Cam Ranh Bay

Location of Cam Ranh Bay in southern Vietnam

Cam Ranh Bay (Vietnamese: Vịnh Cam Ranh) is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in the province of Khánh Hòa. It is located at an inlet of the South China Sea situated on the southeastern coast of Vietnam, between Phan Rang and Nha Trang, approximately 290 kilometers / 180 miles northeast of Hồ Chí Minh City / Saigon.

Cam Ranh is considered the finest deepwater shelter in Southeast Asia^[1]. The continental shelf of Southeast Asia is relatively narrow at Cam Ranh Bay, bringing deep water close to land.

Overview

A U.S. Navy TBM Avenger over Cam Ranh Bay, 1945.

Historically, the bay has been significant from a military standpoint. The French used it as a naval base for their forces in Indochina. It was also used as a staging area for the Imperial Russian fleet under Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky prior to the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, and by the Japanese Imperial Navy in preparation for the invasion of Malaysia in 1942. In 1944 U.S. Naval Task Force 38 destroyed most Japanese facilities and it was abandoned.

In 1964 U.S. Navy seventh fleet reconnaissance aircraft, the seaplane tender Currituck (AV-7), and Mine Flotilla 1 units carried out hydrographic and beach surveys and explored sites for facilities ashore.

This preparatory worked proved fortuitous when a North Vietnamese trawler was discovered landing munitions and supplies at nearby Vung Ro Bay in February 1965; the incident led the United States to develop Cam Ranh as a major base.

The United States Air Force operated a large cargo/airlift facility called Cam Ranh Air Base and it was also used as a tactical fighter base. It was one of three aerial ports where United States military personnel entered or departed South Vietnam for their 12 month tour of duty.

The United States Navy operated a major port facility at Cam Ranh, and the United States Army had a major presence there as well. The Navy flew various aircraft from Cam Ranh and other bases, conducting aerial surveillance of South Vietnam's coastal waters.

The APO for Cam Ranh Air Base was APO San Francisco 93638.

U.S. Air Force use of Cam Ranh Bay

For the United States Air Force use of Cam Ranh Bay, see Cam Ranh Air Base

U. S. Navy use of Cam Ranh Bay

Cam Ranh Bay became the center of coastal air patrol operations with the establishment in April 1967 of the U.S. Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, and the basing there of P-2 Neptune and P-3 Orion patrol aircraft. That summer, Commander Coastal Surveillance Force and his staff moved their headquarters from Saigon to Cam Ranh Bay and set up operational command post to control the Operation Market Time effort. Country wide coordination also was enhanced with establishment of the Naval Communications Station.

In the beginning the shore facilities at Cam Ranh Bay were extremely limited, requiring interim measures to support assigned naval forces. Army depots provided common supplies, while Seventh Fleet light cargo ships Mark (AKL-12) and Brule (AKL-28) delivered Navy-peculiar items from Subic Bay in the Philippines. Until mid 1966 when shore installations were prepared to take over the task, messing and quartering of personnel were handled by APL-55, anchored in the harbor. Also, a pontoon dock was installed to permit the repair of the coastal patrol vessels. Gradually the Naval Support Activity, Saigon, Detachment Cam Ranh Bay, improved the provision of maintenance and repair, supply, finance, communications, transportation, postal service, recreation, and security support.

While the concentration at Cam Ranh Bay of Market Time headquarters and forces during the summer of 1967, the demand for base support became extraordinary. Accordingly, the Naval Support Activity Saigon, Detachment Cam Ranh Bay, was redesignated the Naval Support Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, a more autonomous and self sufficient status. A greater allocation of resources and support forces to the shore installation resulted in an improved ability to cope with the buildup of combat units. In time, the Cam Ranh Bay facility accomplished major vessel repair and dispensed a greater variety of supply items to the anti-infiltration task force. In addition the naval contingent at the Joint Service Ammunition Depot issued ammunition to the coastal surveillance, river patrol and mobile riverine forces as well as to the Seventh Fleet’s gunfire support destroyers and landing ships. Seabee Maintenance unit 302 provided public works assistance to the many dispersed Naval Support Activity, Saigon detachments.

As a vital logistic complex, Cam Ranh Bay continued to function long after the Navy’s combat forces withdrew from South Vietnam as part of the Vietnamization of the war. However, between January and April 1972 the Naval Air Facility, and the Naval Communications Station turned over the their installations to the Vietnamese Navy and were duly disestablished.

