Tonkin Gulf: The Torpedo Tubes in the PAVN Museum in Hanoi

Photos Taken by Edwin E. Moïse, Vietnam, 1989

When I visited the Army Museum in Hanoi in 1986 and again in 1989, I saw two torpedo tubes on display in the exterior courtyard, with a label indicating that these were from a torpedo boat of the unit that had participated in the First Tonkin Gulf Incident, on August 2, 1964.

This was the incident that has never been seriously in doubt. It should not be confused with the Second Tonkin Gulf Incident, August 4, 1964, when the United States claimed that North Vietamese torpedo boats had attacked two U.S. ships, but Hanoi denied that there had been such an attack. The evidence that is available from the U.S. side also indicates that there was not actually any attack on August 4. For further details see my book Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War.   The revised edition published by the Naval Institute Press in July 2019 is better, but the original edition published in 1996 is pretty good.

The label on the exhibit.

Front view of the torpedo tubes.

Back view of the torpedo tubes.

When I visited the museum again in 2013, the torpedo tubes had been shifted to a less conspicuous location in the back, and the label had been revised: