K15 Wharf – Birthplace of legendary unnumbered ships
TRUNG KIEN – HAI VAN•24/10/2026 11:02
The Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea was a strategic transport route that became legendary during the resistance war against the US aggressors to save the country, with K15 Wharf in Do Son Ward, Hai Phong City, serving as its “kilometer zero”.
On the night of October 11, 1962, the Phuong Dong 1 ship departed from K15 Wharf carrying 30 tons of weapons, crossing the sea to reach Vam Lung in Ca Mau. This marked a significant milestone in the establishment of the strategic transport route named after President Ho Chi Minh.Today, the remaining concrete posts at K15 Wharf stand as historical evidence of the legendary unnumbered ship voyages of the past.For the veterans who served aboard the unnumbered ships, memories of those historic voyages remain vivid with quiet farewells, perilous journeys in which lives hung in the balance, and their readiness to sacrifice themselves if discovered by the enemy. In the photo: Le Minh Hung, Politburo Member and Prime Minister, and Le Ngoc Chau, Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Hai Phong Party Committee and Head of the Hai Phong Delegation of National Assembly Deputies, meet veterans of the Unnumbered Ships Fleet.Behind every unnumbered ship that safely reached its destination were tense battles of wits, dangerous encounters and sacrifices and losses that could never be made up for.For Lieutenant Colonel Luu Dinh Lung, a veteran of the unnumbered ships from Do Son Ward, his most memorable voyage was when he served aboard Ship 42, the only vessel modified and structurally redesigned to transport naval mines to southern Vietnam. In the photo: Lung proudly stands beside a photograph of the legendary Ship 42. In August 1970, Ship 42 was awarded the title of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces by the State.Veterans of the unnumbered ships revisit K15 Wharf.Images of the unnumbered ships of the past have been recreated at “kilometer zero” of the Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea.K15 Wharf has become a historic site for educating younger generations about the nation’s proud traditions.
