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RMS Wray Castle was a training college for Merchant Navy radio officers based at Wray Castle in the Lake District, open from 1958 to 1998.
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At 11:40 p.m. 0n 14 April 1912 the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg. The collision opened five of her watertight compartments to the sea; the ship gradually filled with water and by 2:20 a.m., she broke apart and foundered, with well over one thousand people still aboard. Two hours after Titanic foundered, the Cunard liner RMS Carpathia arrived and took aboard an estimated 705 survivors.
There was worldwide shock at the huge loss of life and the procedural errors that had led to it. Public inquiries in Britain and the United States led to major improvements in maritime safety. One of their most important legacies was the establishment in 1914 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), which still governs maritime safety today. Additionally, several new wireless regulations were passed around the world in an effort to learn from the many missteps in wireless communications—which could have saved many more passengers. Primary to these improved regulations were the installation of radio equipment on ALL ships, fixed Distress frequencies and 24-hour watch on those frequencies.
During the forty years that the college was in operation students studied the SOLAS Radio Procedures & Regulations, MRGC (Maritime Radiocommunications General Certificate including Morse Code), SCOTVEC (Maintenance of Radar Equipment), and the maintenance and repair of Maritime Radio and Radar equipment.
60s
I joined RMS Wray Castle as a Cadet in 1963 and qualified as a Radio Officer in 1965. I joined the Marconi International Marine Company and my first ship was the ss Kenya a British India ship and part of the P & O Group. The Kenya sailed from George 5th Dock London to Durban South Africa via the Mediterranean, Suez Canal, Red Sea and African east coast ports.The round trip took nine weeks. It was a fantastic experience for a young man and I had many other ships before I came ashore and settled down. Keith Hughes.
90s
The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System or GMDSS was introduced in 1988 and all ships had to be fitted by 1999, thus bringing to an end the position of radio officer. In 1995 the last 'Radio Officer' left and the college diversified into ROV and general telecoms training, the training company finally leaving the Castle in 2004.