Bartolomeo Colleoni served off Shanghai before returning to the Mediterranean and was the first ship of the class lost in war. Had Italy entered the conflict earlier, the cruiser might have been trapped in the Far East without a safe route through Suez or Gibraltar. The design was neither a properly protected light cruiser nor a torpedo-heavy destroyer leader. It depended on catching destroyers and defeating them quickly, leaving little margin when an enemy light cruiser brought comparable guns with much better protection.
Chapter · 37:34-41:29
Bartolomeo Colleoni from Shanghai to Cape Spada
Colleoni's Far East deployment and destruction by HMAS Sydney underline how poorly the class was prepared to exchange fire with a balanced light cruiser.