Capture of Cam Ranh Bay

After the American withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1973, the South Vietnamese Air Force used the airfield at Cam Ranh Bay as a storage facility for many of their propeller-driven aircraft (A-1E, T-28). The aircraft were kept in flyable storage while the many F-5s and A-37s jets were used in operations against the North Vietnamese army.

By the early spring of 1975 North Vietnam realized the time was right to achieve its goal of re-uniting Vietnam under communist rule, launched a series of small ground attacks to test U.S. reaction.

With the fall of the Central Highlands and the northern provinces of South Vietnam, a general panic had set in. By 30 March order in the city of Da Nang and in Da Nang harbor had completely broken down. Armed South Vietnamese deserters fired on civilians and each other. Forward North Vietnamese fired on American vessels in Da Nang harbor and sent sappers ahead to destroy port facilities, and refugees sought to board any boat or craft afloat.

Initially, Cam Ranh Bay was chosen as the safe haven for these South Vietnamese troops and civilians transported by boat from Da Nang. But, even Cam Ranh Bay was soon in peril. Between 1 and 3 April, many of the refugees just landed at Cam Ranh reembarked for further passage south and west to Phú Quốc Island in the Gulf of Siam, and ARVN forces pulled out of the faciilty.

On 3 April 1975 North Vietnamese forces captured Cam Ranh Bay and all of its military facilities.

Uses after 1975

The Soviet base in 1987.

Four years after the fall of Saigon and the unification of North and South Vietnam, Cam Ranh Bay became an important cold war naval base for the Soviet Pacific Fleet.

In 1979, the Soviet government signed an agreement with Vietnam for a 25-year lease of the base. Cam Ranh Bay was the largest Soviet naval base outside the Soviet Union, allowing the Soviet Union to project increased power in the South China Sea.^{[citation needed]} by 1987, they had expanded the base to four times its original size and often made mock attacks in the direction of the Philippines, according to intelligence of the United States Pacific Fleet. Analysts suggested that the Vietnamese side also saw the Soviet presence there as a counterweight against any potential Chinese threat. The Soviet Union and Vietnam officially denied any presence there.^[2] However, as early as 1988, then-Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze had discussed the possibility of a withdrawal from Cam Ranh Bay, and concrete naval reductions were realised by 1990.^[3][4]

The Russian government continued the earlier 25-year arrangement in a 1993 agreement that allowed for the continued use of the base for signal intelligence, primarily on Chinese communications in the South China Sea. By this time, most personnel and naval vessels had been withdrawn, with only technical support for the listening station remaining. As the original 25-year lease was nearing its end, Vietnam demanded $200 million in annual rent for the continued operation of the base. Russia balked at this, and decided to withdraw all personnel. On May 2, 2002, the Russian flag was lowered for the last time. Currently, Vietnamese officials are considering turning the base into a civilian facility, similar to what the Philippine government did with the American Clark Air Base.

With the Russian withdrawal, the United States in recent years has been negotiating with the Vietnamese government to declare Cam Ranh Bay to be open to port calls by foreign warships, as it already has done with the ports of Haiphong in northern Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south.

Such an arrangement would not be exclusive to the United States but would allow warships from any nation to use the port.

There are also talks about a possible Indian naval base at Cam Ranh Bay.

Ba Ngoi Port

Ba Ngoi port is an international commercial port located in inside Cam Ranh Bay, which has advantageous natural conditions and potentials for developing services of seaports, such as: the depth of anchorage area, airtight and wide bay, nearby International Marine route (about 10 km), Cam Ranh Airport (about 25 km), National Highway No.1A (about 1.5 km) and National Railway (about 3 km). Therefore, it has been being an important centre of marine traffic covering the economic zone of south Khanh Hoa and neighbouring provinces for a long time.

Cam Ranh Airport

On May 19, 2004, after major reconstruction, Cam Ranh Airport received its first commercial flight from Hanoi. Today, the facility operates as an internal airport, taking over all air traffic which previously headed to Nha Trang Airport.

See also

• List of airports in Vietnam

References

External links

• Cam Ranh Bay Photo Album
• Steve Lentz's Cam Ranh and Nha Trang Pictures 1968/1969

• Airport information for VVCR at World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006.

Coordinates: 11°59′53″N 109°13′10″E / 11.998153°N 109.219372°E / 11.998153; 109.219372