The classification problem begins with the class's scale and intended work. At 3,745 tons standard and 5,420 tons fully loaded, the Capitani Romani were among the smallest interwar cruisers. Their 110,000-shaft-horsepower machinery and intended 41-knot speed instead resemble an enlarged destroyer built to scout and lead flotillas. Even 41 knots could not outrun aircraft, a weakness in the speed race that produced the design. Postwar navies made the destroyer logic explicit when they reclassified the surviving hulls. The official cruiser label therefore obscured the tactical job these ships were equipped to perform.
Chapter · 1:25-5:24
Why the Capitani Romani were supersized destroyers
The class is introduced as a 3,745-ton light cruiser whose speed, protection, and later reclassification make more sense as an enlarged destroyer.