Cam Ranh Bay
The Bay of Cam Ranh (Vietnamese: Vịnh Cam Ranh , English: Cam Ranh Bay ) is a natural deep-water harbor in the province of Khánh Hòa in Vietnam . It is located at a cut in the South China Sea on the southeast coast of Vietnam between Phan Rang and Nha Trang and is often considered one of the most beautiful seaports in the world.
Historically, the bay was important as a military base . The French colonial power used Cam Ranh Bay as a naval base for their armed forces in Indochina . The Imperial Russian fleet used the bay as a staging area before the naval battle of Tsushima in 1905 and during the Second World War the Imperial Japanese Navy prepared for their invasion of the Malay Peninsula in 1942.
During the Vietnam War , Cam Ranh Bay was an important South Vietnamese and US military base . After the surrender of the troops of the Republic of Vietnam , the capture of Saigon by the troops of the NLF in 1975 and the Vietnamese reunification, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam gave the naval base to the Soviet Pacific Fleet .
In 1979 the Soviet government signed an agreement to lease the naval base for a period of 25 years. In 1983 there were around 2,000 Soviet soldiers and military advisers in Vietnam. In 1986/87, the Soviet Union also stationed Tupolev Tu-95 and Tupolev Tu-16 strategic bombers on the base.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War , the Russian government continued this agreement in 1993, which enables it to continue using the base for intelligence purposes, particularly with regard to Chinese communications in the South China Sea. But now most of the soldiers and warships have been withdrawn, leaving only units for the listening station . As the original 25-year lease neared its end, Vietnam asked for an annual lease of $ 200 million to continue using the base. Russia shied away from this and decided to withdraw all of its staff. On May 2, 2002, the Russian flag was last lowered.
Vietnam is considering converting the naval base into a civilian facility based on the model of the former United States Naval Base Subic Bay on the Philippine island of Luzon . Due to Vietnam's rival sea area claims, as was reported in 2012, it seems possible that the US will receive it, but nothing of the kind was realized until 2012.