Tonkin Gulf Maps:

Location of Incident

Route of DESOTO patrol

Incident in the Tonkin Gulf

Tonkin Gulf Incident

The Tonkin Gulf incident was the first direct clash between armed forces of the United States and the DRV. In August of 1964 the Navy Desoto patrols--reconnaissance missions in the Gulf of Tonkin--conincided with OPLAN 34A covert raids against the North Vietnamese coast. Near the island of Hon Me, three DRV torpedo boats came out and attacked the U.S. destroyer, Maddox. Joined by another destroyer, the Turner Joy, the Maddox resumed the patrol the following day. On the night of August 4 the two destroyers reported that they were being attacked by the DRV torpedo boats. There has been much controversy over whether the second attack actually happened.

President Johnson used this second attack as a excuse for retalilatory air strikes against DRV coastal patrol vessels--several of which were sunk--and a fuel storage facility at Vinh--which was destroyed. The immediate benefit was the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which gave the President Congressional authorization to wage war. In the long term, Johnson suffered when it became apparent that the administration had misled the public about how this resolution was going to be used and, indeed, whether the second attack had even happened. Both the DRV and China, which was supporting the DRV, took the Tonkin Gulf Incident as an indication that the U.S. was about to attack seriously the North, and made preparations for an expanded war in Vietnam.

Resources:  

Kolko, p. 122-125

Langguth, pp. 299-304

Web Site:  Naval Historical Center

Web Site: Capt. R. E. Ford, Vietnam Magazine

Web Site: Cohen & Solomon on Tonkin Gulf