Nghe An holds a meeting to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first victory.

Attending the meeting were: Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; Tran Quoc Khanh - Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department; war invalids, families of martyrs, and more than 200 members of the Nghe An Navy Traditional Liaison Committee.

At the meeting, the veterans of the Nghe An Navy reminisced about the history of the first victorious battle 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 Maddox advanced towards the North, violating the territorial waters of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and causing several provocations with Vietnamese fishing boats.

On August 2nd, the destroyer Maddox intruded into the Hon Me - Lach Truong area. The Forward Command ordered two ships, T142 and T146, to head northeast towards the area where the enemy ships were operating. Twenty minutes later, the 3rd Torpedo Squadron was ordered to sortie, following the two patrol ships.

At this time, the Maddox was 27 nautical miles east of Hon Ne Island. Upon spotting the enemy ship, all three torpedo boats accelerated to approach the target. Seeing the three torpedo boats approaching, the enemy destroyer also accelerated and moved away. The 3rd squadron advanced towards the target, and when our ships were still 6 nautical miles away, the enemy ships used their heavy artillery to fire intensely at the torpedo boat formation. Despite the enemy's artillery barrage, our ships bravely pressed forward, maneuvering and rapidly closing the distance.

Ship 333 approached the torpedo attack position. Squadron Commander and Captain Nguyen Xuan Bot directed the 14.5mm artillery to sweep the enemy ship's deck before launching torpedoes. The destroyer emitted smoke and had to change course to flee into international waters.

Immediately after the USS Maddox was driven out of our waters, the US government fabricated the Gulf of Tonkin incident as a pretext for retaliation. On August 5, 1964, they deployed their maximum force, including dozens of modern fighter and attack aircraft, in three surprise attacks on bases, depots, and shipyards of our navy at several locations in the North. The army and people of the North promptly and fiercely retaliated, inflicting heavy losses on the US air force and navy.

August 2nd and 5th, 1964, became a significant and proud milestone in the history of the Navy and the history of our people's struggle against the US; it became the traditional day of the first victorious battle of the Vietnam People's Navy; and also the traditional day of the first victorious battle of the army and people of North Vietnam in the war of destruction waged by the invading US imperialist air and naval forces.

Speaking at the meeting, Comrade Nguyen Nam Dinh - Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council - informed about some aspects of the province's socio-economic situation. He also acknowledged the achievements of the Nghe An Naval Veterans' Association in the past period and expressed his hope that the naval veterans would continue to uphold their traditions and become shining examples for the younger generation to follow.

At the meeting, the Nghe An Naval Traditional Liaison Committee presented financial support for the construction of a memorial site for fallen soldiers of the Navy to 5 families of fallen soldiers (40 million VND each) and 8 gifts to 8 wounded soldiers and relatives of fallen soldiers (5 million VND each).