[1] By a royal decree of 23 October 1853, the Kingdom of Sardinia established a separate Ministry of the Navy.

The new ministry also had oversight responsibility for the Italian merchant marine, with control of the Division of the Merchant Marine and Maritime Health (Italian: Divisione della marina mercantile e della sanità marittima), which in 1874 was renamed the General Directorate of the Merchant Marine (Italian: Direzione generale della marina mercantile).

The ministry retained its merchant marine responsibilities until 1916, when oversight of the merchant marine was transferred to the Ministry of Maritime and Railway Transport (Italian: Ministero dei Trasporti Marittimi e Ferroviari).

Italy entered World War II on the side of the Axis powers in June 1940.

Upon the establishment of the Republic, the Ministry of the Navy again lost its responsibility for the merchant marine, oversight of which was transferred to a new Ministry of the Merchant Marine (Italian: Ministero della marina mercantile) on 13 July 1946.