Italy's recent unification, naval rivalry with Austria, and desire to display industrial and engineering power shaped the battleship's development. The defeat at Lissa had reinforced Italian attention to the navy as the new state tried to establish itself internationally. An earlier Dante Alighieri would have challenged HMS Dreadnought's status as the type ship for a new generation. A different benchmark could have changed what other navies expected from their first all-big-gun ships.
Chapter · 1:10-3:05
Italy's near claim to the first dreadnought
Dante Alighieri is introduced as the Italian all-big-gun design that might have given its name to the dreadnought era.