what was true about the gulf of tonkin incident

Fifty years ago, in what came to be known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the U.S.S. The Gulf of Tonkin theory. The attacks were unprovoked. Ill give more brainly points, Which statement best illustrates how Elizabeth Van Lew was able to organize It was the beginning of the United States air assault against North Vietnam that lasted until the end of the war. Historians still disagree over whether Johnson deliberately misled Congress and the American people about the Tonkin Gulf incident or simply capitalized on an opportunity that came his way. She recruited other Unionists, including government clerks However the human race LOVEs . . , your opinion; it must be well-reasoned and backed up it has to be ( 3 to 4 pages long) by reconstructing the arguments and ideas from the readings. The events led to Congress passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which allowed the president to increase U.S. involvement in Vietnam without Congressional approval. Subsequently, the White House carried the nation into the longest and one of the most costly conflicts in our nation's history. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, also called Tonkin Gulf Resolution, resolution put before the U.S. Congress by Pres. The order to retaliate was given less than thirty minutes after the initial report. Their overall objective was to disrupt North Vietnamese infiltration and support of South Vietnamese Communists, namely the Viet Cong. there was nothing there but black water and American firepower."11. The Maddox, however, was not. The Gulf of Tonkin incident is considered a false flag ope. It's a very good rule."31. However, it is important to put what we do know into context. Another reporter pressed the issue, "Do these [patrol boats] go north, into North Vietnamese waters?" No actual sightings by "Maddox". This was true from this first airstrike when two American aircraft were shot down during Pierce-Arrow. Jim and Sybil Stockdale, In Love and War (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990, rev. McMasters, Dereliction of Duty, p. 134. At roughly the same time, the USS Maddox engaged in electronic surveillance also in the Gulf. All of the following are true about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the ensuing resolution EXCEPT c. The Johnson administration distorted the incident to provide a pretext for escalating American involvement in Vietnam 1. yo no ______ (salir) sin mi pasaporte. Hanyok, "Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds," p. 19. D. food and medical care Seventh Fleet and that led to the Gulf of . False reports were also presented, and the president didn't know about them. The Gulf Tonkin Incidents were the pretext for President Johnson to create and ultimately pass the Gulf Tonkin Resolution, which ultimately allowed the US to escalate the Vietnam War (also known as the Second Indochina War) into a large-scale war. 14. Stockdale and the other pilots, with orders to "attack and destroy the PT boats," made multiple firing runs on the enemy vessels. What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and why was it important? Johnson did not want to anger American voters by putting US servicemen in harms way, but he was conscious of the fact that if he did nothing he would be labeled soft on Communism by his Republican opponents. Interpreting this as an act of North Vietnamese aggression, the US government responded by ordering greater military involvement in Vietnam. Hanyok conducted a comprehensive analysis of SIGINT records from the nights of the attacks and concluded that there was indeed an attack on 2 August but the attack on the 4th did not occur, despite claims to the contrary by President Johnson and Secretary McNamara. This site is using cookies under cookie policy . Johnson was also about to go on national television to describe the attacks and request the authority to undertake a military response, even though the decision had already been made. And six decades ago, so the histories of those years have it, a small group of Norwegian seamen were entangled in a presidential deceit that led to an earlyand bloodyturning point in the Vietnam war. For most of the last five decades, it has been assumed that the Tonkin Gulf incident was a deception by Lyndon Johnson to justify war in Vietnam. What was later discovered were "Tonkin ghosts" (false radar images) and no evidence of the [] On 6 August, when called before a joint session of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees to testify about the incident, McNamara eluded the questioning of Senator Wayne Morse (D-OR) when he asked specifically whether the 34A operations may have provoked the North Vietnamese response. Answers: 2 Show answers Another question on History. T ruthout. The events between July 30 and August 10, 1964, are viewed as the tipping point of American involvement in Vietnam. ed. The first is done for you. The administration's zeal for aggressive action, motivated by President Johnson's election worries, created an atmosphere of recklessness and overenthusiasm in which it became easy to draw conclusions based on scanty evidence and to overlook normally prudent precautionary measures. 