 By the end of the year, both battleships were tasked with escorting convoys from Italy to North Africa to support the Italian and German forces fighting there.These convoys included Operation M41 on 13 December and Operation M42 on 17–19 December.During the latter, "Andrea Doria" and "Giulio Cesare" engaged British cruisers and destroyers in the First Battle of Sirte on the first day of the operation.