The US Navy had nine nuclear cruisers and one nuclear-powered aircraft ... the first ships to receive that designation since World War II. Five of the ships were planned but only four were built.

Four ships—Kiev, Minsk, Novorossiysk, and Baku—were built, combining features of guided missile cruisers ... Soviet Navy from a strategically insignificant force in the years after World War ...

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the need for large capital ships to protect carriers disappeared. Furthermore, the Iowas required a much larger crew complement than cruisers and destroyers.