The starting point of the "Nameless Train"

(Baonghean) - "The Unnumbered Train" - as its name suggests, from its first voyage until the end of the resistance war, that train and all those on board, at the docks, faced countless hardships, dangers, and losses... They are an immortal song of resourcefulness, self-sacrifice, courage, and indomitable fighting spirit...

On a sunny April day, we visited the K15 Wharf National Monument – ​​the starting point of the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea, in Van Huong Ward, Do Son District, Hai Phong City. K15 Wharf, a secret code name throughout the 14 years of the war against the Americans, has now become a familiar and significant "red address" attracting many tourists because it is also a historical site associated with the great and unique military achievements and contributions of our army and people.

K15 Wharf historical site - the starting point of the Ho Chi Minh Trail on the sea.

Regarding the name K15 Wharf, "K" is a military designation for the port, and "15" is the number taken from the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on the revolutionary line and methods in the South at the 15th Central Committee Conference. Resolution 15 outlined a fundamental and important content regarding the strategic line for the liberation of the South: To achieve victory in the liberation of the South, we must use armed struggle, military struggle combined with political struggle, diplomatic struggle, and national unity in a long and arduous revolution. Resolution 15 of the Central Committee was considered a guiding light for the revolution to liberate the South from the moment it was issued. To transport supplies to the South, mainly weapons, in order to realize the military and armed struggle methods in the spirit of Resolution 15 of the Party, the name K15 Wharf was created to refer to the wharf of the "numberless ships" at Do Son, Hai Phong.

At K15 Wharf, on October 11, 1962, a wooden ship made its first "shipment," carrying 30 tons of weapons. After five days at sea, it arrived safely at the Vam Lung base (Rach Goc - Ca Mau). This event was significant because it marked the possibility of establishing a strategic sea transport route to connect the North and South. K15 Wharf thus became the first and main departure point of the "Nameless Ships Convoy." From then on, along with the Ho Chi Minh Trail on land, our army and people had the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea to carry out the mission of "All for the front line," "All for the South to defeat the American invaders." While transporting by the Ho Chi Minh Trail on land took an average of two months, each shipment via the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea only took about a week.

"The 'Unnumbered Trains' or 'Unnumbered Ship Unit' were essentially just terms used to emphasize the secret, even top-secret, nature of the cargo transport unit that provided support from North to South Vietnam (by sea). In reality, all the ships had their own unique identification numbers in the unit's records."

Returning to K15 Wharf during those historic April days, we heard countless anecdotes and stories, which could truly be considered legends of the 20th century. These stories recount the period when K15 Wharf became a cargo staging area, requiring everyone who set foot there to maintain secrecy until the end of the war. Similarly, everyone who boarded the "unnumbered ships" or entered the unnumbered wharves had to strictly adhere to strict "iron discipline" measures. To ensure absolute secrecy, soldiers assigned to missions were only informed that they were being sent on an emergency assignment and had to comply with special "camp confinement" orders from their commanders at the ships and wharves until the end of the war.

There were also countless instances where our soldiers faced death head-on, battling the enemy, such as the case of the wooden ship carrying 35 tons of weapons, captained by Le Van Mot, chief engineer Nam Sao, and political commissar Dang Van Thanh, which ran aground in Phuoc Hai (Ba Ria), only about 300 meters from Phuoc Hai Post. Although regulations required destroying the ship if discovered, comrades Dang Van Thanh and Nam Sao voluntarily stayed on board all day to deal with two scenarios: if discovered, they would detonate the ship and sacrifice themselves with it; or, if they were lucky enough not to be discovered, they would wait for the tide to rise and risk their lives to escape.

Despite being repeatedly harassed by enemy aircraft, the two comrades, disguised as fishermen, calmly sat on the ship, sometimes drinking wine, sometimes mending nets, sometimes waving flags... Their tenacity throughout the day dispelled the enemy's suspicions, and the ship escaped danger. These unparalleled heroes, in moments of extreme hardship and difficulty, valuing every gun and bullet, every drop of sweat and blood shed on the arduous transport route, and for the sake of the resistance of the people of South Vietnam ahead, disobeyed orders, disregarded sacrifice, and squeezed through the "narrow gap" between life and death to cling to the ship and protect the cargo... This is just one of countless actions our troops undertook to maintain the vital sea transport routes.

For the soldiers on board, each mission to transport supplies was truly a life-or-death situation. These "unregistered ships" had to maneuver and camouflage themselves to pass through many enemy-controlled areas, always facing the risk of detection, fighting, and sacrificing their lives. Each "unregistered ship" always carried a stockpile of explosives ranging from 500 kg to 1,000 kg. If detected and unable to escape, the ship's commander would resolutely detonate the explosives to destroy the ship and its weapons, preventing them from falling into enemy hands, and more importantly, to erase all traces and prevent the disclosure of secrets.

They are also called "the nameless train" because most of the records, voyage plans, and information had to be completely destroyed after each trip to prevent any data from being leaked or compromised.

It was precisely because of our "iron discipline" and unwavering spirit that we achieved the heroic feat of maintaining the "lifeline of maritime transport" until the day of complete victory. For 14 years (1961-1975), the "Nameless Fleet" completed 1,879 transport voyages, carrying 152,876 tons of weapons and ammunition, and 80,026 people, traversing 3,758,000 nautical miles on the Ho Chi Minh Trail across the East Sea. The "Nameless Fleet" faced and fought against 300 enemy ships and 1,200 enemy aircraft, sinking or damaging 10 ships, shooting down 5 aircraft and damaging many others, eliminating hundreds of enemy troops, and braving more than 20 storms to transport weapons and supplies to the Southern battlefield.

Text and photos:Ngo Kien