Littorio Class

"Italy's final battleship design produced one of Europe's largest and most powerful capital ship classes, comparable with Germany's acclaimed Bismarck. The three completed ships of the Littorio class were typical of Italian design, being fast and elegant, but also boasting a revolutionary protective scheme - which was tested to the limits, as all three were to be heavily damaged at some point in the hard-fought naval war in the Mediterranean ..."--Back cover.