Republic of Vietnam Navy

Former naval branch of the South Vietnamese military

The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; HQVNCH; was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam) from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats from France; after 1955, and the transfer of the armed forces to Vietnamese control, the fleet was supplied from the United States. With American assistance, in 1972 the VNN became the largest Southeast Asian navy and, by some estimates, the fourth largest navy in the world, just behind the Soviet Union, the United States and the People's Republic of China, with 42,000 personnel, 672 amphibious ships and craft, 20 mine warfare vessels, 450 patrol craft, 56 service craft, and 242 junks. Other sources state that VNN was the ninth largest navy in the world. The Republic of Vietnam Navy was responsible for the protection of the country's national waters, islands, and interests of its maritime economy, as well as for the co ordination of maritime police, customs service and the maritime border defence force. The Republic of Vietnam Navy disbanded in 1975 with the collapse of South Vietnam, and North Vietnam's victory in the Vietnam War. Most of its fleet was captured in port, but a small fleet of vessels, led by Captain Đỗ Kiếm and Richard L. Armitage of the Defense Attaché Office, Saigon, escaped to Thailand and surrendered themselves to American naval forces there. Some of these RVNN vessels were scuttled upon reaching the open sea, while others continued their service with the Philippine Navy. TOC

VNN commander Captain Hồ Tấn Quyền, was a loyal supporter of President Ngô Đình Diệm. In order to prevent him supporting Diệm in the 1963 South Vietnamese coup, he was executed by fellow VNN officers on the morning of 1 November 1963. During the 1965 South Vietnamese coup, rebel forces surrounded the VNN headquarters at the Saigon Naval Shipyard, apparently in an attempt to capture VNN commander Chung Tấn Cang. However, this was unsuccessful and Cang moved the fleet to Nhà Bè Base to prevent the rebels from seizing the ships.

In early 1969, President Richard M. Nixon formally adopted the policy of "Vietnamization". The naval part, called ACTOV ("Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese"), involved the phased transfer to Vietnam of the U. S. river and coastal fleet, as well as operational command over various operations. In mid 1969, the VNN took sole responsibility for river assault operations when the U. S. Mobile Riverine Force stood down and transferred 64 riverine assault craft to the VNN. On 10 October 1969, 80 Patrol Boat, Rivers (PBR) were transferred to the VNN at the Saigon Naval Shipyard, the PBRs were divided into four River Patrol Groups (RPGs) as part of Task Force 212.

On 19 January 1974, four VNN ships fought a battle with four ships of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy over ownership of the Paracel Islands, due east of Đà Nẵng. The VNN ship Nhựt Tảo (HQ 10) was sunk, RVNS Lý Thường Kiệt was heavily damaged, and both Trần Khánh Dư (HQ 4) and Trần Bình Trọng (HQ 5) suffered light damage. The Chinese captured and occupied the islands. In the spring of 1975, North Vietnamese forces occupied all of northern and central South Vietnam, and finally Saigon fell on 30 April 1975. However, Captain Kiem Do had secretly planned and then carried out the evacuation of a flotilla of thirty five Vietnam Navy and other vessels, with 30,000 sailors, their families, and other civilians on board, and joined the U. S. Seventh Fleet when it sailed for Subic Bay, Philippines. Most of the Vietnamese ships were later taken into the Philippine Navy, though the LSM Lam Giang (HQ 402), fuel barge HQ 474, and gunboat Kéo Ngựa (HQ 604) were scuttled after reaching the open sea and transferring their cargo of refugees and their crews to other ships. After the war, about 1,300 former VNN vessels including junks were used by the Vietnam People's Navy, making it the largest Southeast Asian navy in the mid 1980s. Some personnel were retained, with 80% of the Ham Tu Brigade in the VPN’s Bach Dang Fleet being South Vietnamese veterans.

The VNN was organized into two flotillas: a patrol flotilla and a logistics flotilla. Flotilla I was composed of patrol ships, organized into four squadrons. The patrol types included LSSLs and LSILs which normally operated only in Riverine Areas or the Rung Sat Special Zone; though occasionally they were assigned the four coastal zones. Operational commitments required that half of the patrol flotilla be deployed at all times, with a boat typically spending 40 to 50 days at sea on each patrol. Fleet Command patrol ships assigned to the riverine areas provided naval gunfire support as well as patrolling the main waterways in the riverine areas. One river patrol unit was assigned as convoy escort on the Mekong River to and from the Cambodian border. Flotilla II was composed of logistic ships, divided into two squadrons, supporting the naval units and bases throughout South Vietnam. Logistic ships were under the administrative control of the Fleet Commander, and under the operational control of the VNN Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics who acted upon orders from the Central Logistics Command of the Joint General Staff.

The South Vietnamese Navy had a small frogman group, the Liên Đoàn Người Nhái.

The VNN training establishment consisted of a Training Bureau located at VNN Headquarters, with Training Centers located in Saigon, Nha Trang, and Cam Ranh Bay.

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

The rank insignia of non commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.