Editing Virginia-class cruiser (section)

===Early decommissioning===
[[File:USS Virginia (CGN-38) in dry dock for nuclear core removal.jpg|thumb|''Virginia'' in drydock at [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth Virginia]]; the ship's superstructure has been removed and replaced by containment vessels to allow the safe removal of her nuclear reactors]]
All four vessels were decommissioned as part of the early 1990s "[[peace dividend]]" after the [[Cold War]] ended, considered by naval standards an early retirement given their designed service life of 38 years. Despite being of a modern design with a recent refit, what doomed the ''Virginia'' nuclear-powered cruisers was a lack of resources, as the Navy and other branches of the U.S. military faced major budget cutbacks after the Cold War. The ships of the class were coming due for their first nuclear refuelings, mid-life overhauls, and NTU refittings, which were all budgeted projects, together costing about half the price of a new ship. Further, they required relatively large crews, straining the operating budget. The 1996 Navy Visibility and Management of Operating and Support Costs (VAMOSC) study determined the annual operating cost of a ''Virginia''-class cruiser at $40&nbsp;million, compared to $28&nbsp;million for a ''Ticonderoga''-class cruiser, or $20&nbsp;million for an {{sclass|Arleigh Burke|destroyer|1}}, the latter two classes designed with the much more capable [[Aegis Combat System]].<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/cg-47-specs.htm CG-47 Ticonderoga-class<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Given a lower requirement for cruisers, it was decided to retire the ''Virginia'' class and other nuclear-powered ships as a money-saving measure, a decision made while ''Texas'' was in the middle of her refueling overhaul. The early ''Ticonderoga''-class cruisers, which lacked the Vertical Launch System, had equally short careers, serving between 18 and 21 years.<ref>{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=CG51|title=CG-51}} - 18 years. {{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=CG47|title=CG-47}} - 21 years.</ref>