Why was the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea opened 60 years ago?

During the great resistance war against the US to save the country, the Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail (1961 - 1975) was a special military transport route, participating in the task of supporting the Northern rear to the Southern battlefield, contributing significantly to the final victory of the revolutionary cause. The decision to open the Ho Chi Minh Sea Trail (October 23, 1961) was truly a strategic innovation of the Party, clearly demonstrating the Vietnamese spirit and intelligence in the face of severe challenges from history.

K15 Relic Site (Do Son, Hai Phong) where unnumbered trains departed to transport weapons to the southern battlefield. Photo courtesy

In 1954, the US imperialists replaced the French colonialists in waging a war of aggression in the South of our country, plotting to turn South Vietnam into a new type of colony, a military base, creating a springboard to attack the North in order to stop the wave of national liberation revolution and socialist revolution in the Southeast Asian region. The US set up a puppet government and army (Ngo Dinh Diem), tried to suppress and terrorize, pushing the revolution in the South into a very dangerous situation. Within just 4 years (1954 - 1958), the whole South lost 9/10 of its total cadres and party members. Hundreds of thousands of cadres and people were arrested and imprisoned by the enemy, most localities (including the plain districts) no longer had party organizations...

The international context at that time was also very complicated. Western countries led by the United States were launching a “cold war”, trying to compete in an arms race against the Soviet Union and socialist countries, making the world situation tense, with the potential risk of war breaking out. Some communist parties in socialist countries wanted to maintain the status quo of dividing North and South Vietnam, and did not approve of our Party shifting its struggle to the path of revolutionary violence in the South.

In early 1959, the 15th Conference of the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Workers' Party (now the Communist Party of Vietnam) 2nd session held a meeting, based on the analysis and correct assessment of the international and domestic situation, determined: "The basic development path of the Vietnamese revolution in the South is to revolt to seize power for the people (...), relying mainly on the political force of the masses, combined with the armed forces to overthrow the ruling regime of imperialism and feudalism, and establish a revolutionary government of the people" (excerpt from Resolution - Party Document). In response to urgent requirements, the Party Central Committee proposed a policy to quickly provide human and material support from the North to the South; assigned the Ministry of National Defense to coordinate with the Central Unification Committee to organize the implementation.

At first, due to limitations in means (ships), human resources, wharves, communications, etc., the construction of a sea supply route encountered many difficulties. According to the establishment decision, Battalion 603 had 2 companies with 4 sailboats with a tonnage of 15 - 20 tons. On January 27, 1960, Battalion 603 organized a boat trip carrying 5 tons of weapons and medicine from Gianh River mouth (Quang Binh province) to transfer to the battlefield of Zone 5. On the way, due to monsoon winds and big waves, the boat drifted and could not reach its destination, so the cargo had to be abandoned. The officers and soldiers on the boat were discovered and captured by the enemy. After analyzing and determining that the transport plan by sailboat was ineffective, the Ministry of National Defense ordered Battalion 603 to temporarily stop operations, waiting for a new plan.

At the same time, enlightened by the Party Central Committee's resolution, the struggle movement of the people in the South was developing strongly, exploding into a "Dong Khoi" (partial uprising) climax, breaking large parts of the enemy's ruling apparatus in the countryside, gaining mastery; directly shifting the revolution in the South from a position of preserving forces to an offensive position. In that context, the Vietnam Workers' Party held the 3rd National Congress (from September 5 to 12, 1960), officially adopting the resistance line: simultaneously carrying out the socialist revolution in the North and the people's national democratic revolution in the South; together aiming at the common goal of fighting the US and its lackeys, completely liberating the South, unifying the Fatherland, creating conditions for the whole country to advance to socialism. The Congress continued to affirm the great and decisive role of the North in the entire revolutionary cause of the whole country, thereby proposing the urgent task of actively supporting the South.

Map depicting the journey of the supply ships along the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea. Photo courtesy of VNA.