15. Especially during his tenure as commander, Westmoreland became the face of the United States in Vietnam. Non-subscribers can read five free Naval History articles per month. From the point of view of the Maddox, the attack had been unprovoked, though North Vietnam was under the impression that the Maddox had been involved in the raids on Hon Me and Hon Ngu islands. Episode 2450 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story more about how the Norwegian Navy participated in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. All of the following are true about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the ensuing resolution EXCEPTa. 31. Both houses of Congress passed the resolution on August 7, the House of Representatives by 414 votes to nil, and the Senate by a vote of 88 to 2. Was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident true? 7. He admitted that the new SIGINT intercept "pins it down better than anything so far. Paula March 1, 2023 at 16:24 . In early August 1964, Johnsons and McNamaras zeal for aggressive action in Southeast Asia led to full U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which cost the lives of more than 58,000 American service men and women.Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. One pilot was killed, Richard Sather, and another was captured, Everett Alvarez, who was held in Hoa Lo Prison, better known as the Hanoi Hilton, for eight years. The Johnson administration distorted the incident to provide a pretext for escalating American involvement in Vietnam d. This time, however, President Johnson reacted much more skeptically and . Documents and tapes released in 2005 and 2006 provided new insights into the 2 August 1964 attack on the USS Maddox (DD-731) by three North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats (above) and established that there was no follow-up attack against the destroyer, along with the USS Turner Joy (DD-951), on the night of 4 August. 27. But once-classified documents and tapes released in the past several years, combined with previously uncovered facts, make clear that high government officials distorted facts and deceived the American public about events that led to full U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The opinions expressed within the documents in both releases are those of the authors and individuals interviewed. "27, Intelligence officials realized the obvious. 1 What was true about the Gulf of Tonkin incident? "19 Despite his reservations, Stockdale led a strike of 18 aircraft against an oil storage facility at Vinh, located just inland of where the alleged attacks on the Maddox and Turner Joy had occurred. On 4 August 1964 two U.S. destroyers were again in the middle of the Gulf of Tonkin. The third was left dead in the water and burning.7. "23, Relying on faulty and misinterpreted intelligence about the 4 August incident, an overanxious President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered retaliatory U.S. air strikes, which he announced to the American public at 2336 Washington time that night.Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, The historian also concluded that some of the signals intercepted during the nights of 2 and 4 August were falsified to support the retaliatory attacks. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution, essentially unchallenged by a Congress that believed it was an appropriate response to unprovoked, aggressive, and deliberate attacks on U.S. vessels on the high seas, would open the floodgates for direct American military involvement in Vietnam. Both the Maddox and the C. Turner Joy fired repeatedly into the stormy night. Feb 26, 2013. President Johnson signed it on August 10, giving the executive far greater power to conduct military operations, without a declaration of war, than had ever been granted before. Quoted in Dale Andrade and Kenneth Conboy, "The Secret Side of the Tonkin Gulf Incident," Naval History, 13:4, July/August 1999, pp. Roe v. Wade, the court case that legalized abortion hinged on what legal idea? by John Prados. See all videos for this article Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, also called Tonkin Gulf Resolution, resolution put before the U.S. Congress by Pres. The papers, more than 140 of them classified top secret, include phone transcripts, oral-history interviews, signals intelligence (SIGINT) messages, and chronologies of the Tonkin events developed by Department of Defense and NSA officials. Nearly 200 documents the National Security Agency (NSA) declassified and released in 2005 and 2006, however, have helped shed light on what transpired in the Gulf of Tonkin on 4 August. 