Exhibition to seek public opinion on the sketch of the relief of General Vo Nguyen Giap with the Navy, the Ship without a number and the soldiers

(Haiphong.gov.vn) - From October 5-7, at Ben K15 in Van Huong ward, Do Son district, an exhibition was held to solicit public opinions on the sketch of the relief of General Vo Nguyen Giap with the navy, the ship without a number and the soldiers of the Investment Project to build, restore and embellish the Ben K15 relic complex, Do Son district, Hai Phong city.

In which, the expected construction items of the Ship without number and the soldiers: Stone ship, expected size 19.8m x 5.92m, on the deck of the ship is arranged a bronze statue garden, recreating the ceremony of sending off soldiers before leaving for duty. The relief depicts the image of General Vo Nguyen Giap with the Navy in bronze, expected size 11.71m x 6.68m, attached to a stainless steel frame, supported by a load-bearing concrete structure system.

In order to have works of good artistic quality, conveying the content of the theme, depicting the spirit and character of the characters in the above 2 categories, the Organizing Committee of the Contest has selected and invited authors and groups of authors with many outstanding achievements in the field of fine arts and sculpture to participate in the contest. In the Preliminary round, the Art Council and the Historical Advisory Board selected 06 entries including 03 reliefs and 03 simulation ships that met the prescribed criteria and had high aesthetic value to move on to the Final round.

Based on the opinions of the Art Council and the Advisory Group, the authors have supplemented, edited, and sent their works to the Organizing Committee to display and solicit opinions from the City People before the Art Council and the Historical Advisory Group select the Final Round at 02 locations: Ben K15 Relic, Do Son District from October 5, 2024 to October 7, 2024; and Hai Phong City Exhibition and Fine Arts Exhibition House from October 9, 2024 to October 12, 2024. The form of collecting opinions is by ballot, the ballot is placed at the above locations.

K15 Wharf is located in Van Huong ward, Do Son district, the Wharf is located at the foot of Van Hoa mountain in the southern area of Do Son peninsula, Hai Phong city. This is a small bay, surrounded by three very discreet mountain ranges, sheltered from the sea wind, is the Wharf for the "Ship Without Number" or also known as K15 Wharf - the starting point of the Ho Chi Minh trail at sea, is a strategic logistics route on the East Sea , ensuring the special military transport mission, secretly carried out by the Vietnam People's Navy and the Liberation Army of South Vietnam on the East Sea . The route was officially established on October 23, 1961 to transport and strengthen human resources and weapons from North Vietnam to support the Liberation Army of South Vietnam .

During 15 years of strategic military transport at sea (1961-1975), with nearly 1,900 ships and boats, transporting more than 152,000 tons of weapons, technical equipment, medicine and more than 80,000 officers and soldiers from North to South. The "Ship without number" - not because they had no number but even had many numbers to easily change during the journey - crossed thousands of nautical miles, overcame more than 4,000 mines, withstood more than 20 storms, fought more than 30 times with enemy ships, fought back 1,200 times of enemy aircraft attacks, shot down 5 and burned many enemy boats. During 15 years, the ships quietly overcame storms, dangers and the eyes and ears of the enemy, carrying heavy weapons, goods and the Northern sentiment to the Southern battlefield.

The naval soldiers on the “Ship Without Numbers” of that day sought to avoid the enemy to protect the goods, and had to keep the special transport route absolutely secret. Before each trip, the crew was organized by the unit to hold a “living funeral ceremony” before departure in case the enemy discovered them, the soldiers on the ship would detonate the ship themselves to keep it secret. Each trip was a tense and fierce battle of wits with the enemy, with nature, with the waves, with all the difficulties and challenges, ready to sacrifice their lives, ready to detonate the explosives arranged in advance to destroy the ship, destroy the goods, protect the secret of the route, the ship and the wharf... In those battles, many outstanding sons of the Fatherland heroically sacrificed themselves forever to stay on the sea route, lying in the deep sea, transforming into water waves. During 14 years (1961-1975), the officers and soldiers of the “Train without numbers” achieved heroic feats in extremely difficult and fierce circumstances. The military transport units on the sea route named after Ho Chi Minh overcame all difficulties, hardships, and sacrifices, overcame the enemy’s strict control, blockade, and fierce attacks, transported weapons, ammunition, technical equipment, military equipment, goods, medicine, etc., bringing hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers from the large rear to the front line, promptly responding to the human and material resources for the Southern battlefield during the fierce years of the war.

After years of war, K15 Wharf only remains a vestige of a heroic time. In order to educate the tradition of patriotism, the indomitable will of the nation and further promote the value of the heritage in economic development, the City People's Council decided to approve the Investment Project to build, restore and embellish the K15 Wharf relic complex, Do Son district, Hai Phong city in Resolution No. 28/NQ-HDND dated July 19, 2019. Within the scope of the project, some items include: Temple of heroic martyrs, Pier combined with flower lantern release, Simulation ship combined with statues of soldiers of the No-numbered Ship Group and Relief of General Vo Nguyen Giap with the Navy are the main items with cultural, historical and spiritual significance.

Source: https://haiphong.gov.vn/tin-so-nganh/trung-bay-xin-y-kien-nhan-dan-ve-mau-phac-thao-phu-dieu-dai-tuong-vo-nguyen-giap-vo-luc-luong-h-711986