 The ships of the Ruggiero di Lauria class were 100 meters ( 330 ft ) long between perpendiculars and 105 @.@ 9 meters ( 347 ft ) long overall . They had a beam of 19 @.@ 84 m ( 65 @.@ 1 ft ) and a draft of 8 @.@ 29 to 8 @.@ 37 m ( 27 @.@ 2 to 27 @.@ 5 ft ) . They displaced 9 @,@ 886 metric tons ( 9 @,@ 730 long tons ) normally and up to 11 @,@ 145 t ( 10 @,@ 969 long tons ) at full load . The ships were built with a high forecastle to improve sea @-@ keeping over the Caio Duilio class . A single military mast with fighting tops was located amidships ; a hurricane deck connected the forward and aft superstructure . Both sections of superstructure was used to store several smaller boats ; each section also had a large crane to handle the boats . The ships had a crew of 507 – 509 officers and men . 
