The cruiser served with the 2nd Cruiser Squadron at Punta Stilo, escorted North African traffic, and bombarded Corfu in 1940. These assignments placed her within the struggle to sustain Axis forces across the Mediterranean. Later service with the 8th Cruiser Division combined hazardous minelaying and convoy duty, including the First Battle of Sirte. By 1942 she was also operating against Allied convoys, so the same ship alternated between protecting one supply system and attacking the other.
Chapter · 4:25-5:32
Duca d'Aosta in the Mediterranean war
Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta moves from Punta Stilo and North African convoy duty to minelaying, the First Battle of Sirte, and attacks on Allied convoys.