PT-109

Today in History 08/02 (Gulf of Tonkin Incident)

Navy destroyer USS Maddox in August 1964 (© DOD/AP)(1964) Confrontation in waters off Vietnam escalates a war
The Pentagon reports that North Vietnamese torpedo boats have fired on the USS Maddox as it patroled off the north coast of Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin. The incident will result in a rapid escalation of the Vietnam War but questions about the Pentagon’s report will linger.
The Gulf of Tonkin incident, 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. Maddox fired three warning shots and the North Vietnamese boats then attacked with torpedoes and machine gun fire. Maddox expended over 280 3-inch and 5-inch 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. Maddox “was unscathed except for a single bullet hole from a Vietnamese machine gun round.”
Date: Aug 02, 1964

Tonkin Gulf Resolution
Joint Resolution of Congress, PL 88-408
wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident
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(1964) Confrontation in waters off Vietnam escalates a war.
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1943 | PT boat is sunk and a young lieutenant helps save mates
Lt. j.g. John F. Kennedy leaps into the Pacific Ocean after a nighttime attack by a Japanese destroyer has sunk his command, the PT-109 patrol torpedo boat. The future US president swims through burning wreckage and manages to help save all but two of his crew, leading survivors to an island to await rescue.

Today in History 08/02/17

Lt. John F. Kennedy (right) and his PT-109 crew in the South Pacific in July 1943 (© AP)(1943) PT boat is sunk and a young lieutenant helps save mates
Lt. j.g. John F. Kennedy leaps into the Pacific Ocean after a nighttime attack by a Japanese destroyer has sunk his command, the PT-109 patrol torpedo boat. The future US president swims through burning wreckage and manages to help save all but two of his crew, leading survivors to an island to await rescue.
PT-109 was a PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Kennedy's actions to save his surviving crew after the sinking of PT-109 made him a war hero, which proved helpful in his political career. The incident may have also contributed to his long-term back problems.
Keel laid: Mar 04, 1942
Launched: Jun 20, 1942
PT-109 Collision Solomon Islands 1943
Map of the events of 2 August 1943

wiki/Motor_Torpedo_Boat_PT-109
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