North Vietnamese Torpedo Boat Approaching the USS Maddox
8/2/1964
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This photograph, taken from the deck of the destroyer USS Maddox, shows a North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boat closing in on the American vessel. Three of these nimble craft attacked the Maddox on August 2, 1964 – the first Gulf of Tonkin Incident. The Maddox, assisted by aircraft from the carrier Ticonderoga, destroyed one torpedo boat and damaged two others.
The Maddox had been conducting electronic eavesdropping on North Vietnam to assist South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) commando raids on North Vietnamese targets, though the American public didn't know that at the time. Historians now suspect the North Vietnamese boats had set out to attack an ARVN raid in progress when it encountered the Maddox.
This primary source comes from the General Records of the Department of the Navy.
National Archives Identifier:
594298Full Citation: Photograph 428-GX-482-N-711526; Photograph of North Vietnamese Torpedo Boat Approaching the U.S.S. Maddox During the Gulf of Tonkin Incident; 8/2/1964; Vis-Aid Index to the General Photographic Files of the Department of the Navy, 1958 - 1981; General Records of the Department of the Navy, Record Group 428; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/torpedo-maddox, April 19, 2024]