South Vietnamese Navy

The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; - ''HQVNCH''; was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam) from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats from France; after 1955, and the transfer of the armed forces to Vietnamese control, the fleet was supplied from the United States. With American assistance, in 1972 the RVNN became the largest Southeast Asian navy and, by some estimates, the fourth largest navy in the world, just behind the Soviet Union, the United States and the People's Republic of China, with 42,000 personnel, 672 amphibious ships and craft, 20 mine warfare vessels, 450 patrol craft, 56 service craft, and 242 junks. Other sources state that RVNN was the ninth largest navy in the world. The Republic of Vietnam Navy was responsible for the protection of the country's national waters, islands, and interests of its maritime economy, as well as for the co-ordination of maritime police, customs service and the maritime border defence force.

The RVNN disbanded in 1975 with the collapse of South Vietnam, and North Vietnam's victory in the Vietnam War. Most of its fleet was captured in port, but a small fleet of vessels, led by Captain Đỗ Kiếm and Richard L. Armitage of the Defense Attaché Office, Saigon, escaped to Thailand and surrendered themselves to American naval forces there. Some of these RVNN vessels were scuttled upon reaching the open sea, while others continued their service with the Philippine Navy.

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History

Expansion

Politics and coups

RVNN commander Captain Hồ Tấn Quyền, was a loyal supporter of President Ngô Đình Diệm. In order to prevent him supporting Diệm in the 1963 South Vietnamese coup, he was executed by fellow RVNN officers on the morning of 1 November 1963.

During the 1965 South Vietnamese coup, rebel forces surrounded the RVNN headquarters at the Saigon Naval Shipyard, apparently in an attempt to capture RVNN commander Chung Tấn Cang. However, this was unsuccessful and Cang moved the fleet to Nhà Bè Base to prevent the rebels from seizing the ships.

Vietnamization

In early 1969, President Richard M. Nixon formally adopted the policy of "Vietnamization". The naval part, called ACTOV ("Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese"), involved the phased transfer to Vietnam of the U.S. river and coastal fleet, as well as operational command over various operations. In mid-1969, the RVNN took sole responsibility for river assault operations when the U.S. Mobile Riverine Force stood down and transferred 64 riverine assault craft to the RVNN. On 10 October 1969, 80 Patrol Boat, Rivers (PBR) were transferred to the RVNN at the Saigon Naval Shipyard, the PBRs were divided into four River Patrol Groups (RPGs) as part of Task Force 212.

End

On 19 January 1974, four RVNN ships fought a battle with four ships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy over ownership of the Paracel Islands, due east of Đà Nẵng. The RVNN ship ''Nhựt Tảo'' (HQ-10) was sunk, was heavily damaged, and both ''Trần Khánh Dư'' (HQ-4) and ''Trần Bình Trọng'' (HQ-5) suffered light damage. The Chinese captured and occupied the islands. On 30 January 1974 the RVNN mounted Operation ''Tran Hung Dao 48'' to station troops on unoccupied islands to assert Vietnam's sovereignty over the Spratly archipelago.

In the spring of 1975, North Vietnamese forces occupied all of northern and central South Vietnam, and finally Saigon fell on 30 April 1975. Captain Kiem Do had secretly planned and then carried out the evacuation of a flotilla of 35 RVNN and other vessels, with 30,000 sailors, their families, and other civilians on board, and joined the U.S. Seventh Fleet when it sailed for Subic Bay, Philippines. Most of the Vietnamese ships were later taken into the Philippine Navy, though the LSM ''Lam Giang'' (HQ-402), fuel barge ''HQ-474'', and gunboat ''Kéo Ngựa'' (HQ-604) were scuttled after reaching the open sea and transferring their cargo of refugees and their crews to other ships.

After the war, about 1,300 former RVNN vessels including junks were used by the Vietnam People's Navy, making it the largest Southeast Asian navy in the mid-1980s. Some personnel were retained, with 80% of the Ham Tu Brigade in the VPN’s Bach Dang Fleet being South Vietnamese veterans.Cima, R.J (1987)
Vietnam: A Country Study. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress.
p. 279.

Organization

Fleet Command

RVNN Fleet Command was directly responsible to the RVNN Chief of Naval Operations for the readiness of ships and craft. The Fleet Commander assigned and scheduled ships to operate in the Coastal Zones, Riverine Areas, and the Rung Sat Special Zone. All Fleet Command ships were home ported in Saigon and normally returned there after deployments. When deployed, operational control was assumed by the respective zone or area commander, and the ships operated from the following ports:
* I Coastal Zone – Đà Nẵng
* II Coastal Zone – Nha Trang/Qui Nhơn
* III Coastal Zone – Vũng Tàu/Cần Thơ/Châu Đức
* IV Coastal Zone – An Thoi/Phú Quốc
* Rung Sat Special Zone – Nhà Bè

Flotillas

The RVNN was organized into two flotillas: a patrol flotilla and a logistics flotilla. Flotilla I was composed of patrol ships, organized into four squadrons. The patrol types included LSSLs and LSILs which normally operated only in riverine areas or the Rung Sat Special Zone; though occasionally they were assigned the four coastal zones. Operational commitments required that half of the patrol flotilla be deployed at all times, with a boat typically spending 40 to 50 days at sea on each patrol. Fleet Command patrol ships assigned to the riverine areas provided naval gunfire support as well as patrolling the main waterways in the riverine areas. One river patrol unit was assigned as convoy escort on the Mekong River to and from the Cambodian border.

Flotilla II was composed of logistic ships, divided into two squadrons, supporting the naval units and bases throughout South Vietnam. Logistic ships were under the administrative control of the Fleet Commander, and under the operational control of the RVNN Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics who acted upon orders from the Central Logistics Command of the Joint General Staff.

Naval Infantry/Marines

The RVNN also had under them a contingent of Naval Infantry or Marine Division formed in 1954 by then Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem and trained by the French Commandos Marine

Underwater Demolition Team

The South Vietnamese Navy had a small frogman group, the Liên Đoàn Người Nhái.

Training

The RVNN training establishment consisted of a Training Bureau located at VNN Headquarters, with Training Centers located in Saigon, Nha Trang, and Cam Ranh Bay.

Saigon naval shipyard

Ranks and insignia

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Commanders

* Commander (later Navy Captain) Lê Quang Mỹ, 1955–57
* Commander Trần Văn Chơn, 1957–59
* Navy Captain Hồ Tấn Quyền, 1959–63
* Navy Captain (later Vice Admiral) Chung Tấn Cang, 1963–65
* Navy Captain Trần Văn Phấn, 1965–66
* Lieutenant General Cao Văn Viên, September – November 1966 - Temporary after Coup d'État
* Navy Captain (later Rear Admiral) Trần Văn Chơn, 1966–74
* Rear Admiral Lâm Ngươn Tánh, for 2 months between 1974 and 1975
* Vice Admiral Chung Tấn Cang, 24 March – 29 April 1975

See also

* Ships of the Republic of Vietnam Navy
* Army of the Republic of Vietnam
* Republic of Vietnam Military Forces
* Republic of Vietnam Air Force
* Republic of Vietnam Marine Division
* Royal Lao Navy
* Khmer National Navy

References

Bibliography

*
* ''This article incorporates material translated from the corresponding page in the Vietnamese Wikipedia.''

External links

US Naval Historical Center : Navy of the Republic of Vietnam



South Vietnamese Navy riverine operations 1970

{{Authority control

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Military units and formations established in 1952
Military units and formations disestablished in 1975