Gulf of Tonkin incident
08/02/1964 AD attacked
The destroyer USS Maddox, while performing a signals intelligence patrol as part of DESOTO operations, was approached by three Vietnam People's Navy torpedo boats of the 135th Torpedo Squadron.
The Maddox fired warning shots and the North Vietnamese boats attacked with torpedoes and machine gun fire.
In the ensuing engagement, one U.S. aircraft (which had been launched from aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga) was damaged, three North Vietnamese torpedo boats were damaged, and four North Vietnamese sailors were killed, with six more wounded.
There were no U.S. casualties. Maddox was "unscathed except for a single bullet hole from a Vietnamese machine gun round"
A second, claimed confrontation on August 4, 1964, blamed on North Vietnam by the US was revealed by later investigation to have never happened
