Fast enough, armored enough, and hard to outmatch

The final design comparison makes the core tradeoff explicit: ignoring treaty tonnage and stepping back from maximum speed released machinery weight for protection and armament. The resulting cruiser was still fast enough for its mission, carried ten six-inch guns, and possessed armor that earlier Condottieri designs lacked. Leander-class ships such as Ajax and Achilles would not comfortably match it, while Crown Colony cruisers would face a difficult contest. In this assessment, a British Town-class ship was needed to clearly outmatch the Abruzzi class. The more heavily gunned Brooklyn class could deliver a stronger opening blow, but its lighter protection made failure to secure that early advantage dangerous.