The Beginning of the Legendary Road

(Baonghean.vn)The old ships without numbers have gone down in history with the Ho Chi Minh trail at sea. The brave naval soldiers have also become a source of pride for many generations to follow. But there is a place that has quietly contributed to many glorious feats of arms of the past. That place has created strange double-hulled ships, blinding the enemy, crossing the ocean, silently hiding weapons in their hearts to reach the Southern people who are waiting every day. That is the craft village of Trung Kien (Nghi Thiet - Nghi Loc).

The No Number Ships (also known as Group 125) was a military maritime transport group tasked with transporting military supplies from the North to the South during the anti-American resistance war, under the Navy. The sailors of the No Number Ships were carefully selected for their maritime experience, physical fitness, and political background. Before carrying out their mission, they were given a memorial service and considered to have died.

During the resistance war, Group 125 made hundreds of sea trips in difficult conditions, transporting and handing over thousands of tons of weapons, equipment, ammunition... to the battlefields: the South, the South Central Coast, and Inter-zone 5. At the same time, the group directly participated in mine clearance in the Northeast sea; participated in the liberation of Song Tu Tay, Son Ca, Nam Yet, Sinh Ton, Truong Sa islands in the Truong Sa archipelago, Cu Lao Thu in Ninh Thuan province and welcomed communist prisoners from Con Dao back to the mainland...

Group 125 was twice awarded the title of Heroic Unit of the People's Armed Forces by the Vietnamese government (1967 and 1976). Participating in building the No Number ship were skilled workers from a number of shipbuilding villages in the coastal areas of the North and Central regions.

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In mid-1959, Nghe An Provincial Party Committee issued an official dispatch to Nghi Thiet Commune Party Committee, summoning the Chairman of Nghi Thiet Commune People's Committee and the Director of Trung Kien Boat Building Cooperative to Vinh to receive new assignments. At the meeting, the provincial leaders at that time assigned Nghi Thiet to build two boats, the outer shell woven with bamboo strips, the upper part and the inner skeleton made of wood, specifically guided by the Hydrographic Team. Comrade Nguyen Van Dieu, then Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of Nghi Thiet Commune People's Committee and comrade Nguyen Than Men, Party Committee member, Director of Trung Kien Boat Building Cooperative received the assignment. Trung Kien was the only craft village in Nghe An and Ha Tinh chosen.

Trung Kien is a village with a tradition of building seagoing ships for nearly 700 years. In the past, the village was called Hoang Lao village, including the hamlets Chua 1, Chua 2, Ban, Rong, Dinh and Tan Long. Because of its 700-year tradition, the ships built by Trung Kien craftsmen are always more "famous" than those of other shipbuilding villages. Perhaps that is why Trung Kien was assigned this difficult but glorious task. The only person left in the village who participated in building the wooden and bamboo ships crossing the sea 50 years ago is Mr. Phan Anh Phuc, now 78 years old. His old colleagues have passed away one by one. Mr. Phuc still remembers the day Trung Kien craft village welcomed a delegation of superior officials to the village in early 1959 with the task of summoning elite craftsmen to build a series of very different ships. Moreover, each person was only allowed to participate in building one such ship with the instruction "quickly, accurately, and secretly". All were under the direction of a Southern cadre named Hung. (Later, the Liaison Committee of the Veterans of the "Ship Without Number" Nghe-Tinh announced that it was comrade Tran Tan Moi, who was sent by the Central Unification Committee to directly direct the shipbuilding).

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The process of building the two ships above was really carried out by the skilled workers of Trung Kien with all their heart, because it seemed that they felt that this was a job contributing to the resistance war against America. From the raw materials to every line of the edge of the planks, the tattooing, the painting of the bottles inside and outside the ship... Thanks to that, the durability and capacity of these ships are often 2-3 times that of other ships. The ship has 4 compartments, divided into 2 layers, the lower compartment is used for goods, the outside is just like a normal fishing boat. The workers who used to work with Mr. Phuc such as Mr. Dien, Mr. Nham, Mr. Tham... became the first people of Trung Kien Cooperative to start the legend of the Ho Chi Minh trail at sea.

By the end of 1959, Trung Kien Cooperative had completed the task of building two new boats and launched them safely. In 1961, Trung Kien Cooperative was assigned to build four larger boats, built with wooden structures, with a load capacity of about 30 tons and capable of operating for long periods at sea. By mid-1964, the Cooperative continued to take on the task of building ships that were completely different from before, with two wooden hulls and extremely complex structures, requiring highly skilled workers to assemble them carefully and meticulously. However, it was not until 1971 that the fleet of two wooden hulls was delivered and launched safely.

According to the report of the Veterans Liaison Committee of the Nghe Tinh "ship without number" group, all the ships produced by Trung Kien Cooperative at that time were assigned to the Song Gianh fishing group (Camouflage Battalion 603), the unit assigned the task of opening a sea transport route (Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea). Those strange ships were built with 2 bottoms, the sides and bows were hollowed out, the purpose was to hide weapons, to fool the enemy. The first ship commanded by comrade Nguyen Bat departed on the night of the 30th of Tet in 1960. But when the ship reached Ho Chuoi (Quang Nam), it was captured by the enemy, and the sailors heroically sacrificed themselves. In 1962, the second ship departed from Trung Kien inlet, safely arriving at Vam Lung (Ca Mau) - officially opening the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea.

