The Littorio was officially launched in 1937, followed by the Vittorio Veneto in 1940, the Roma in 1942 and the Impero in 1939. The first two ships in the class were slightly shorter in length ...

The first two vessels of the class, the Littorio and Vittorio Veneto, formed the backbone of the Italian fleet and were operational soon after Italy entered the Second World War in the summer of 1940.