Nghe Tinh Navy veterans celebrate 55th anniversary of first victory

On August 22, in Vinh city, the Liaison Committee of Nghe Tinh Navy Veterans held a meeting to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Vietnam People's Navy's first victory (August 5, 1964 - August 5, 2019).

Attending the meeting were comrades representing provincial departments and branches; comrades in the Liaison Committee and nearly 300 delegates representing all Navy veterans in Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces. Photo: Duc Anh

At the meeting, the Nghe Tinh Navy veterans reviewed the history of the first victory of the Vietnamese Navy (August 5, 1964). Accordingly, on the night of July 31 and the early morning of August 1, 1964, the US destroyer USS Ma-doc headed towards the North, violating the territorial waters of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, causing a number of provocations with fishing boats of fishermen from the North.

Art performance to welcome the meeting. Photo: Duc Anh

On August 2, the destroyer Madoc invaded the Hon Me - Lach Truong area. The Forward Command ordered two ships T142 and T146 to head northeast to the sea area where enemy ships were operating. 20 minutes later, the 3rd Torpedo Squadron was ordered to launch and follow the two patrol ships.

Comrade Nguyen Huu Dong - Deputy Head of the Liaison Committee for Veterans of Nghe Tinh Navy reviewed the first victory of the Vietnam People's Navy. Photo: Duc Anh

At this time, the Ma-doc ship was 27 nautical miles east of Hon Ne. Detecting the enemy ship, all 3 torpedo boats accelerated to approach the target. The enemy destroyer saw 3 torpedo boats approaching and accelerated away. Squad 3 aimed towards the target, when our ship was 6 nautical miles away, the enemy ship used its large cannon to fire continuously at the torpedo boat formation. Despite the enemy's artillery fire to block, our ships bravely moved forward, maneuvering and quickly closing the distance.

Ship 333 approached the torpedo attack position. Squad Leader and Captain Nguyen Xuan Bot directed the firing of 14.5mm cannons to sweep the enemy ship's deck and then launch torpedoes. The destroyer was smoking and had to change course to international waters.

Hit by a torpedo from the Vietnam People's Navy, the US destroyer Ma-doc had to flee. Photo: Archive

Immediately after the Ma-doc ship was driven out of our waters, the US government staged the Gulf of Tonkin incident as an excuse to retaliate. On August 5, they used their maximum force, including dozens of modern fighter and attack aircraft, divided into 3 waves to suddenly attack our navy bases and warehouses where our ships were anchored at several locations in the North. The army and people of the North promptly and fiercely fought back, causing many losses to the US air force and navy.

August 2 and 5, 1964 became an important and proud milestone in the history of the Navy and the history of our people's resistance against the US to save the country; It became the traditional day of the first victory of the Vietnam People's Navy. At the same time, it was the traditional day of the first victory of the army and people of the North in the destructive war of the air force and navy of the invading US imperialists.

With a spirit of vigilance and determination to win, in the first battle against the large-scale US air and naval war of destruction in the North, Squadron 111, Coastal Region 1 of the Vietnam People's Navy dealt heavy blows to the US Air Force. Photo: Archive

During the meeting, the Nghe Tinh Navy veterans hoped that the Vietnamese Navy soldiers would always uphold the spirit of revolutionary vigilance, promote the tradition of the service, especially the victory in the first battle, and fulfill two strategic tasks: Building socialism and protecting the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam, firmly protecting sovereignty, maintaining a peaceful environment, security and order on the seas, islands and continental shelf of the Fatherland.

The so-called “Gulf of Tonkin incident” created by the US authorities was actually a fabrication, deliberately deceiving the American people in order to pass the US Congressional resolution on military activities in Vietnam, called the “Gulf of Tonkin Resolution”, a resolution that US Senator Wynnimozo described as a “Declaration of War in Advance”. That was the direction and policy of the US towards Vietnam that was calculated to escalate and expand the war, not a surprise or a “retaliation”. The US scholar Daniel-El-bot himself affirmed: In fact, the “retaliatory” attack on the Vietnamese People’s Navy was just an excuse to pave the way for the bloody US war in Vietnam, part of the plan to increase military pressure on the North that the US had pursued since early 1964.

Central Propaganda Department