The Cadorna class turns rehabilitation into procurement

Mussolini elevated Luigi Cadorna and Armando Diaz as part of his bargain with the army, and the cruiser names carried that political memory to sea. The ships retained very thin armor while extracting about 37 knots from a light hull and highly stressed machinery. Moving the seaplanes aft removed one hazard found in earlier designs but did not create a balanced combatant. The bargain remained bounded by monarchy: Mussolini was head of government rather than head of state and could not threaten King Victor Emmanuel III without jeopardising it. Later ships initially repeated similar priorities even as foreign designs improved, making the concept relatively less capable with time.