Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour
The two ships of the "Formidabile" class were ordered by Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, then both the Prime Minister and Naval Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia for the Royal Sardinian Navy in 1860, shortly before the unification of Italy. The ships were originally intended to be armored floating batteries, but they were redesigned as sea-going ironclads after construction began. These ships were the first components of a major naval expansion program that was designed to prepare a fleet of ironclad warships capable of defeating the Austrian Navy. Italy considered the Austrian Empire to be its main rival, since it controlled predominantly Italian areas, including Venice. Their construction marked the onset of the Austro-Italian ironclad arms race.