See main article: Campania-class cruiser.
Italian: Campania was 83m (272feet) long overall and had a beam of 12.7m (41.7feet) and a draft of 5m (16feet). She displaced normally and up to 3187LT at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of vertical triple-expansion steam engines each driving a single screw propeller. Steam was supplied by four coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube boilers that were vented into a single funnel. Her engines were rated at 5001ihp and produced a top speed of 15.7kn. The ship had a cruising radius of about 1850nmi at a speed of . She had a crew of 11 officers and 193 enlisted men.
Italian: Campania was armed with a main battery of six L/40 guns mounted singly; one was placed on the forecastle, one at the stern, and two on each broadside in sponsons on the main deck. She was also equipped with two L40 guns, three 76 mm L/40 guns in anti-aircraft mountings, two 47mm guns, and a pair of machine guns. The ship was only lightly armored, with a 25mm thick deck, and thick plating on her conning tower.
Italian: Campania was built by the Italian: [[Castellammare shipyard|Castellammare]] shipyard, where her keel was laid on 9 August 1913, the same day as Italian: Basilicata. The ships were small enough that they could be built on the same slipway. They were launched less than a year later on 23 July 1914. After fitting-out work was completed, Italian: Campannia was commissioned on 18 May 1917, four months before her sister ship.
Designed as a colonial cruiser in the mold of the cruiser, Italian: Campania spent the first several years of her career in Italy's African colonies, including Italian Libya. On 1 July 1921, the ship was reclassified as a gunboat and two of her 152 mm guns were removed during reconstruction work that lasted until 1922. Starting in 1932 she served as a school ship for naval cadets. She was capable of carrying 100 cadets, along with their officers, petty officers, and support staff. She remained in this role until she was stricken from the naval register on 11 March 1937 and sold for scrapping.