Andrea Doria, named for the 16th century Genoese admiral of the same name, was laid down at the La Spezia shipyard in Naples on 24 March 1912. She was launched on 30 March 1913 and completed by 13 March 1916. The Austro-Hungarian Navy, which had been Italy's primary rival for decades, was the primary opponent in the conflict. The Austro-Hungarian battle fleet lay in its harbors directly across the narrow Adriatic Sea and did not emerge for the duration of the conflict. In addition, Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, the Italian naval chief of staff, believed that Austro-Hungarian submarines and minelayers could operate too effectively in the narrow waters of the Adriatic. The threat from these underwater weapons to his capital ships was too serious for him to use the fleet in an active way. Instead, Revel decided to implement blockade at the relatively safer southern end of the Adriatic with the battle fleet, while smaller vessels, such as the MAS boats, conducted raids on Austro-Hungarian ships and installations. Meanwhile, Revel's battleships would be preserved to confront the Austro-Hungarian battle fleet in the event that it sought a decisive engagement.
Starting in November 1918, Andrea Doria was based in Taranto. On 10 November, she was sent to Corfu, where she remained until 19 February 1919. She then returned to Taranto, before proceeding to Constantinople in July, departing on the 4th and arriving on the 9th of the month. She joined an Allied fleet in the city and remained there until 9 November, when she returned again to Taranto. In 1920, most of the Italian fleet was temporarily demobilized to provide crews to bring ex-German warships that had been awarded to Italy under the Treaty of Versailles; Andrea Doria was the only battleship to remain operational during the period. In November, the Treaty of Rapallo was signed with the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Andrea Doria was sent to remove the rebellious forces of Gabriele d'Annunzio from Fiume that month. On 24 December, she joined the attack on Fiume, and two days later fired three salvos from her 76 mm guns at the destroyer Espero, which had rebelled and joined d'Annunzio. Andrea Doria 's gunfire badly damaged Espero. Andrea Doria also shelled d'Annunzio's headquarters and wounded him; he surrendered on 31 December.
During the 1923 Corfu incident with Greece, the Italian Navy, including Andrea Doria, was deployed to the island to secure a Greek apology following the murder of Enrico Tellini and four others. Following the peaceful resolution of the incident, Andrea Doria visited Spain. On 16 January 1925, Andrea Doria visited Lisbon to participate in the 400th anniversary of the death of Vasco de Gama. She thereafter went to La Spezia for a refit, which began on 7 February and was completed by June. Following civil unrest in Syria, Andrea Doria steamed to the eastern Mediterranean with a squadron of destroyers in the event that Italian nationals would need to be evacuated. The ships remained docked in Leros until 12 December, by which time the disturbances in Syria had been calmed down. She spent the next six years on normal peacetime duties, until she was withdrawn from service in August 1932. She was placed in reserve in Taranto, with a skeleton crew for maintenance. In March 1937, she started the major reconstruction in Trieste, where she arrived on the 30th. The refit began on 8 April at the Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico shipyard.
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 Giulio Cesare. She undertook her first operation in early January with the new battleship Vittorio Veneto 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 British had bombarded Genoa; they immediately turned north to intercept them, but heavy fog allowed the British to escape.
In December 1941, Andrea Doria formed part of the escort during Operation M41, a major convoy from Italy to Benghazi in Libya on the 13th. M42 followed on 17–19 December, where Andrea Doria saw action against British cruisers and destroyers in the First Battle of Sirte. Late on the 17th, the Italian fleet, commanded by Admiral Angelo Iachino, engaged the British light forces. Both sides acted hesitantly, however, and no decisive engagement resulted. Operation M43 followed on 3 January 1942; Andrea Doria again provided escort for the three convoys to Libya. While on the operation, Andrea Doria suffered mechanical problems and had to return to port early. She remained inactive for the remainder of the year, and indeed until the Armistice in September 1943 that removed Italy from the war, owing to severe fuel shortages in the Italian Navy. On 9 September 1943, Andrea Doria left Italy, bound for internment in Malta, where she remained until 8 June 1944. She was then released to return to Sicily, and eventually returned to Taranto on 14 March 1945. After the war ended in May 1945, Andrea Doria went to Syracuse, where she remained until 13 December 1949. She was then made flagship of the Italian fleet, a role she performed until 9 December 1950. She held the position again from 9 March 1951 to May 1953, after which time she was used as a gunnery training ship. She was paid off on 16 September 1956, after serving in the Italian Navy for over 40 years. She was formally stricken from the naval register on 1 November and subsequently broken up for scrap in La Spezia.[1]