Creativity in strategic direction

Entering the early 1960s, the national liberation revolution in the world developed strongly, spreading from Europe to Asia, from America to Africa, threatening the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism. In Vietnam, the Dong Khoi movement (1959 - 1960) of our people in the South dealt a heavy blow, shaking the enemy government to its roots.

In response, in early 1961, John F. Kennedy became President of the United States, proposed the global strategy of "flexible response" and immediately piloted it in South Vietnam, proposing the strategy of "special war" (1961 - 1965). This was a new form of aggressive war conducted by puppet troops, under the command of American military "advisers", relying on American weapons and means of war. The Saigon army was equipped with modern equipment, using many new tactical forms such as "helicopter transport", "armored vehicle transport",... launching consecutive long-term sweeping operations, herding people into the system of "strategic hamlets" (in fact, disguised concentration camps). Also from 1961, the US - Saigon government began using toxic chemicals (some of which were especially harmful) sprayed into areas they could not control in order to destroy life on the ground, destroy the environment, and destroy the resistance forces.

Faced with the escalation of the war of aggression by the US imperialists, the Party Central Committee decided to establish the Liberation Army of South Vietnam (February 15, 1961), developing the "Dong Khoi" movement into a revolutionary war. The need to step up support from the Northern rear to the large Southern front, especially weapons to build a "main punch" became increasingly urgent. With the determination to defeat the American invaders, the Central Military Commission instructed the General Staff to urgently study a new plan to open a sea transport route to transport goods to the battlefields of the South and South Central Vietnam (where land transport had not yet reached). At the same time, the Politburo issued a directive requiring the Central Office for the South to actively prepare ports, urgently organize boats to cross the sea to the North to both survey and grasp the enemy's situation, study the sea transport route, and receive weapons to promptly supply the revolutionary movement in the South.

Implementing the strategic direction of the Central Committee, from mid-1961 to mid-1962, a total of 5 wooden boats from several southern provinces (Ben Tre, Ca Mau, Tra Vinh, Ba Ria) successfully crossed the sea to the North. On that basis, on October 23, 1961, the Ministry of National Defense issued Decision No. 97/QP to establish Group 759 with the task of "purchasing vehicles and operating the transportation of supplies to the southern battlefield by sea". The initial strength of Group 759 consisted of 38 officers and soldiers, most of whom had just crossed the sea to the North from the South. Lieutenant Colonel Doan Hong Phuoc, former Chief of Staff of Division 330, was appointed Group Commander. This was an important historical milestone, marking the official birth of the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea.

Immediately after its establishment, Group 759 (later Group 125, Brigade 125 of the Navy) actively prepared all aspects, ready to carry out transportation. At the end of 1961, the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense met to discuss and approve the work plan of Group 759, issuing a directive "allowing that if the Group encounters difficulties, it can deliver 50% of the goods to the battlefield to meet the requirements of completing the mission". On the night of October 11, 1962, Group 759 made the first supply ship trip carrying 30 tons of weapons, departing from Do Son wharf (Hai Phong) heading to the South; on October 16, 1962, the ship safely arrived at Vam Lung wharf (Ca Mau), creating the premise for the following trips. This event excited the hearts of the soldiers and people of the Southwest battlefield. President Ho Chi Minh, on behalf of the Party Central Committee, sent a telegram praising the achievements of Group 759, instructing the officers and soldiers of Group 759 to continue to learn from experience, organize faster transfers, and transfer more weapons to serve the Southern battlefield to fight the enemy, so that the North and South can soon be reunited!

Thus, the Ho Chi Minh Trail was born based on the independent and autonomous resistance line and the extremely creative strategic direction of our Party, meeting the urgent practical requirements of the Southern revolution. During 14 years of operation (1961 - 1975), the Ho Chi Minh Trail at sea transported more than 100,000 tons of military goods (mainly weapons), along with tens of thousands of people to the battlefields, becoming a miracle of the Vietnamese people in the 20th century./.

Major, Dr. Tran Huu Huy - Vietnam Military History Institute - Ministry of National Defense