The R.N. Littorio was the first ship of Italian Navy's Littorio-class, built between the mid 1930s and early 1940s. Littorio was launched in August of 1937 and entered service in late-spring of 1940. She saw action in the Battle of the Mediterranean against the British Royal Navy throughout the first years of the Second World War. After the King of Italy and the Allies signed the Armistice of Cassabile and the country split in half, Littorio was renamed Italia and set off together with her two sisterships, Roma and Vittorio Veneto with the majority of the Italian fleet towards Malta for internment. On the route to Malta the Italian Fleet was attacked by German bombers carrying radio-guided bombs, Roma and Italia both suffered heavy damage however Italia managed to survive the attack while Roma sank. After the War Italia remained in service until 1948 where she was decommissioned. She was later scrapped together with Vittorio Veneto in La Spezia in 1952.


Displacement: 45,963 t.

Length: 237 m.

Beam: 33 m.

Draft: 10 m.

Artillery: 9 x 381 mm main guns;
12 x 152 mm secondary guns;
12 x 90 mm dual-purpose secondary guns.

Armour: 350mm belt armour;
350 mm turret armour;
162 mm deck armour.

Speed: 30 knts.