The greatest contribution the Italians could make for the Axis during the war was at sea. Sensing impending war, the Italians embarked on an emergency battleship building program in the mid to late 30s. The result was the extremely impressive Littorio class, which featured a main battery of nine 15 inch guns, with 12 six inch guns for a secondary armament. The class also incorporated a heavy armor belt as well as an innovative torpedo defense system. All this was accomplished while the ship could still make 30+ knots.
Unfortunately for the Axis, the Italian Navy scored few major successes during the war. Roma is most significant for being the first capital ship to be destroyed by a guided missile. On 9 September 1943, she was attacked and destroyed by German bombers, who hit her with two FX 1400 radio controlled glider bombs as she was steaming to join the Allies after the Italian Armistice which ended Italy’s involvement in WWII.