Maddox

destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy. The Gulf of Tonkin incident led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which allowed President Lyndon B. Johnson to greatly escalate U.S. military involvement in the war.

destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy on August 2 and August 4, respectively. Passage of the resolution led to the direct involvement of the U.S. in the Vietnam War.

…August 2 the destroyer USS Maddox was attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats while on electronic surveillance patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin. The preceding day, patrol boats of the South Vietnamese navy had carried out clandestine raids on the islands of Hon Me and Hon Nieu just off the…