USS Long Beach (CGN-9) made history as the world's first nuclear-powered surface warship, commissioned in 1961 with a distinctive flat-sided superstructure built around large fixed SPS-32/33 phased-array radars. This Dragon 1/700 kit depicts Long Beach in her 1980 configuration, after later refits added Standard missile launchers, Harpoon canisters and updated sensors in place of some of her original 1960s missile systems.
Dragon's tooling captures Long Beach's boxy, one-off hull form and radar-covered superstructure with slide-mould precision, reproducing the launchers, mast arrays and deck fittings specific to her 1980-era fit.
The kit includes photo-etched railings and fine antenna parts together with decals for hull markings, and can be assembled waterline or as a full hull.
A distinctive and historically important subject for collectors tracing the evolution of the US Navy's nuclear surface fleet.
