Question

Which statement about the Gulf of Tonkin incident is true?

Answer 1

The Gulf of Tonkin incident (Vietnamese: Sự kiện Vịnh Bắc Bộ), also known as the USS Maddox incident, was an international confrontation that led to the United States engaging more directly in the Vietnam War. It involved either one or two separate confrontations involving North Vietnam and the United States in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. The original American report blamed North Vietnam for both incidents, but eventually became very controversial with widespread belief that at least one, and possibly both incidents were false, and possibly deliberately so. On August 2, 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox, while performing a signals intelligence patrol as part of DESOTO operations, was pursued by three North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats of the 135th Torpedo Squadron.[1][5] Maddox fired three warning shots and the North Vietnamese boats then attacked with torpedoes and machine gun fire.[5] Maddox expended over 280 3-inch (76.2 mm) and 5-inch (127 mm) shells in a sea battle. One U.S. aircraft 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.[6] Maddox "was unscathed except for a single bullet hole from a Vietnamese machine gun round."[5]

Gulf of Tonkin incident
Part of the Vietnam War

Photo taken from USS Maddox during the incident, showing three North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats
Date August 2, 1964
Location
Gulf of Tonkin

19°42′N 106°46′E
Result Gulf of Tonkin Resolution; escalation of the War in Vietnam
Belligerents
 United States
 North Vietnam
Commanders and leaders
George S. Morrison
John J. Herrick
Le Duy Khoai[1]
Strength
Sea:
1 aircraft carrier,
1 destroyer
Air:
4 aircraft[2]
3 torpedo boats
Casualties and losses
1 destroyer slightly damaged,
1 aircraft slightly damaged[3]
1 torpedo boat severely damaged,
2 torpedo boats moderately damaged,
4 killed,
6 wounded[4]
It was originally claimed by the National Security Agency that a Second Gulf of Tonkin incident occurred on August 4, 1964, as another sea battle, but instead evidence was found of "Tonkin ghosts"[7] (false radar images) and not actual North Vietnamese torpedo boats. In the 2003 documentary The Fog of War, the former United States Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara admitted that the August 2 USS Maddox attack happened with no Defense Department response, but the August 4 Gulf of Tonkin attack never happened.[8] In 1995, McNamara met with former Vietnam People's Army General Võ Nguyên Giáp to ask what happened on August 4, 1964 in the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident. "Absolutely nothing", Giáp replied.[9] Giáp claimed that the attack had been imaginary.[10]

The outcome of these two incidents was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be jeopardized by "communist aggression". The resolution served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying U.S. conventional forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam.

In 2005, an internal National Security Agency historical study was declassified; it concluded that Maddox had engaged the North Vietnamese Navy on August 2, but that there were no North Vietnamese naval vessels present during the incident of August 4. The report stated, regarding the first incident on August 2:

at 1500G,[note 1] Captain Herrick ordered Ogier's gun crews to open fire if the boats approached within ten thousand yards (9,150 m). At about 1505G, Maddox fired three rounds to warn off the communist [North Vietnamese] boats. This initial action was never reported by the Johnson administration, which insisted that the Vietnamese boats fired first.[5]

Answer 2

The correct answer for your question is “It marked the end of u.s involvement in Vietnam”.

The Tonkin Gulf Incident:

North Vietnamese warships attacked the destroyers of United States Navy at the Tonkin Gulf in August 1964 is known as the Tonkin Gulf Incident. As a result of the attack, USS Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy had subjected to major damage.

United States Involvement in the Vietnam war was in background until the incident. USS Maddox approached the Gulf of Tonkin on July 31 of 1964 but subjected to face three soviet built Torpedo boats. On the same day USS C Turner Joy was sent as a backup for Maddox. But the destroyers reported that they have been ambushed and faced nearly 22 Vietnamese torpedoes at the field.  

Soon after the news about the destruction of destroyers received, President Johnson ordered an airstrike on the Boat Bases of Vietnamese and oil storage depots.