History

The first time the village is mentioned is in a document of king Ferdinand II dated in 1158. In 1733 the Crown ordered the city to have a military chief and a mayor. Nowadays, La Graña is a neighborhood of the nearby city of Ferrol.

In 1724 king Felipe V established La Graña Shipyards and between 1729 and 1730 the first large warships were built: the ‘Galicia’ and the ‘León’, a 70-gun ship of the line.

From the original shipyard building, only the stone coat-of-arms remains. It represents two rampant lions holding the King’s shield. The School of Pilots was also headquartered on those premises until 1756, when it moved to Ferrol. This area and the surrounding mountains witnessed the Battle of Brión where the British admiral Warren was defeated after landing on the nearby Doniños beach.

In 1869 an ‘a float’ Naval Academy was set up in one of La Graña’s piers onboard the frigate ‘Asturias’.

During the last decades of the 19th century, and until 1915, the Naval Station hosted a Torpedo Brigade. Subsequently it became a Seamen Apprentice School, with the corvettes ‘Villa de Bilbao’ and ‘Nautilus’ as classrooms.

In 1941 the Manoeuver School was set up and established in La Graña, and in 1991 it became a Combat Evaluation Centre (EVACO in its Spanish initials).

In 1989, another department was established in La Graña: the Supply Services Center to train personnel on Administration and Services issues.

In July 1995 started the process of integration of the Naval Station, the Manoeuver School and the Supply and Services Center into a single School of Occupational Specialties, or ESENGRA, as it is known today.