 Starting in the 1870s , following the Italian fleet 's defeat at the Battle of Lissa , the Italians began a large naval expansion program , initially aimed at countering the Austro @-@ Hungarian Navy . The program included the Caio Duilio and Italia classes , which were both designed by Benedetto Brin . The Ruggiero di Laurias were authorized in the naval program for 1880 , and the task of designing them was assigned to Engineering Inspector Giuseppe Micheli . Vice Admiral Ferdinando Acton opposed the very large ironclads designed by Brin , and so he charged Micheli with creating a ship that would not exceed 10 @,@ 000 metric tons ( 9 @,@ 800 long tons ; 11 @,@ 000 short tons ) . Micheli chose to base his new design on a cut @-@ down version of Caio Duilio , though he incorporated several improvements , including more modern , breech @-@ loading guns , a more powerful propulsion system , and new , more effective compound armor . Micheli 's tenure as the designer for Italian capital ships was short @-@ lived , with Brin returning to create the follow @-@ on Re Umberto class , the final members of the second generation of Italian ironclads . 
