"Long Beach" was originally intended to be a smaller frigate, but was then redesigned and expanded to a cruiser hull, allowing for an open space just aft of the bridge "box". This open space was first planned to accommodate the mounting of a Regulus nuclear-armed cruise missile, but was then changed to four launch tubes for the Polaris missile. However, the space was eventually occupied by the 5"/38 caliber gun mounts and the ASROC system. "Long Beach" was the last cruiser built with a World War II-era cruiser hull style, as later new-build cruisers were built with different hull forms, such as the converted frigates , , , , and the and classes, or the that was built on a hull.