess of 30 knots (56 km/h) |
| Complement | 40 officers and 544 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems | |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament |
|
| Aviation facilities | Helicopter deck aft able to accommodate SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS Mk1, SH-3 Sea King, and CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. No hangar facility. |
The California class was a pair of nuclear-powered guided-missile cruisers operated by the United States Navy between 1974 and 1998. Other than their nuclear power supply and lack of helicopter hangars, ships of the California class were comparable to other guided-missile cruisers of their era, such as the Belknap class. The class was built as a follow-up to the nuclear-powered Long Beach, Bainbridge, and Truxtun classes. Like all of the nuclear cruisers, which could steam for years between refuelings, the California class was designed in part to provide high endurance escort for the navy's nuclear aircraft carriers, which were often limited in range due to their conventionally powered escorts continuously needing to be refueled.