UP41

[langsdorf]

Does anyone know why the Italians didn't adapt the UP41 class battleship? She seems, on paper at least, to have been a well balanced, powerfully armed vessel. TIA

[Tiornu]

The "41,000-tonne" design was supposed to be the successor to the "35,000-tonne" design, Littorio and Vittorio Veneto. However, given the immediate prospects for war, it was decided not to continue with a brand-new project. Instead, a few features from the UP-41 were incorporated into Littorio, and that resulted in Roma and Impero. In order to make some profit from the UP-41design work, the plans were sold to the Soviets.