Armed with a main battery of eight 381 mm (15 in) guns and possessing a top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph), the four ships were intended to be the equivalent of the fast battleships like the British Queen Elizabeth class.

Only the lead ship was launched in 1920, and several proposals to convert her into an aircraft carrier were considered, but budgetary problems prevented any work being done.

With tensions high in Europe and a naval arms race underway, he secured authorization for a huge new construction program, which called for four new battleships, three cruisers, and numerous other warships.

The secondary armament of the ships would have consisted of a dozen 50-caliber Cannone navale da 152/50 (6 in) guns[5] mounted in casemates clustered amidships.

[3] Shortages of steel slowed the construction of the ships, and after Italy entered World War I in May 1915, other classes of warships, particularly destroyers, submarines, and other light craft were needed to combat the Central Powers.

[3] That year, the Regia Marina considered converting the ship into a flush-decked aircraft carrier similar to the British HMS Argus.

[15] The poor economic situation in Italy in the aftermath of World War I and the heavy expenses of the Italian pacification campaigns in Libya forced severe reductions in the naval budget.

A third faction, led by Admiral Giovanni Sechi, argued that a balanced fleet with a core of battleships and carriers was the most flexible option.

[17] To secure budgetary space for new construction, Sechi drastically reduced the number of older ships in service; he also cancelled the battleships of the Francesco Caracciolo class.

The firm planned to convert her into a merchant ship, but the work was deemed too expensive, and so she was temporarily mothballed in Baia Bay outside Naples.

A new conversion design, featuring an island superstructure, was prepared for Francesco Caracciolo but Italy's chronic budgetary problems prevented the navy building any of these ships.