USS Oklahoma City was originally commissioned in 1944 as a Cleveland-class light cruiser. In 1957 she began conversion into one of the first warships to be armed with guided missiles, a process that took over three years to complete. When it was over she retained one 6-inch turret and one 5-inch turret forward, but had a twin "Talos" missile launcher aft. The "Talos" was a surface-to-air missile that was 32 feet (9.9 meters) long and weighed 7,80 pounds (3,500 kg). The ship could carry 46 "Talos" missiles. An indication of the size of these early SAM missiles, and their related electronic systems, lies in the fact that the Navy required a ship of this size to accommodate them. Compare the photo above with the original appearance of the ship in the photo below: http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/091/0409105.jpg