To keep his identity secret, President Ho Chi Minh used the name Van Ba and applied for a job as a kitchen assistant on the ship Amiral Latouche Tréville of the Chargeurs Réunis shipping company (we call it the Five-Star Company, because there were five stars painted on the ship's smokestack). He applied for the job at the company's headquarters on the first floor of Café La Rotonde at 2 Catinat Street. He boarded the ship on June 3, 1911, and two days later, the ship set sail for Singapore and then France (according to Hong Ha - The Youthful Years of Uncle Ho , Ho Chi Minh City Youth Publishing House, 1976, p. 16).
At the end of Nguyen Hue Street, looking towards Nha Rong Wharf (now the Ho Chi Minh Museum)
Nha Rong and Nam Sao were the two largest shipping companies at the time. Each company had its own designated ports of call, making them distinct from one another.
The Nha Rong (Messageries Impériales) shipping company was a long-standing French shipping company that began operating in Saigon in 1862. They built a massive headquarters on the Ben Nghe canal with a curved roof decorated with a double dragon motif. Horse heads were painted on the smokestacks of their ships, hence the popular nickname "Horse Head Company." After the 1870 French Revolution, the company changed its name to Messageries Maritimes. All of the Horse Head Company's ocean-going vessels, upon arriving in Saigon, docked at Nha Rong wharf, a location exclusively reserved for the company.
According to a report read at the Nha Rong Memorial Site on May 19, 1986, by the Director of the Ba Son Shipyard: The Five Star Company, also known as Chargeurs Réunis, organized regular shipping between France and Indochina from 1901. The company had a fleet of seven merchant ships. Six large ships operated on routes between French ports and Indochina. The smaller Cholon ship ran year-round as a supplement. There were two departure points for ships from Indochina to France: from Hai Phong and from Saigon.
The Amiral Latouche Tréville, built by the La Loire shipyard in Saint Nazaire, was launched on September 21, 1903, and registered in the port of La Havre in 1904. It was one of the large ships of the early 20th century, capable of carrying both passengers and cargo.
The document Direction générale des TP - Port de Commerce de Saigon (Saigon, 1912) clearly states: The ship Amiral Latouche Tréville, departing from Hai Phong, arrived in Saigon on June 2, 1911, with a tonnage of 3,572 tons, captained by Maisen and a crew of 69. On June 3, 1911, Van Ba boarded the ship as a kitchen assistant, and on June 5, 1911, the ship set sail. From here, let's find out which port this ship docked at upon arriving in Saigon.
In 1911, Saigon Port was divided into two parts: a military port and a commercial port. The military port was about 600 meters long, stretching from the Ba Son shipyard to Me Linh Square. The commercial port was also 600 meters long, extending from Me Linh Square to Khanh Hoi Bridge (then called Quai Francis Garnier, now part of Ton Duc Thang Street). Nha Rong Wharf was on the Khanh Hoi side, essentially connecting to the commercial port. The riverbank on the Khanh Hoi side, from the Nha Rong boundary to Tan Thuan Bridge, stretched for over 1 kilometer and was called Tam Hoi Wharf. This wharf lacked piers, warehouses, and the necessary equipment for loading and unloading goods. The Khanh Hoi Bridge had not yet been built to provide a solid connection for the railway line from Saigon.
Thus, large ocean-going ships could not yet dock at Tam Hoi. In 1914, Tam Hoi port - later called Khanh Hoi port - was inaugurated (at the same time as the new Ben Thanh market). Therefore, the Amiral Latouche Tréville and other ships of the Five Star Shipping Company all had to dock at Saigon commercial port, in what is now District 1.
In 1911, the port was quite bustling, well-equipped, and situated at a very convenient transportation hub. Although only 600 meters long, it had six major avenues converging on the docks: Paul Blanchy (Hai Bà Trưng), Catinat (Đồng Khởi), Charner (Nguyễn Huệ), Krantz, and Duperré (Hàm Nghi). The railway station for Mỹ Tho and Phan Thiết was located at the beginning of Hàm Nghi Street, adjacent to the port. The old Ben Thanh Market was near the beginning of Nguyễn Huệ Street, now the Treasury. Through the port, the volume of passenger and cargo transport increased steadily.
At that time, the Saigon port had five piers: three small piers at the beginning of Catinat Street (Dong Khoi) for river transport companies, one large pier at the beginning of Charner Street (Nguyen Hue) for large ocean-going vessels, and one medium-sized pier at the beginning of Krantz Duperré Street (Ham Nghi) for Chinese shipping companies. As Brébion described the Saigon port in 1911 in Revue Indochinoise : "On the Francis Garnier wharf (now part of Ton Duc Thang street from Me Linh square to Khanh Hoi bridge), the riverbank was occupied by various types of piers. One of the largest piers was where large ships belonging to the Chargeurs Réunis company docked. At the port's end (at the beginning of Catinat - Dong Khoi street) were piers for ships of the Messageries Fluvialles company (river transport)" (Antoine Brébion - Monographie des Rues et Monument de Saigon , in Revue Indochinoise , 1911, pp. 357-376).
Thus, it can be confirmed that the ship Amiral Latouche Tréville, on which Mr. Van Ba worked as a kitchen assistant, docked at the large pier at the end of what is now Nguyen Hue Street. A spacious and open location overlooking the mainland across the wide Nguyen Hue Street, revealing the old Western Commune building; looking across the river, one could see the imposing Dragon House with its striking blend of European and Asian architecture (now the Ho Chi Minh Museum); and the vast expanse of water and lush forests stretching all the way to the Pacific Ocean . (to be continued)
(Excerpt from *Notes on Vietnamese History and Geography* by the late scholar Nguyen Dinh Dau, published by Tre Publishing House)
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/noi-bac-ra-di-tim-duong-cuu-nuoc-185241009213949499.htm
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