quality:corruption
The Gulf of Tonkin Incident

Two days later on a very stormy night on 4 August 1964, Maddox and the destroyer Turner Joy both reported to be under attack again, by North Vietnamese torpedo boats; during this alleged engagement, Turner Joy fired approximately 220 3-inch & 5-inch shells at surface targets showing on the radar. In response to the reported attack, aircraft from the Ticonderoga were launched, but the pilots reported no visual contact with any craft other than the two destroyers. Hanoi subsequently insisted that it had not launched a second attack. Though Herrick had reported an attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats, he soon developed strong doubts about whatever an attack had actually occurred. Herrick reported to Admiral Sharp that the "torpedo boats" were almost certainly radar blips due to the "freak weather effects" caused by the storm and that an "overeager" sonar operator aboard the Maddox had mistaken the effects of the storm for torpedoes. Herrick's report concluded with the statement the "entire action leaves many doubts" as he noted that no sailor aboard his ship had seen a torpedo boat nor had heard any gunfire beyond the guns of the Turner Joy. Likewise no sailor aboard the Turner Joy claimed to have seen any North Vietnamese craft and none of the pilots of the Crusader aircraft stated they had seen any torpedo boats.