On 12 May 1868, King Victor Emanuel II established the "Royal Commission for Ports, Shores and Lighthouses". This is the first official document concerning the regulation of maritime signalling in Italy and one of the first acts of the newly unified nation of Italy.

In 1876, the Hydrographic Office of the Regia Marina published the first complete list of lighthouses in Italy. Subsequently the Director of the Hydrographic Office (Commander Magnaghi) addressed the Ministry of Public Works to request the establishment of a Technical Office in charge of the supervision of the entire Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Service. His request was rejected. At that time, the maritime signalling network was anything but good, to the point that the issue was submitted to the Parliament. An extraordinary Commission was then appointed for the reorganisation of lighthouses and lights, with the mandate of improving the coastal lighting system.

In 1881, the Royal Commission for Ports, Shores and Lighthouses approved the first draft of a systematic programme of action on the coasts of the Kingdom, financing the construction of over 100 new maritime signals.

Law n. 3095 of 2 April1885, the first law on Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling, entrusted the management of national lighthouses to the Superior Council of the Ministry of Public Works.

In 1887, the General Directorate of Hydraulic Works of the Ministry of Public Works published the second edition of the "List of Italian Lighthouses and Lights".

1890 was an important date: admiral Magnaghi wrote his "Report on the Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Service", which included a "Proposal for a new set of rules", inspired by the model used in those years in the United States.

In 1896, with a Royal Decree, the Ministry of Public Works ordered the reorganization of the whole matter to be carried out by a newly established Extraordinary Ministerial Commission. This can be considered the second systematic programme since 1881, once again approved by the Royal Central Administration of Lighthouses and Maritime Signalling of the Ministry of Public Works.

The importance of having an efficient Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Service, and the growing awareness of its strategic and military value - in a historic period characterized by a reinforcement of military capability all across Europe, prefiguring an imminent war - led to the passing of Laws n. 2 and n. 75 of 1910, which entrusted the whole matter to the Regia Marina.

With Decree n. 568 of 17 July 1910, the Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Service passed from the Ministry of Public Works to the Ministry of the Navy. The Ministry of Public Works (presently Ministry of Infrastructures and Transport) remained in charge of the construction and extraordinary repair of lighthouses.

Nevertheless, the formal passage to the Regia Marina was delayed owing to bureaucratic obstacles and budgetary problems, and the official date was definitely fixed on 1st July 1911.

This was the beginning of a modernization process in terms of both organization and technology. On 22 July 1915, with Lieutenant’s Decree n. 1240, the Regia Marina completely reorganized the Service, establishing the Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Inspectorate, to be based in Naples.

The new streamlined organizational structure was composed of simple bodies, independent of other services, able to operate even in the most remote and isolated points on the national coastline, in order to ensure coastal surveillance and protection.

The entire territory of the Kingdom of Italy (including colonies) was divided into 8 areas called "Lighthouse Area Commands", commanded by a Navy Captain who was responsible for the stretch of coast of his area of competence. The LighthouseTechnical Office, located in the Naples naval shipyard, was in charge of studying projects related to lighthouse and maritime signalling equipment and devices, expressing opinions on proposals for new equipment submitted by manufacturers, conducting tests and executing contracts approved by the Ministry, as well as providing major modifications and repairs of existing equipment, while conducting studies and experiences aimed at improving lighthouse technique. The modernization of a large number of installations resulted in significant improvements in the service, both in qualitative and quantitative terms: in 1916, there were 512 signals, as against 50 in 1861.

On 22 July 1915, with Lieutenant’s Decree n. 1240, the first military regulation on the Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Service was approved. Up to the outbreak of World War II, Italy made every effort to upgrade the signalling network along our coastline to the level of leading countries in this sector, such as Great Britain and France.

The war took a heavy toll in terms of destruction and devastation that affected the whole network of lighthouses and maritime signalling, considered at that time as sites of major strategic interest. Allied air, naval and land bombing were followed by the ravages left behind by the retreating German sappers, leaving a scene of desolation and dangerous inefficiency.

In the immediate post-war period, the Italian Navy – with the operational support provided by the Maritime Work Department of the Ministry of Public Works - immediately reorganized the Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Service, and launched a comprehensive programme aimed at reconstructing and modernizing the entire network. Damaged lighthouses were repaired, while new structures were built, and works continued uninterruptedly until 1965.

On 31 December 1966, the new Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Inspectorate was established, directly subordinate to Italian Navy Chief of Staff. Based in Rome, it was supported by the Lighthouse Technical Office, located in La Spezia naval shipyard. The national network was subdivided in the following areas: La Spezia for the northern Tyrrhenian Sea, La Maddalena Island for Sardinia, Naples for the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Messina for Sicily, Taranto for the Ionian and southern Adriatic Sea, and Venice for the northern and central Adriatic Sea. Each area was assigned to its respective Lighthouse Area Command, under the operational authority (in technical and logistics terms) of the relevant Italian Navy High Regional Command, and was functionally subordinate to the Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Inspectorate, with the main task of managing maritime signalling in its area of competence, including ordinary maintenance, performed by both military and civilian personnel.

The　LighthouseTechnical Office, based in La Spezia, directly subordinate to the Inspectorate, was charged with executing major or extraordinary repairs, besides doing repairs and conducting testing, experimentation and research activities in its workshops.

In June 1998, the Logistics Support and Lighthouse Inspectorate incorporated the former Lighthouse Inspectorate, to create the 4th Lighthouse Division. Since April 2013, the Inspectorate, maintaining its organizational structure, has been renamed Italian Navy Logistics Command.

Since 1 November 2013, the Logistics Command has been relocated to Nisida (Naples), and since 15 March 2014 the new Lighthouse and Maritime Signalling Direction has been based in Naples, Via Ammiraglio Ferdinando Acton, 1.