Since the 16th century, the Secretary of State of the Navy was responsible for the French early navy and colonies. In 1624, Louis XIII’s first minister, Cardinal Richelieu created the first model of the modern French Navy, also known as the Marine or La Royale, run by the Secretary of State of the Navy. The official French Marine was not established until 7 March 1669 by Jean-Baptiste Colbert. At this time, the ministry of marine became an official government department with a permanent staff, holding offices at Versailles. All of the policies and procedures for the marine were established by Colbert. The Secretary of State of the Navy was responsible for the administration of both the navy and civilian fleets, and for all France's ports, arsenals, consulates, and colonies, as well as the guardianship for all her commercial companies. The two French royal fleets were put under the control of Colbert from 1662, whilst he was "intendant des finances" and "minister of state"—but not "secretary of state" : he only became secretary of state in 1669 after having bought his way into the post. From then on, right up to the French Revolution, a secretary of state had responsibility for the fleet. To his two original offices other services were added over time:
Office of the Levant Consulates, 1738, which was in 1743 merged with the Office of the Ponant Consulates under the name of Office of Commerce and Consulates
These different offices and departments were regrouped into four super-departments by marshalde Castries in 1786. In 1791, the Secretary of State of the Navy was changed to Minister of the Navy. Before the 1890s, this position also usually had responsibility for France's colonies, and was usually known as Minister of the Navy and Colonies. In 1947 the naval ministry was absorbed into the Ministry of Defence.
Personnel
At the head of the marine was the Ministre de la Marine, manned by a French statesman. Ministers of Marine typically came from families of administrative nobility, such as the Phelypeaux’s. From 1690 until 1749, a Phelypeaux was secretary and minister in charge of the marine and its colonies. The most prominent of the family was Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain et Maurepas. Under his guidance, the marine regained much of the strength and prestige that it had lost during the period of the Regencies. As well, he was able to ascertain much larger than normal budgets for the Marine. Thus under Jean-Frederic’s leadership, France was able to regain its reputation as a maritime power.
