The ships resembled battlecruisers without battlecruiser guns. Their speed could evade many opponents, but their size was sufficient to attract heavy secondary or even main-calibre fire from larger warships. The 135 mm battery could hurt destroyers and light targets but was unlikely to defeat ships protected against 8-inch gunfire, much less capital ships. Torpedoes supplied a way to threaten those opponents, yet closing to launch them exposed a large, unarmoured hull. Subdivision and damage control improved the chance of surviving a hit, as Attilio Regolo's shattered bow demonstrated. Survival, however, was not the same as winning the engagement, and one damaging action could still remove a scarce ship from the campaign.
Notable Point · 38:52-41:54
Speed and survival were not enough to win a cruiser fight
The class could outrun many opponents and survive serious flooding, but lacked the protection and heavy guns needed to defeat cruisers or capital ships reliably.