1:700 U.S.S. Long Beach CGN 9 1980 Carson 727135 500727135

USS Long Beach (CGN 9) was a unique ship, principally because she was the only vessel in her class. She was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser commissioned into the US Navy (USN) on 9 September 1961. She also had the distinction of being the USA’s first all-new cruiser design since WWII, and since cruisers since then have generally been based simply on scaled-up destroyer hulls, her crew aptly described her as “The Only Real Cruiser.” USS Long Beach had a pair of 5-inch 38-calibre guns mounted amidships, and in 1979 she began a midlife upgrade at Puget Sound. At that point the original aft-mounted RIM-8 Talos launcher was replaced by twin four-cell Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers. The cruiser saw combat in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War, and also endured long enough to provide support during the 1991 Gulf War as a carrier escort.

The market has proved exceptionally responsive to Cyber-Hobby’s line of 1/700 scale warships, owing to their high quality and unique subject. The newest Cyber-Hobby kit depicts the nuclear-powered cruiser as it appeared in 1980. Parts are cleverly engineered to fit accurately and without fuss, plus the detail is exemplary. The original USS Long Beach was a one-of-a-kind ship, and this 1/700 model is equally special. Modelers can now add a ‘second’ novel nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser to their collections!