[1] He took part in the Third Italian War of Independence on the steam frigate Maria Adelaide, flagship of Vice Admiral Albini, and was present at the battle of Lissa.

[2] He was then transferred back to the Monzambano, now serving as a hydrographic vessel, with which he carried out an expedition along the Adriatic coast, earning him the title of knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1871.

In June 1874 he was placed in charge of mapping the coast and seabed of La Spezia and in January 1875 he set off on the steam frigate Maria Adelaide on a naval educational voyage that took him to Spain, Tunisia, Portugal and Gibraltar.

[5] In January 1886 he was appointed knight of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus[1] and was made commander of the gunboat Scilla, on which he carried out a hydrographic expedition in the Red Sea.

[6][7] In July 1887 he was promoted to frigate captain and from January to September 1889 he held the position of director of the naval hydrographic office in Genoa.

[2] In July 1898 he was awarded the title of Knight of the Military Order of Savoy for his support to Vice Admiral Canevaro, commander in chief of the international squadron that intervened in Crete.

The rationale was that he had never been involved in politics, and was considered to have the necessary integrity and impartiality to restore public confidence after the accusations of corruption levelled against the previous minister, Giovanni Bettolo.

[1] One of the problems facing any Navy Minister was that building modern battleships was enormously expensive and technically demanding, while Italian shipyards were relatively inexperienced and there was always pressure to keep defence spending down.

His final legacy to the navy, The Mirabello law of 27 June 1909, provided funds to order three other first-class battleships, two scout cruisers, thirty torpedo boats, six destroyers and eight submarines.

[18] There was much criticism of Mirabello over the delays in getting the navy to support the victims of the 1908 Messina earthquake, at a time when many crews were at home on leave for Christmas.