Montecuccoli class corrects the early Condottieri bargain

The class deliberately corrects the earliest Condottieri cruisers: standard displacement rises by roughly a thousand tons and armour grows from about eight to eighteen percent of tonnage. The Regia Marina had designed the earlier groups around speed and long-range action against French fast destroyers. That bargain became dangerous if a Condottieri met fast cruisers or received concentrated fire from more than one destroyer. The added weight and protection show how Italian designers tried to preserve the Condottieri's speed while making the ships more survivable.