4 What is the Gulf of Tonkin incident and why is it controversial? McNamara again eluded the question, "They have advanced closer and closer to the 17th parallel, and in some cases, I think they have moved beyond that in an effort to stop the infiltration closer to the point of origin."26. In July 1964, Lieutenant General William C. Westmoreland, commander of the U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, shifted the operation's tactics from commando attacks on land to shore bombardments using mortars, rockets, and recoilless rifles fired from South Vietnamese patrol boats.1, The U.S. Navy, meanwhile, had been conducting occasional reconnaissance and SIGINT-gathering missions farther offshore in the Tonkin Gulf. Hanyok, "Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds," p. 16; Edward J. Drea, "Tonkin Gulf Reappraisal: 40 Years Later," MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, Vol. More than 40 years after the events, that all changed with the release of the nearly 200 documents related to the Gulf of Tonkin incident and transcripts from the Johnson Library. In his award-winning 2003 video memoirs Fog of War, he remained unapologetic and even bragged of his ability to deceive: "I learned early on never answer the question that is asked of you. The enemy ship could also have been damaged. And what about the North Vietnamese battle report that seemed to provide irrefutable confirmation of the attack? The National Security Agency originally claimed that another sea battle, the Second Gulf of Tonkin incident, occurred on August 4, 1964, but instead evidence was found of "Tonkin ghosts" (false radar images) and not actual North Vietnamese torpedo boats. L. 88-408, 78 Stat. The next day, the Maddox resumed her Desoto patrol, and, to demonstrate American resolve and the right to navigate in international waters, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the USS Turner Joy (DD-951) to join the first destroyer on patrol off the North Vietnamese coast. That night proved to be a stormy one. 2. Three days earlier he had told the President that some of the raids had led to the 2 August attack on the Maddox.U.S. "17, McNamara considered the report, coupled with Admiral Sharp's belief the attack was authentic, as conclusive proof. Rather than being on a routine patrol Aug. 2, the U.S. destroyer Maddox was actually engaged in aggressive intelligence-gathering maneuvers in sync with coordinated attacks on North Vietnam by the South Vietnamese navy and the Laotian air force. On 2 August 1964, North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats attacked the USS Maddox (DD-731) while the destroyer was in international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. Lyndon Johnson on August 5, 1964, assertedly in reaction to two allegedly unprovoked attacks by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on the destroyers Maddox and C. Turner Joy of the U.S. The reply is being given as I speak to you tonight. Pat Bauer graduated from Ripon College in 1977 with a double major in Spanish and Theatre. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was a pair of alleged attacks by North Vietnamese gunboats on two American destroyers in August of 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin. Re-engaging, the first PT boat launched a second torpedo and opened fire with her 14.5-mm guns, but Maddox shell fire heavily damaged the vessel.6. There is no doubting that fact. . At all. After this was reported to Washington, Robert McNamara urged President Johnson to retaliate. On an audio tape from the Johnson Library declassified in December 2005, he admitted to the President the morning after the attacks that the two events were almost certainly connected: And I think I should also, or we should also at that time, Mr. President, explain this OPLAN 34-A, these covert operations. In early 1964, South Vietnam began conducting a covert series of U.S.-backed commando attacks and intelligence-gathering missions along the North Vietnamese coast. Violent anti-war protests erupted at Kent State and Jackson State College after the news media reported that American troops had invaded Cambodia.. She participated extensively in the Vietnam War, and was one of the principal ships involved in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. He reported later, "I had the best seat in the house to watch that event and our destroyers were just shooting at phantom targetsthere were no PT boats there . Selon Yann Arthus-Bertrand (17) One particularly devilish species of hanger is the one with the whitecardboardroll-on\underline{\text{white cardboard roll-on}}whitecardboardroll-on the bottom for hanging slacks without producing a fold mark. The South Vietnameseconducted OPLAN 34A raids and the U.S. Navy's Desoto patrols could be perceived as collaborative efforts against North Vietnamese targets. Freak weather effects on radar and overeager sonarmen may have accounted for many reports. Fog of War - Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Vietnam War - In the mid-1950s, the U.S. intervened militarily in