Talk:Zara/@comment-1744431-20160210132209/@comment-24093250-20160210140610

From the start, the Zara-class were meant to be above the limit; given the lack of modern Italian BBs at the time, they were meant to be sort of "mini-battleship", being able not just to reach and fight an opponent, but endure punishment as well.

At first she was meant to have very thick armor (200 mm belt) and torpedoes; however, in the end it was preferred to reduce the armor and discard the torpedoes, so it wouldn't be too apparent that they were cheating with the limitations.