Cam Ranh Bay

Cam Ranh Bay (Vietnamese: Vịnh Cam Ranh) is a deep-water bay in Vietnam in the province of Khánh Hòa Province. 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 Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon).

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

Since 2011-2014, Vietnamese authorities have hired Russian consultants and purchased Russian technologies to re-open Cam Ranh Bay (a former United States and later Soviet military base) as the site of a new naval maintenance and logistics facility for foreign warships.

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 40-ship 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 January 1945 U.S. Naval Task Force 38 destroyed most Japanese facilities in an action called Operation Gratitude, after which the bay was abandoned.

In 1964 United States Seventh Fleet reconnaissance aircraft, the seaplane tender Currituck, and Mine Flotilla 1 units carried out hydrographic and beach surveys and explored sites for facilities ashore. This preparatory work proved fortuitous when a North Vietnamese trawler was discovered landing munitions and supplies at nearby Vũng Rô Bay in February 1965; the incident led the United States to develop Cam Ranh as a major base.

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