 "Raimondo Montecuccoli" entered service in 1935 and was sent out to the Far East in 1937 to protect Italian interests in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and returned home in November 1938 after being relieved by .During the war she participated in the Battle of Punta Stilo, on 9 July 1940, and in the successful attack on Harpoon convoy during the Battle of Pantelleria, on 15 June 1942.