Littorio and her sisters were the only modern battleships built for the Italian navy. Like the modernized Cavour and Doria, they had beautiful lines, and they fought valiantly in the Mediterranean campaign.

Unfortunately, her aft turret is mounted on a very high barbette, with the result that they don't have that water skimming death effect that ths Scharnhorst's triples have. At 6.5 units, she can also mount a pair of bow sidemounts, 75 and 50 rounds. Pretty nice, but she has to show some leg to use them.

Vroom, 24 seconds, paisano. She's big, she's fast, she's ... big. Four shafts means good acceleration too.

She may be fast like a Lambo, but she's no Ferrari. With three rudders (!), Littorio has none of the advantages that Bismarck or Scharnhorst have. With a good rudder, she should turn okay, but that's about the best you can hope for. In a world of South Dakotas and North Carolinas, that's not good enough.

All that beauty also comes with a lot of freeboard, and not a casemate in sight. That lovely bow extends through a long forecastle deck all the way back to that high mounted Y turret.

Littorio is not a ship for the beginner. She has all the complexity and difficulty of a class 6 battleship with none of the advantages of a Bismarck or Nagato. While she does have speed, the lack of maneuverability and a haymaker means that she doesn't have the killer firepower that set those two above the rest.

Littorio is a ship you build because you love the pasta, or the gorgeous lines of the Italian ladies. I've seen the class battled well enough to do reasonably well on the water, but I've never seen one dominate, and that's kind of sad, because the real ship deserved a bit better than that.

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