Specialist training for radiotelegraph officers in Spain (1910-2010)from wireless operators to university graduates

Resumen

This paper describes the history of training in Spain for naval radio electronics officers. First, weexplore the knowledge and conditions required of the first wireless operators recruited by theSpanishTransatlantic Companyfor their transatlantic steamers, and the courses delivered by the Marconi Schoolof Wireless and the General School of Telegraphy in Madrid to train the first Spanish radiotelegraphoperators. Subsequently, responsibility for delivering these courses passed first to the Advanced Schoolof Telegraphy in 1920, and then in 1938 to its successor, the Official School of Telecommunications,where experts in modern telephones and radio introduced significant changes in the training. Then, weexamine the inclusion of these courses through the Official Maritime Schools before these were fullyintegrated into the Spanish university system in 1988. Finally, we analyse the Bologna process, underwhich the current officially recognised Degree in Naval Radio Electronics Engineering was establishedin 2010