Italian Battleships : Conte di Cavour and Duilio Classes 1911-1956 /Erminio Bagnasco and Augusto de Toro.

"Originally comprising five vessels in two related classes, these battleships entered service at the beginning of the Great War. As designed, they were powerful examples of the second generation of dreadnoughts, with a combination of twin and triple turrets producing a unique main armament of thirteen 12-inch guns. One ship, Leonardo da Vinci, was sunk by an explosion at Taranto in 1916, and although the hull was raised post-war, te plan to rebuild the ship was abandoned as it was not deemed cost-effective. However, the remaining four ships were to undergo one of the most radical reconstructions of any battleship class during the 1930s, emerging with an entirely new profile, an up-gunned main armament, more powerful machinery and all the characteristics of a modern fast battleship. In this form they became an important element in the Italian fleet that opposed the British from 1940. This book covers all the technical details of the shis, both as built and as rebuilt, but also provides an extended history of their active service, including battle plans and track charts, as well as their post-war fates. Thoroughly illustrated with photographs, ship and armament plans, detail drawings and colour camouflage schemes, the book is a fitting companion to the author's previous work, The Littorio Class."--Provided by the publisher.