built by the Italian Navy, and was designed by Rear Admiral Edoardo Masdea. Cuniberti's call for heavy artillery arranged to emphasize broadside fire led to the placement of four triple 12-inch gun turrets along the centerline. This allowed a broadside of all twelve guns, while the first generation of British dreadnoughts could only fire eight of their guns on the broadside. Dante Alighieri was the first battleship to mount her main battery in triple turrets, though the Austro-Hungarian was completed first. The ship had a very limited service life. At the outbreak of World War I, she was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron, based in Taranto. But due to the policy of restraint adopted by the Italian Navy, Dante Alighieri and the other battleships of the Italian fleet saw no action. Financial limitations in the post-war period forced the navy to scrap the ship to reduce the naval budget. The ship was accordingly stricken on 1 July 1928 and sold for scrap. Conte di Cavour class The first design in the second generation of Italian dreadnoughts, the Conte di Cavour class was also designed by Edoardo Masdea. They were ordered in response to the French s. They remedied many of the deficiencies of the previous design; the most significant improvement was a dramatically more effective arrangement of the main battery. Ten guns were arranged in twin turrets superfiring over triple turrets forward and aft, and a third triple turret was placed amidships. All thirteen guns could fire on the broadside, but the firing arcs for most of the guns were significantly improved. The three ships had limited careers during World War I, and did not see action. On the night of 2/3 August 1916, Leonardo da Vinci was sunk by an internal explosion. She was raised in 1919; the navy planned to repair and modernize her, but lacked sufficient funds, and she was sold in 1923. The two surviving ships were heavily rebuilt in the mid-1930s, and both saw action during World War II. On the night of 11/12 November 1940, both ships were attacked by British torpedo bombers in the Battle of Taranto. Conte di Cavour was badly damaged, and had not been fully repaired when Italy surrendered in September 1943. Giulio Cesare meanwhile escaped unscathed, and participated in the battles of Cape Spartivento and First Sirte in November 1940 and December 1941, respectively. After the end