Don't know exact type of ship, but I believe it was one described as a landing ship (with bow doors that open). It was not a landing craft (with the bow ramp); I do know the difference between those. Hey, I was in the Army, not the Navy. I was told that these (landing ships) were the largest ships that could go that far up the river into Da Nang. Most larger ships had to anchor out in the bay and offload onto smaller craft there. We did also see a variety of landing craft heading up the river with a variety of cargo.

The loco -- okay, a U8B -- was visible on the top deck of the ship as it passed our compound on the bank of the river. There may have been more than one of the locos on that ship, but I only saw the one.

One possibility might have been that the loco was not brand new but had been in use further south in Vietnam and was being moved by ship because the line south of Da Nang had been destroyed and more motive power was needed north of Da Nang -- and this was the only way to transfer the locomotive. But, from what I remember -- hey this was a long time ago -- it did look new.

-- Ernest