RVNN commander Captain Hồ Tấn Quyền, was a loyal supporter of President Ngô Đình Diệm.

In order to prevent him supporting Diệm in the 1963 South Vietnamese coup, he was executed by fellow RVNN officers on the morning of 1 November 1963.

However, this was unsuccessful and Cang moved the fleet to Nhà Bè Base to prevent the rebels from seizing the ships.

In February 1974 the RVNN mounted Operation Tran Hung Dao 48 to station troops on unoccupied islands to assert Vietnam's sovereignty over the Spratly archipelago.

[6] In the spring of 1975, North Vietnamese forces occupied all of northern and central South Vietnam, and finally Saigon fell on 30 April 1975.

Captain Kiem Do had secretly planned and then carried out the evacuation of a flotilla of 35 RVNN and other vessels, with 30,000 sailors, their families, and other civilians on board, and joined the U.S.

Some personnel were retained, with 80% of the Ham Tu Brigade in the VPN’s Bach Dang Fleet being South Vietnamese veterans.

[11] Flotilla II was composed of logistic ships, divided into two squadrons, supporting the naval units and bases throughout South Vietnam.