Feature Article
The Guns of Vung Tau
Article by: Ern Marshall, who describes himself as an amateur war historian. Ern is a long time resident of Vung Tau and a Veteran. Visit his web site http:// thefrenchgunsandfortsofvungtau. weebly. com /
Historical Overview: Vung Tau is not just a place of stunning beaches, it is also the home of some of the oldest weapon collections in Vietnam. One of the most interesting is the old fortress built by the French over a century ago. During the 14th and 15th century, the fortress of Phước Thắng the Cape that would eventually become Vung Tau was a swamp where European Trading ships regularly visited.
Malay pirates built a base here turning Phước Thắng into dangerous waters, Emperor Gia long( 1802-1820)( the last Emperor of the Nguyen dynasty), sent 3 Army detachments to curtail the pirate activity. The pirates were ultimately defeated and the Generals of these 3 detachments were given the land, as an incentive to continue to protect the area from re-invasion.
In 1876, according to a decree by the French colonialists, Vũng Tàu was merged in Ba Ria county, a part of the Saigon administration( French: Circonscription De Saigon). May 1st 1895, the governor of Cochin China, established by decree, that Cap Saint Jacques would thereafter be an autonomous town. In 1898, Cap Saint Jacques was merged with Ba Ria County once again however was divided yet again in 1899. In 1901, the population of Vũng Tàu was 5,690, of which 2,000 were immigrants from Northern Vietnam. The fishing industry quickly became the prominent source of livelihood. April 4th 1905, Cap Saint Jacques was made an administrative district of Ba Ria province. In 1929, Cap Saint Jacques became a province and in 1934 became a city( commune). The French governor of Indochina, Paul Doumer( who later became President of France), built a mansion in Vũng Tàu that is still a prominent landmark in the city.
In 1979 Vung Tau was made the“ Capital of Vung Tau – Con Dao Special Administration Zone”
16 The MAG Vung Tau
The Guns: It is recorded that February 10th, 1859 marks the first use of cannons by Nguyen’ s army, when they fired at French battleships from the fortress of Phước Thắng, located 100m from Vung Tau’ s Front Beach. This marked an important period in Vietnam’ s war against French invaders in South Vietnam( then called Cochin China). The battle lasting some 40 years was not successful however and the French demolished the fort in 1898 rebuilding the new defense forts along with a luxury 3 storey villa which came to be known as“ The White Palace” which can still be seen today. The old fortress on Nui Lon is one of three defense bases built by the French Colonists at the end of 19th century, it was the strongest and the most advanced in Indochina at the time and designed to secure the sea gateway to the South Eastern region and to safeguard Vung Tau, a resort centre for the French. From 1885 to 1905 the French deported thousands of revolutionary fighters to Big Mountain and Small Mountain( Vung Tau) in order to build the defense system, they placed 23 artillery pieces with calibers from 140- 300mm, in strategic locations throughout the area. Work started in 1885 to build a fortress 100m above sea level covering an area of approximately 1ha on Big Mountain taking 15 years to complete. Six heavy guns, built during 1872- 1876 by the French, are positioned in a bow line 17.5m apart mounted on 360o rotating bases pointing out to the sea toward Can Gio, now HCMC.“ The call of national resistance” is the handwritten draft of President Ho Chi Minh’ s appeal to the whole nation for the resistance war written at the end of 1946. It is being kept at the Viet Nam National Museum of History in Ha Noi. The draft, that was written on only two separate pages, has not only great historical meaning, but also high values in Vietnamese litera-