Vietnam, beginning what has been called a "crisis in slow motion." Americans convinced that the fall of South Vietnam to Communism would eventually result in the "fall" of all of Southeast Asia, believed this war was an effort to prevent North Vietnam from unifying North and . The admiral added that he was trying to get information and recommended holding any order for a retaliatory strike against North Vietnam until "we have a definite indication of what happened. She hired former Confederate soldiers to gather information from After observing North Vietnamese patrol torpedo boats pursuing the vessels that had attacked Hon Me, the Maddox withdrew from the area. It showed the military superiority of the South Vietnamese. The featured story comes from the Counter Currents website and was titled: Covert Operations In Continue reading In addition to the difficult detection conditions, the Maddox's SPS-40 long-range air-search radar and the Turner Joy's SPG-53 fire-control radar were both inoperative.9 That night, Herrick had the two ships move out to sea to give themselves maneuver space in case of attack. In large part due to the passage of this resolution, American forces became even more deeply mired in the Vietnam War. Omissions? Naval Forces Southern Command in Mayport Florida. OPEC's embargo of oil exports to the United States in retaliation for American intervention in the Middle East. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In Hawaii, Pacific Fleet Commander-in-Chief Admiral U. S. Grant Sharp was receiving Captain Herrick's reports by flash message traffic, not voice reports. Initial successes, however, were limited; numerous South Vietnamese raiders were captured, and OPLAN 34A units suffered heavy casualties. 18. 1 The Gulf of Tonkin Incident, escalator of the Vietnam War, never happened Conspiracy theory: The Gulf of Tonkin incident, a major escalator of US involvement in the Vietnam War, never actually occurred. C. Turner Joy, on two separate occasions in the Gulf of Tonkin, a body of . In addition, even though the losses from bombing could and usually were significant, the North Vietnamese often gained a morale boost when they would shoot an American bomber out of the sky. Inlet of Tonkin episode, complex maritime occasion in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the shore of Vietnam, that was introduced to the U.S. Congress on August 5, 1964, as two unmerited assaults by North Vietnamese torpedo water crafts on the destroyers. Despite this type of loss throughout the war, the North Vietnamese continued to fight. We may never know the whole truth behind the Tonkin events and the motivations of those involved. Why the Gulf of Tonkin Matters 50 Years Later (1/2) Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and historian Gareth Porter discuss how the Gulf of Tonkin incident was used to further entangle . The Gulf of Tonkin Incident was a false flag operation organized by the secret services of the United States, to be used as a pretext in their participation in the Vietnam War; this simulated a false attack by North Vietnamese forces against United States Navy ships in Southeast Asia, which had penetrated waters that the United States claimed as Prior to the two incidents the U.S. had provided substantial aid to South Vietnam and also had a number of military advisers in South Vietnam. Answer the question that you wish had been asked of you. The Kerner Commission explained urban riots as the result of which of the following, Black frustration with the hopelessness of urban poverty, The Stonewall incident that catalyzed the gay rights movement occurred when __________, Bar patrons in New York City protested a police raid. History, 21.06.2019 19:50. NSAPAC REP VIETNAM 200100ZAUG64. 2. Several reported torpedoes were probably boats themselves which were observed to make several close passes on MADDOX. 5-8; Andrade and Conboy, "The Secret Side.". 6. By 1 August, the destroyer had returned to the area and was back on patrol. OD. What was the primary political issue that Carter used in his presidential campaign? All of the following are true about the Gulf of Tonkin incident and the ensuing resolution EXCEPT, Served as justification for the assassination of Ngo Diem, U.S. troops massacred hundreds of civilians, In the 1968 election, Lyndon Johnson decided. Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh has shed more light on US-Norwegian military cooperation which started after the end of the Second World War, and evoked memories of the controversial Gulf of Tonkin incident that opened the door to the . All of his policy decisions, foreign and domestic, were considered through the prism of the November vote. . Foreign Relations of the United States, 19641968, vol. Alvarez was finally released in 1973. 