pairs, and a third triple turret amidships. Their secondary armament consisted of eighteen guns mounted in casemates on the sides of the hull in single mounts. For defense against torpedo boats, the ships carried fourteen guns; thirteen of these could be mounted on the turret tops, but they could also be positioned in 30 different locations, including some on the forecastle and upper decks. They were also fitted with three submerged torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and the third in the stern. The Conte di Cavour-class ships had a complete waterline armor belt that had a maximum thickness of amidships, which reduced to towards the stern and towards the bow. They had two armored decks: the main deck was thick on the flat that increased to on the slopes that connected it to the main belt. The second deck was thick. Frontal armor of the gun turrets was in thickness and the sides were thick. The armor protecting their barbettes ranged in thickness from . The walls of the forward conning tower were 280 millimeters thick. Modifications and reconstruction Shortly after the end of World War I, the number of 76.2 mm low-angle guns was reduced to 13, all mounted on the turret tops, and six new 76.2 mm anti-aircraft (AA) guns were installed abreast the aft funnel. In addition two license-built 2-pounder () AA guns were mounted on the forecastle deck. In 1925–1926 the foremast was replaced by a four-legged (tetrapodal) mast, which was moved forward of the funnels, the rangefinders were upgraded, and the ship was equipped to handle a Macchi M.18 seaplane mounted on the amidships turret. Around the same time she was equipped with a fixed aircraft catapult on the port side of the forecastle. Conte di Cavour began an extensive reconstruction in October 1933 at the Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico shipyard in Trieste that lasted until June 1937. A new bow section was grafted over the existing bow, which increased her overall length by to and her beam increased to . The ship's draft at deep load increased to . All of the changes made increased her displacement to at standard load and at deep load. The ship's crew increased to 1,260 officers and enlisted men. Two of the propeller shafts were removed and the existing turbines were replaced by two Belluzzo geared steam turbines rated at . The boilers were replaced by eight Yarrow