During the First Indochina War (between the French and the Viet Minh in the 1950s), the Đồng Hới airbase was used by the French to attack the Viet Minh in north-central Vietnam and the Laotian Pathet Lao army in central and southern Laos. During the Vietnam War, Đồng Hới was heavily devastated by bombardments from United States B-52 bombers due to its location near the 17th parallel and the DMZ between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. On February 11, 1965 bombing destroyed much of the city. The Tam Tòa Church, a Catholic cathedral, was severely damaged. Today the bell tower remains near the town center as a monument. On 19 April 1972, during a major North Vietnam offensive, a task force of four US ships were sailing off the coast of Vietnam — , , and . They were attacked by three North Vietnamese MiG aircraft in the Battle of Đồng Hới. In an attempt to surprise the task force, the MiGs came in low, described as "getting their feet wet." Despite the official stories, they did not surprise the task force, which had spotted them long before engagement range and were ready to shoot. Two ships, "Oklahoma City" and "Sterett", had anti-aircraft missiles, while "Higbee" and "Lloyd Thomas" were armed with dual purpose guns. All ships were at battle stations. This city is the narrowest land of Vietnam (around 40 km from the east to the west). After the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, Quảng Bình province was merged into Bình Trị Thiên province (Bình Trị Thiên is the abbreviation of Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, and Thừa Thiên provinces). In 1990, Bình Trị Thiên was once again separated into three provinces as it had been before. Đồng Hới then became the capital of Quảng Bình province. Đồng Hới is on the National Route 1A, North–South Railway, and Ho Chi Minh Highway, at the coordinates 17 21' N and 106 10’ E.