Career
As results of the pact between Franco and Mussolini during the Spanish Civil War, on 13 February 1937, the ship went into action off the coast of Barcelona, Spain, bombarding the city and causing 18 deaths.

The cruiser joined the 7th cruiser division and went on a circumnavigation of the globe with her sister ship in 1938-39, returning to La Spezia in March 1939. During World War II she fought in the following actions:

Battle of Punta Stilo
Operation Harpoon (1942) - the battle in which she crippled HMS Bedouin (F67), later finished off by a torpedo bomber.
Operation Pedestal
She was hit during an air strike carried out by Liberator bombers while berthed in Napoli on 4 December 1942. Two other cruisers, Raimondo Montecuccoli and Muzio Attendolo were badly hit and the latter sunk.[1] After the armistice in 1943, she was used as a training ship at Suez.