Albany-class cruiser

USS Albany, lead ship of her class
Class overview
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Long Beach-class cruiser
Succeeded by:	Leahy-class cruiser
Built:	1959-1964 (conversions)
In commission:	1962-1980
Planned:	5
Completed:	3
Retired:	3
Preserved:	0 (Anchor of USS Chicago given to the city of Chicago and placed as a memorial at Navy Pier to remember all ships to bear the same name)
General characteristics
Type:	Guided missile cruiser
Displacement:	13,700 std, 17,500 full load
Length:	664 ft (202 m) waterline, 674 ft (205 m) overall
Beam:	70 ft (21 m)
Draft:	30 ft (9.1 m)
Propulsion:	four Babcock & Wilcox boilers, four General Electric geared turbines, 120,000 shaft horsepower, w. four shafts
Speed:	32 kn (59 km/h)
Complement:	1,222 (72 officers, 1,150 enlisted men)
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-48 3D air search radar, AN/SPS-43, AN/SPS-30, AN/SPS-10 surface search radar, AN/SPG-49 fire control radar for Talos, AN/SPG-51 fire control radar for Tartar, AN/SQS-23 bow mounted sonar
Armament:	Two Mk 12 twin RIM-8 Talos SAM launchers (104 missiles) Two Mk 11 twin RIM-24 Tartar SAM launchers (84 missiles) One Mk 112 ASROC octuple-tube missile launcher 2 5-inch (130 mm) gun 2 triple Mk-32 torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried:	Flight deck only

The Albany-class guided missile cruisers were converted Baltimore and Oregon City class heavy cruisers of the United States Navy. All original superstructure and weapons were removed and replaced. The converted ships had new very high superstructures and relied heavily on aluminum to save weight.

The conversion was extensive, stripping the ships down to their hulls, removing all armament and the ship's superstructure. USS Albany (CA-123), an Oregon City-class cruiser, was converted at Boston Naval Shipyard starting in January 1959 and recommissioned as CG-10 on November 3, 1962. USS Chicago (CA-136), a Baltimore-class cruiser, was converted at San Francisco Naval Shipyard starting in July 1959 and was recommissioning as CG-11 on May 2, 1964. USS Fall River (CA-131) was originally slated to be CG-12, but USS Columbus (CA-74) was converted instead. Columbus was converted at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard beginning in September 1959 and recommissioning as CG-12 on December 1, 1962. USS Rochester (CA-124) and USS Bremerton (CA-130) were also proposed for conversion to CG-13 and CG-14, but those plans were dropped because of the high cost of the conversion and capabilities of newer guided missile frigates.