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United States spy ship comes too close to North Vietnam's shore
“U.S. destroyer [ship] Maddox, captained by Commander Herbert L. Ogier, began a signals intelligence-gathering Desoto patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin” and Captain John J. Herrick headed the operation” (Rainow 1). -
USS Maddox is Attacked
The Maddox approached within gun range of Hon Me Island (Rainow 1) and three DRV torpedo boats attacked the destroyer. The attack was unsuccessful, and the torpedo boats suffered varying degrees of damage and crew casualties (“Tonkin” 1). -
Ships Resume Patrol
“The Maddox and another destroyer, the C. Turner Joy, went back into the Gulf of Tonkin to resume the patrol” (Tonkin” 1). The ships were forced to act cautiously to prevent another attack and still gain secret information. -
A Second Attack? Or Not?
Both the USS Maddox and C. Turner Joy's radar and sound equipment was acting up and giving differnet and unusual readings (“Tonkin” 1). This made the status of what was going on very confusing and neither destroyer nor the government knew if something was in the distance or if the ships were being attacked. The government decided that there had been a genuine attack based on intercepted North Vietnamese radio messages (“Tonkin” 2). -
A Plea for a Resolution
President Johnson, ordered retaliatory air strikes and asked for and a congressional resolution in response to the alleged North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin (“Gulf” 1). -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is Passed
Passed almost unanimously in Congress, it gave the President “congressional approval for' all necessary measures to repel any armed attack’ against U.S. forces and for ‘all necessary steps’ to assist any ally in Southeast Asia seeking to defend its freedom” (“Gulf” 1). Thus, allowing the President to declare war, a job normal given to the U.S. Congress. They beleived "these attacks are part of a deliberate and systematic campaign of aggression" by Vietnam's Communists (U.S. 1).