5. "18, Back on board the Ticonderoga, Commander Stockdale had been ordered to prepare to launch an air strike against the North Vietnamese targets for their "attacks" of the previous evening. Si une phrase est fausse, corrigez-la. The Columbia History of the Vietnam War. On the morning of 4 August, U.S. intelligence intercepted a report indicating that the communists intended to conduct offensive maritime operations in the Gulf of Tonkin. Drea, "Tonkin Gulf Reappraisal," p. 5. McNamara instead declared that "our Navy played absolutely no part in, was not associated with, was not aware of, any South Vietnamese actions, if there were any. 16, No. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Omissions? Updates? 5051. Nevertheless, when later queried by NSA headquarters, the destroyer indicated she had been unaware of the OPLAN raid on the island.5 That ignorance set the stage for a showdown between North Vietnamese forces and the U.S. Navy eavesdropping platform. Calls between the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the National Military Command Center; headquarters of the Commander in Chief, Pacific; and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara were frequently exchanged during the phantom battle. . Captain Herrick also began to have doubts about the attack. D. President Johnson acted before all the facts became known. Answer (1 of 8): Yes. What was true about the gulf of Tonkin incident? This assignment requires you to use themes from the readings and debate critically the meaning, scope, and/or practices. Commissioned in 1959, she spent her entire career in the Pacific. Examine the Tonkin Gulf Resolution which granted president Lyndon Johnson power to make war, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Gulf-of-Tonkin-Resolution, The History Learning Site - Gulf of Tonkin 1964, Ohio History Central - Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Additionally, messages that were forwarded contained "severe analytic errors, unexplained translation changes, and the conjunction of two messages into one translation." Fifty years ago, in what came to be known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked the U.S.S. McNamara was informed of this doubt but decided to remain quiet because Pierce-Arrow was already in motion. Edwin E. Mose, Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1996), pp. On board the ship, Commander, Destroyer Division 192, Captain John J. Herrick ordered the vessel out to sea, hoping to avoid a confrontation. The Maddox fired at the torpedo boats, which fired back. Several hours later, Captain John Herrick of the Maddox, after reviewing the events, sent the message, Review of action makes many reported contacts and torpedoes fired appear doubtful. a spy ring? Three patrol craft attacked a security garrison at Cua Ron (the mouth of the Ron River) and a radar site at Vinh Son, firing 770 rounds of high-explosive munitions at the targets.8 North Vietnamese installations had been attacked four separate times in five days. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. naval event, Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam [1964]. In exchange for Lee's surrender, Grant offered Specially equipped with a communications intercept van and 17 SIGINT specialists, she was to patrol in international waters off the North Vietnamese coast, from the demilitarized zone (DMZ) north to the Chinese border. McMasters, Dereliction of Duty, p. 108. Naval Institute Photo archive. The North Vietnamese were oblivious to the confusion it would generate. Weather conditions were clear, and seas were calm. The fictitious Gulf of Tonkin incident helped draw the United States deeper into the Vietnam War. At 2336, President Johnson appeared on national television and announced his intent to retaliate against North Vietnamese targets: "Repeated acts of violence against the armed forces of the United States must be met not only with alert defense, but with positive reply. The two lead boats maneuvered evasively but were nevertheless heavily damaged. Combined with recently declassified tapes of phone calls from White House officials involved with the events and previously uncovered facts about Tonkin, these documents provide compelling evidence about the subsequent decisions that led to the full commitment of U.S. armed forces to the Vietnam War. On 2nd August, 1964, three North Vietnamese torpedo boats travelled towards the Maddox. The president agreed and ordered Operation Pierce Arrow, an airstrike on North Vietnamese mainland targets. Carter's campaign focused less on issues than on his background as a hardworking, honest, Southern Baptist southerner, All of the following led to the economic development of the Sun Belt EXCEPT. Destroyers carried out these so-called Desoto patrols. OB. H. R. McMaster, Dereliction of Duty (New York: Harper Collins, 1997), p. 129. