"Andrea Doria" was still out of service in 1939 when the Second World War broke out in Europe. Work was finished by October 1940, and on the 26th of the month, she rejoined the Italian fleet in the 5th Division in Taranto. She was undamaged by the British attack on Taranto on the night of 11–12 November, and was sent to Naples on the 12th. In early December, the Italian Navy reorganized the fleet; "Andrea Doria" remained in the 5th Division, along with the battleship . She undertook her first operation in early January with the new battleship in response to Operation Excess, a complex series of British convoys to Malta. The Italian battleships were unable to locate any British forces, and so returned to port by 11 January. On 8 February, "Andrea Doria" sortied again, along with "Vittorio Veneto" and "Giulio Cesare", in response to reports of a British fleet in the area. They were steaming off Sardinia when they received word that the Royal Navy had bombarded Genoa in Operation Grog; they immediately turned north to intercept the British, but failed to locate them in heavy fog.