Departamento de Historia Contemporánea

The Spanish shipping industry was favoured by Spanish neutrality in First Word War. A lot of new shipping companies were born to have a share in the benefits. This paper analyzes the example of Catalan new companies established between 1914 and 1922.

The history of a naval factory established in the port of Tarragona at the end of the First World War, in a favourable juncture for shippilding. In 1924 the factory was absorved by Unión Naval de Levante S.A. After the Spanish Civil War, in the 1950`s and after, the factory had a second life devoted to fishing boats shipbuiliding.

This is the history of a shipping company that flourished in the scenario of the Spanishd neutrality during First World War. Born with a single steamer, in few years became one of the most succesful shipping companies in Spain, even during the post-war years, but the crisis in 1921 put an end to the mirage of a golden age for the Spanish in general and Catalan in particular shipping industry.

A special decoration was created to honor the defensors of Madrid during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). But this decoration, called Distintivo de Madrid, was given also to the crews of the republican ships involved in the sinking of the rebel cruiser Baleares off Cabo de Palos.

The Port-Maó Naval Station, a former Brithis XVIII century shipyard, is an architectural heritage to be preserved. Today is still a Naval Base of the  Spanish Navy but its historical value  suggest that there must be preserved as a heritage site.

The transition from sail to steam brought about dramatic changes in the relations between the various categories of workers on board ships. The introduction of steam enginers and other auxiliary machinery on ships created new jobs that sometimes clashed with traditional skills and categories. People in the engine rooms were often not even considered "seamen. This paper is an initial look at the process that led to engineers on Spanish vessels attaining reconigniton in the Spanish mercantile marine.

As transatlantic trade between Spain and her American colonies developed from the sixteenth century onwards, a new class of ocean-going vessel commander emerged. Gradually, pilotos, who were trained in nautical schools, replaced the former coastal trade patrones as masters and mates in long-distance navigation. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, accession to this professional class entailed the completion of a challenging programme of study, which was assessed through a range of examinations and tests to yield a mate’s qualification for those who successfully negotiated the course. Only then would ship-owners have sufficient confidence to consider mates for promotion to the rank of master and manager of a shipping venture. The transition from sail to steam greatly affected the work and life of seafarers in the world shipping industry, especially those who belonged to the class of professional masters and mates. This was particularly so in the Spanish merchant marine, which had some peculiarities that must be borne in mind if this particular process of change is to be fully understood. The aim of this article is to analyse from various perspectives the complex roles of the master, who functioned as both employer and employee, in Spanish shipping enterprises. By so doing, it is intended that a platform for further research, and broader, comparative analyses, will be constructed.

A brief history of the oceanographic vessel Garcia del Cid, built in Tarragona by Astilleros de Tarragona S. A. in 1977, and its background. The ship was commissioned by the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) and had had a long career in oceanographical research.

The starting point of this research is the finding of scriptures from 1877 with three interesting boat drawings. These documents, located at Arxiu Històric de Protocols de Barcelona, help understand key moments in the history of the contemporary Port of Barcelona: the Rafo Port Plan, the
Garrán Reforms, the Spanish Civil War or the Stabilization Plan. This documentation, both technical and economic, focuses on the port labour activity, but it also provides us with a wider perspective of the industrial Port of Barcelona for almost a century. The information obtained from these scriptures and other historical archives from the Port of Barcelona help to shape a «biography» of the boats, and from this angle, to have a different look into the contemporary Port of Barcelona too.

Aquesta publicació recull una conferència i alguns documents complementeris que parlen de l'empresa de Joan Miró Trepat,
"Construcciones y Pavimentos, SA" que va construir un vaixell de ciment armat a Sant Adrià de Besós (el Mirotres) i va obrir una drassana a la platja de Malgrat de Mar. L' experiència es va iniciar el 1918 i va durar pocs anys.