was prepared that was based heavily on the Trento class, but also incorporated improvements from the Zara design. These included the new, longer gun, more powerful boilers, and a stepped up forecastle deck to improve seakeeping. The high command of the Regia Marina persisted in their belief that speed was more important than armor, and so the new vessel adopted a level of protection similar to the earlier Trentos rather than the more sturdily built Zaras. The sailors of the fleet referred to Bolzano as "un errore splendidamente riuscito—an error beautifully executed" owing to her weak armor protection. General characteristics and machinery Bolzano was long between perpendiculars and long overall. She had a beam of and a draft of . She displaced normally and up to at full load, though her displacement was nominally within the restriction set in place by the Washington Naval Treaty. She had a crew of 725 officers and enlisted men as originally configured, though her wartime complement increased to 28 officers and 788 enlisted men. The ship was fitted with two tripod masts, one atop the forward superstructure and the other just forward of the rear funnel. A large, rotating aircraft catapult was located amidships, between the two funnels. She could carry two or three IMAM Ro.43 seaplanes for aerial reconnaissance. Her power plant consisted of four Parsons geared steam turbines, which drove four screw propellers, and were powered by ten oil-fired water-tube boilers, which were trunked into two widely spaced funnels. Her engines were rated at and produced a top speed of . While on speed trials with a light displacement of , she reached from . Electricity was provided by generators with a total output of . Armament and armor Bolzano was armed with a main battery of eight 203 mm Mod 29 53-caliber guns in four gun turrets. The turrets were arranged in superfiring pairs forward and aft. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a battery of sixteen 47-cal. guns in twin mounts, four Vickers-Terni 39-cal. guns in single mounts and eight guns in twin mounts. Bolzanos secondary battery was revised several times during her career. Two of the 100 mm guns were removed in the late 1930s and eight 54-cal. guns were installed in their place. The eight guns were replaced with four 65-cal. anti-aircraft guns in 1942. She also carried a battery of eight torpedo tubes mounted in four above-water, twin