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or the Southeast Asia Resolution, Pub. It was the basis for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which committed major American forces to the war in Vietnam. A joint resolution of Congress dated August 7, 1964, gave the president authority to increase U.S. involvement in the war between North and South Vietnam and served as the legal basis for escalations in the Johnson and Nixon administrations that likely dwarfed what most Americans could have imagined in August 1964. The US has form for this kind of "fabricated" naval incident (see 2 and 3 above) say theorists, referring back to the second Tonkin Gulf incident in which the US is alleged to have faked a naval clash with the North Vietnamese navy. The Truth About Tonkin. 384, enacted August 10, 1964, was a joint resolution that the United States Congress passed on August 7, 1964, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident . What were the key events in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident? The Maddox and Turner Joy moved out to sea, but both reported that they were tracking multiple unidentified vessels approaching their positions. Indiquez si les phrases suivantes sont vraies ou fausses. 2. On August 2nd 1964, two United States Navy ships . The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was also called USS Maddox incident. Three days following the incident, Congress approved the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving the President wide latitude in conducting military operations in Vietnam, and Johnson signed it into law on the 10th.Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Subsequently, Secretary McNamara intentionally misled Congress and the public about his knowledge of and the nature of the 34A operations, which surely would have been perceived as the actual cause for the 2 August attack on the Maddox and the apparent attack on the 4th. It also declared that the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia was vital to American interests and to world peace. More and more saw poverty from the failure of individuals to take full advantage of the American system. [T]hey operate on their own. Army Colonel H. R. McMaster, author of the highly acclaimed 1997 book Dereliction of Duty, accused Johnson and McNamara of outright deception: To enhance his chances for election, [Johnson] and McNamara deceived the American people and Congress about events and the nature of the American commitment in Vietnam. allowed for the president to send combat troops to Vietnam. . . The relocation of American manufacturing overseas, The southern strategy involved attracting Democratic voters to the Republican Party.. Gunfire and torpedoes were exchanged while F-8 fighters from USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) raced to the scene. . Seventh Fleet and that led to the Gulf of Tonkin. Late that night, radar images on the C. Turner Joy indicated that they were being approached by speeding vessels. Freak weather effects on radar and overeager sonarmen may have accounted for many reports. Write the correct present subjunctive form of the verb given. In reality, there was no coordination between the forces conducting the operations. At the end of July 1964, MACV-SOG assaulted North Vietnamese installations on the coast of North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was passed on August 7, 1964, by the U.S. Congress after an alleged attack on two U.S. naval destroyers stationed off the coast of Vietnam. How to Market Your Business with Webinars. New York, Columbia University Press, 2011. August 5, 2014. The simple answer is that the Norwegian Navy has a long and murky history of cooperation with American intelligence. The alleged attacks on August 4th against the USS Maddox and USS Joy were the basis for escalating the United States' involvement in Vietnam, but those attacks never occurred. Early in the morning, during the Desoto patrols, the USS Maddox received. Probably the best one LBJ ever came up with and certainly his most everlastingly devastating was, "We were attacked [in the Gulf of Tonkin]." In August of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson needed a pretext to commit the American people to the expanding covert war in south East Asia. In 1995 Vo Nguyen Giap, who had been North Vietnams military commander during the Vietnam War, acknowledged the August 2 attack on the Maddox but denied that the Vietnamese had launched another attack on August 4, as the Johnson administration had claimed at the time. Sign up to get updates about new releases and event invitations. What was true about the Gulf of Tonkin incident? After receiving information that there was an unprovoked attack in the Gulf of Tonkin, the United States entered the Vietnam War on August 14, 1964. of the Biden Administrations decision to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, why did much of the secret planning and training for the operation take place in Norway? History, 21.06.2019 16:00. The event led the U.S. to believe that North Vietnam was targeting its intelligence-gathering mission, and therefore the Turner Joy was sent to reinforce the Maddox. The Gulf of Tonkin incident (Vietnamese: S kin Vnh Bc B), also known as the USS Maddox incident, was an international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War.