The closing counterfactual asks how another modernized Conte di Cavour-class hull would have changed Italian risk tolerance in actions such as Calabria. With only two battleships present, Admiral Campioni worried about facing three British ships, whereas a surviving Leonardo da Vinci might have produced a three-on-three balance. The extra hull could also have changed Italian choices at Cape Spartivento and other Mediterranean encounters. It shifts attention to British force allocation as well: the Regia Marina already drew modernized Queen Elizabeths, Nelson, and Rodney toward the theater, so another credible Italian battleship could have increased that burden and reduced options elsewhere.
Notable Point · 1:09:02-1:14:17
If Leonardo da Vinci had survived into the Second World War
A surviving Leonardo da Vinci could have given Italy a third battleship at Calabria and forced Britain to devote still more capital ships to the Mediterranean.