Hồ Tấn Quyền
Hồ Tấn Quyền (1 November 1927 – 1 November 1963), was a senior navy officer of the Republic of Vietnam Navy with the rank of Navy Colonel. He came from the first class at the Naval Officers School, which was taken over by the Government of Vietnam and established from the French Naval facility transferred to the Vietnamese Navy located in a province in the Central Coast of Vietnam. He was the third Commander of the Navy from August 1959 until his assassination on November 1, 1963.
Hồ Tấn Quyền | |
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![]() Navy Colonel Hồ Tấn Quyền (1959) | |
Born | November 1, 1927 |
Died | November 1, 1963 36) | (aged
Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ | ![]() ![]() |
Years of service | 1951–1963 |
Battles/wars |
Biography and military career
He was born on 1 November 1927 in Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng, into a Confucian family. His designated birthplace is in Kim Long, Hương Trà district, Thừa Thiên province. In 1947 he graduated from the French program at Quoc Hoc Khai Dinh Hue High School with a full Baccalaureate degree (Part II). In August of the same year, he entered the Merchant Marine School. In December 1948, he graduated as a Marine Captain, serving in this profession until joining the army.
Vietnamese National Army
At the end of 1951, he and a number of marine officers were selected to join the National Army Navy which was part of the French Union Army. He Attended the 1st course at Nha Trang Naval Academy which opened on 1 January 1952. With a total of 9 students, all were sent to the Arromanches aircraft carrier for professional training, then rotated. through the Far Eastern Battleships of the French Navy (because the Nha Trang Naval Training Center is under construction). In July, the whole course returned to Nha Trang to continue training. On 1 October 1952, he graduated from the navy with the rank of naval lieutenant in command. After graduating, he was assigned to serve in the Volunteer Corps. On 1 October 1953, he was promoted to naval lieutenant holds the position of Deputy Commander of the Volunteer Corps. In July 1954, he was promoted to naval captain, received and became the first captain of the Jiangsu HQ-535, which was transferred by the French Navy to the Vietnamese Navy.
Republic of Vietnam Navy
On the National Day of the First Republic on 26 October 1956, after a year of service in the National Army, he went on to serve the Republic of Vietnam Navy where he was promoted to the rank of Navy Major to assume the position of Commander of the Dau Hai area. At this time, he, along with Colonel Linh Quang Viên, were observers of the Southeast Asian Inter-Defense Navy exercise on the aircraft carrier Enterprise for 15 days from Singapore to Subic Bay Philippines. By mid-1957, he was appointed Chief of Staff in the Navy Command led by Major Trần Văn Chơn as Commander.
In the upper week of August 1959, he was appointed as Navy Commander, replacing Major Trần Văn Chơn, who was sent to study at the Naval War College in the United States. On National Day in October of the same year, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Navy. He is considered a person with enthusiasm, foresight and great merit in building the Navy. In particular, he was very loyal to President Ngô Đình Diệm. In the mid-1960s, he had the initiative to establish the Marine Force to prevent the infiltration of people and weapons by the North Vietnamese Army.
On 11 November 1960, a duo of officers, including Colonel Nguyễn Chánh Thi and Lieutenant Colonel Vương Văn Đông led a coup to overthrow the government of President Ngô Đình Diệm, he personally brought troops into the Reunification Palace. Set up a rescue, causing the coup that just broke out to fail. On 27 February 1962, when two pilots, Lieutenant Nguyễn Văn Cử and Lieutenant Phạm Phú Quốc, used planes to bomb the Independence Palace, he directed the Navy battleships to shoot bullets that filled the sky to protect the President. Soon afterwards, he was promoted to the rank of Captain in the Navy. On 3 January 1963, he was appointed as Commander of the operation "Waves of love", to pacify and secure the people in Nam Can, Ca Mau.
On 1 November 1963, a number of senior officers in the army successfully organized a coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm, he was one of the very few commanding officers who were truly loyal to Ngô Đình Diệm.
At 9:45 a.m. on November 1, the day of his birthday, he was brutally murdered on the Bien Hoa highway heading to Thu Duc, because he did not agree with the group of generals leading the coup. Along with him were two Navy officers under his command, Major Trương Học Lực, Commander of Region 3 Rivers and Captain Nguyễn Kim Hương Giang, commander of the 24th Volunteer Corps and commander Đoàn Giang Vận. These two officers were ordered by the generals leading the coup to remove him from the position of Commander of the Navy, so they tricked him into going to Thủ Đức and killed him in the rubber forest. Because if he was still the commander, he would command the navy to rescue President Diệm, with his loyalty plus the navy at that time, the coup would have likely failed. He was murdered at 36 years old.
Immediately after that, the Revolutionary Military Council, chaired by General Dương Văn Minh, appointed Colonel Chung Tấn Cang to the position of Commander of the Navy.
Family
- Wife: Lê Thị Bích Tùng
- Seven children (one son, six daughters) Hồ Tấn Bích Thuỷ (Chief, Professor of French Literature), Hồ Tấn Bích Tiên, Hồ Tấn Bích Trà, Hồ Tấn Bích Thư, Hồ Tấn Bích Tuyền, Hồ Tấn Bích Trang, and Hồ Tấn Phú Quốc.
References
- Trần Ngọc Thống, Hồ Đắc Huân, Lê Đình Thụy (2011). Military History of the Republic of Vietnam. Page 123.
External links
- The Death of Navy Colonel Hồ Tấn Quyền Archived 2008-06-08 at the Wayback Machine