The war has been over for 36 years, the Ho Chi Minh trail at sea has also had 50 years of tradition. The soldiers on the unnumbered ships of the past, some are still alive, some are gone, but their countless legendary feats remain forever, immortal. Together with the land troops "Splitting the Truong Son range to save the country", they decided to "Slice the East Sea to save the country" by the sea route named after President Ho Chi Minh, the path of Vietnamese will and creativity.

During the resistance war against the US to save the country, Nghe An province had many sons who joined the navy, including many who joined the force of the unnumbered ships. The sacrifice of the officers and soldiers of the unnumbered ships to create the legendary Ho Chi Minh trail at sea was extremely great and very glorious. The sons of Nghe An not only contributed many brave examples to create that legend but also was the birthplace of the legendary unnumbered ships.

Major Nguyen Dinh Sin joined the No-numbered Ships (aka Group 125) from 1964 to 1991. He left the Army with the rank of Major and returned to work as a medical practitioner in his hometown. During nearly 30 years in the army, 10 years on the No-numbered ships at sea, during the most fierce times, Nguyen Dinh Sin always tried his best to fulfill his assigned tasks. As a reporter and medical officer of the No-numbered Ships, he contributed to two "great" acts at sea: saving people and saving ships. Treating officers and soldiers who fell ill while on duty on ships in the middle of the ocean. Being resourceful and brave in saving ships when encountering the enemy.

He said that as a reporter, when the ship entered the territory of any country, they quickly raised the flag of that country so that the ship could pass legally. There were trips when enemy ships were running parallel, and there were trips when American warships surrounded them. The crew all went up to the deck and walked around normally, some even threw beer and candy to the enemy ship as if they were companions at sea. Many times, thinking they had been discovered, they were ready to blow up and destroy the ship, not letting the weapons and ship fall into the enemy's hands. At the end of 1973, he was also honored to be on the ship that took comrade Sau Nam (aka comrade Le Duc Anh), who was then the Commander of Military Region 9, to the North for a meeting of the Central Military Commission with comrades Tu Mau, Chin Phuoc, Sau Nghi, Hai Danh...

Veteran Nguyen Dien Lac (Phuc Tho-Nghi Loc) still does not forget his two trips on the ship No Number, one of which was suspected by the enemy and had to go in circles, pretending to fish to mislead the enemy, causing the trip to last 30 days (normally 10-15 days). Veteran Bui Binh Trong (Quynh Long-Quynh Luu) remembers that our secret work was very strict, but the trip in February 1965 that he participated in was still followed by an American warship for 17 days. Once, the ship of veteran Pham Viet Hung (Nghi Kim-Vinh) had a broken steering wheel, had to pull into Nui Le to hide from the enemy and repair it, had to use a tarpaulin to stretch it up, and drink the dew. During that time, one of our soldiers died due to extreme deprivation and exhaustion. Veteran Nguyen Van Tiu's (Nghi Kim-Nghi Loc) trip on ship 43 in 1970, although disguised as an oil tanker, was still discovered. The enemy sent 4 US naval planes to follow the archipelago for 7 days, forcing our ships to run straight to Macau for shelter, returning 4 days later to continue the mission...

Veteran Nguyen Huu Tuan, former head of the operations department of the Ship Without Numbers, who was responsible for planning the ships' entry into 19 ports in the Southern provinces, once wrote: "Today's meeting with comrades/ we took roll call, the whole hall was silent/ There was only the sound of the wind whispering in the deserted sea/ The sound of the ocean waves praising the heroes/ The loyal ship without number suicide soldiers/ In the middle of the open sea, fighting a thousand times of death/ Crossing the ocean to bring cargo ships to port/ 14 years of fighting on the front lines/ More than a hundred officers and soldiers sacrificed/ with all their hearts and souls for the North and South to enjoy the day of reunification".

It seems that the affection for their comrades is always present in them. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Sin said that his comrades "lived on ships without numbers, died on nameless graves". Before saying goodbye, he read us the poem "Ship without numbers" that he had just written: "Visiting the old battlefield, remembering the dock/ The vast ocean has many shallows and depths/ Hundreds of thousands of nautical miles of ships without numbers/ One ton of cargo goes through many confrontations/ Encountering villains, their flesh is crushed/ How many heroes have their bones broken/ The heroic feat of the Ship without numbers will forever be famous/ Please don't forget, don't be cruel".

Recognizing the contributions of those who made the legend, Rear Admiral, Major General Dinh Gia That, Deputy Political Commissar of the Navy, expressed: "We always acknowledge and honor the legendary feats of officers and soldiers of the Ship Without Numbers, including the War Veterans of the Ship Without Numbers of the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh. Among the children of Nghe An who participated in the Ship Without Numbers, many comrades have remained forever with the sea, many comrades have returned to civilian life in very difficult circumstances. But the children of the Soviet Nghe Tinh who participated in the Ship Without Numbers are still steadfast with the Party, still love the sea and islands and are still exemplary models for their descendants to follow...".

Tran Hai