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Republic of Vietnam Navy - 1949-1954 Developments

The Franco-Vietnamese Agreement, signed in Paris on 30 December 1949, stated that the Vietnamese Armed Forces were to include naval forces whose cadres, organization, and training would be provide by the French Navy. In response to this agreement, Vice Admiral Ortoli, commanding French Naval Forces in the Far East, proposed in April 1950 that the Vietnamese Navy initially include only river units. In February 1951, the Secretary of the Navy in Paris expressed astonishment that nothing had been done to bring the Vietnamese Navy into being.

Accordingly, in April 1951, Admiral Ortoli forwarded to Paris a development plan for the Vietnamese Navy. This plan proposed that two naval assault divisions under French command be formed promptly in 1951. It further proposed that the construction of a recruit training center in Vietnam be undertaken that same year ; officer and enlisted specialist training of Vietnamese was to take place in France. The recruit center was to be opened in 1952. Then, in 1953, a number of river flotillas would be organized. This would be followed in 1954 by the transfer of four YMS-type minesweepers to the Vietnamese, and lastly, in 1955, a squadron of patrol planes would be activated.

In May, the Secretary of the Navy advised that he was prepared to accept these proposals with the stipulation that the time schedule be advanced and provision made to include seagoing forces. To this end he announced the intent to transfer a 600-ton Chevreuil-type escort to the Vietnamese in 1952, and to begin construction in France of two second-class escort ships of the E.50 class (1,250 tons), and four minesweepers of the Dl class (365 tons) for the Vietnamese government.

Early in 1952 the Commander of the French Naval Forces in the Far East and the High Commissioner agreed upon a modified plan for the organization of the Vietnamese Navy. This plan provided for the opening of the recruit center at Nhatrang in 1952 as previously proposed. The two naval assault divisions that originally were to have been organized in 1951 were to be activated in 1953, when it was also proposed to organize a flotilla of 30 river boats and to effect the transfer of one division of three YMSs.

The Imperial Ordinance No. 2 appeared on 6 March 1952, officially establishing the Navy of Vietnam. Then, on 1 May, the organization of the Vietnamese Armed Forces General Staff caused a reorganization of the French Military Mission. Incident to this reorganization on 20 May, a "Navy Department" was created within the mission charged with "commanding, administering, and managing the units of the Vietnamese Navy and directing its development."

The first phase, beginning in 1953, called for the implementation of the previous Saigon proposal for the organization of two naval assault divisions and one river patrol flotilla of 30 boats, plus the transfer of three YMSs. The year following, two other naval assault divisions were to be formed. The second phase involved the addition of units as follows : 1955-two minesweepers; 1956-two coastal patrol ships ; 1957-two coastal patrol ships ; 1958-one minesweeper and on e escort ship ; 1959-two coastal patrol ships, one escort ship, and two amphibian patrol plane squadrons.

A supplement to the naval program for 1954 included the activation of three river flotillas (each composed of LCrs, LcMs, LCVPS, sampans, and river patrol boats), and the addition of one LST and four LSSLS. This augmentation, if adopted, would require the Navy to reach a total strength of 2,700 men by the end of the year, with the United States to provide military assistance to make up the material shortages. But as 1953 drew to its close, it was painfully evident that the Vietnamese Navy had progressed very little in the course of four years.

By the time the Indochina War ended in July 1954, the Vietnamese Navy consisted of four Naval Assault Divisions, three YMSs, two LCUs, the Naval Schools at Nhatrang, and two receiving stations-one in Saigon and the other in Haiphong. The personnel strength also had increased. In January 1954, the Navy mustered 22 officers and 684 men; by July, this had grown to 45 officers and 975 men.