Battleship Vittorio Veneto was one of three Italian Littorio class battleships operating in the Second World War. She was one of the most modern and powerful battleships of her times. She was designed by General Umberto Pugliese and engineer Francesco Mazzullo., and she was the first battleship to exceed the limit of 35,000 tons of displacement imposed in the Washington Naval Treaty. The keel of the Vittorio Veneto battleship was laid down by the Italian shipbuilder Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico in Trieste on 28th October 1934. She was launched in July 1937 and began her service in the Italian Fleet (Regia Marina) by August 1940. She was named in honor of the Italian victory at Vittorio Veneto in the First World War and she had three sister ships: Littorio, Roma, and Impero (the last one was never completed). She was armed with a main battery of nine 38- millimeter guns and three triple turrets. She was able to reach a speed of 30 knots (56 Km/h).