The Giuseppe Garibaldi class on the export market

Italy sold four Giuseppe Garibaldi-class ships to Argentina, two to Japan, and Cristóbal Colón to Spain while retaining only three for itself. The long Argentine careers demonstrate that foreign buyers found durable uses for the design beyond the Mediterranean. At Santiago de Cuba, Cristóbal Colón joined three other Spanish armoured cruisers against an American force built around four battleships as well as cruisers and armed yachts. The disparity undercuts any simple claim that armoured cruisers could replace battleships on equal terms.