Deck Log of the USS Maddox
8/2/1964
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As this deck log documents, three North Vietnamese boats attacked the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2, 1964 – the first Gulf of Tonkin incident. The Maddox and aircraft from the USS Ticonderoga damaged all three hostile boats, almost sinking one.
The Maddox had been conducting electronic eavesdropping on North Vietnam to assist South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) commando raids on North Vietnamese targets. (Historians now suspect the North Vietnamese boats had set out to attack an ARVN raid in progress when it encountered the Maddox.)
Following reports of a second incident two days later, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave President Lyndon B. Johnson advance approval to respond to military aggression in Southeast Asia without Congressional consultation. (When information surfaced that the second attack on the Maddox might never have happened, many believed Congress had been conned. It was too late.)
The Maddox had been conducting electronic eavesdropping on North Vietnam to assist South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) commando raids on North Vietnamese targets. (Historians now suspect the North Vietnamese boats had set out to attack an ARVN raid in progress when it encountered the Maddox.)
Following reports of a second incident two days later, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave President Lyndon B. Johnson advance approval to respond to military aggression in Southeast Asia without Congressional consultation. (When information surfaced that the second attack on the Maddox might never have happened, many believed Congress had been conned. It was too late.)
This primary source comes from the Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel.
National Archives Identifier: 595159
Full Citation: Deck Log of the USS Maddox; 8/2/1964; Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941 - 1983; Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Record Group 24; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/deck-log-maddox, March 27, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
