Aug. 2, 1964 - Three North Vietnamese PT boats fired torpedoes and 37-mm. shells at a United States destroyer in international waters about 30 miles off North Vietnam today.
The destroyer and four U.S. aircraft fired back, damaged them, and drove them off.
The incident was announced in Washington in an official statement by the Defense Department. It said that neither the destroyer nor the aircraft sustained casualties or damage.
The statement said that the destroyer, the 3,300-ton Maddox (pictured), was on a routine patrol when an unprovoked attack took place in the Gulf of Tonkin.
At first, Government officials were cautious in commenting that the attacking boats presumably came from North Vietnam, but Secretary of State Dean said in New York tonight that the attackers were North Vietnamese.
“The other side got a sting out of this,” said Rusk. “If they do it again, they’ll get another sting.”
Reports received in Washington, apparently based on close air surveillance of the attacking boats, indicated there was no doubt that they were from North Vietnam.
President Johnson was informed immediately and received reports from top Government officials at a 45-minute White House meeting. He issued no statement.
Government officials said later that the attack was not regarded as a major crisis. They said the U.S. Seventh Fleet had been patrolling the area for some time, would continue its patrols, and had sufficient strength on hand.
Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp, U.S. Pacific military commander, was advised by radio of the attack on the Maddox while flying back to his Pearl Harbor headquarters from his first inspection trip to Vietnam.
“This incident may well be a change in the present situation and may heighten the seriousness of the present crisis in Vietnam,” Sharp said at a news conference on landing. “But I do not know whether this will be temporary or not.”
Sharp noted that this was the first time a U.S. warship had been fired on in the area.
“Retaliation by the destroyer and naval aircraft did not represent any change in U.S. policy,” he said. “If they shoot at us, we are going to shoot back at any time.”
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