Leahy-class (CG-16)

The Leahy class consisted of nine guided-missile ships built for the United States Navy between 1959 and 1964. Originally designated as Destroyer Leaders (DLG), the vessels were reclassified as guided-missile cruisers (CG) during the 1975 cruiser realignment. The class was designed under project SCB 172 and produced at several shipyards, including Bath Iron Works, New York Shipbuilding, and Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. A single nuclear-powered variant, USS Bainbridge, was also constructed.

The class was designed as "double-enders," featuring missile launchers both fore and aft. It was the first frigate class designed without a main gun battery for shore bombardment or ship-to-ship engagements, as gun armament was reduced to accommodate a larger missile load. The hull utilized a knuckled “hurricane” bow to reduce plunging in rough seas and maintain a dry forecastle for missile operations. A design feature of the class was the use of "macks"—combined masts and stacks—which allowed radars to be mounted without interference from engine smoke. While the conventional ships used a propulsion plant carried over from the Farragut class, the nuclear variant replaced steam boilers with two D2G reactors.

The primary mission of these ships was to provide anti-air and antisubmarine screening for carrier task forces and to provide target vectors for carrier aircraft. The vessels underwent modernizations under SCB 244 between 1967 and 1972 to upgrade air warfare capabilities. During the late 1980s, the class was updated again through the New Threat Upgrade (NTU) program. This modernization included the installation of advanced air search and track radars, updated targeting radars, and new combat direction systems, alongside overhauls of the propulsion systems.

The Leahy class was removed from service in the early 1990s following a reduction in defense spending. All ships in the class were decommissioned between 1993 and 1995, stricken from the naval register, and transferred to the Maritime Administration for disposal. Individual ships were subsequently broken up for scrap or used as experimental targets.