Author's Note: At 2239H, both MADDOX and TURNER JOY open fire on the attacking craft (V1). A little over an hour previous to this incident, CAPT Herrick had requested air support. We pickup the timeline from this point.
2125H, 4 August 1964: On receiving CAPT Herrick's request for air support, Rear Admiral Robert Moore, Commander of Task Force 77, immediately launches a three plane force.
2140H, 4 August 1964: Four A-1 Skyraiders are sent off alone. Additional planes are later launched from USS CONSTELLATION (CVA-64), making a total of 16 aircraft providing protection overhead. The effectiveness of the air cover is limited due to darkness, cloudy sky, and unsatisfactory illumination.
A nice shot of the USS CONSTELLATION (CVA-64), probably taken about 1966 or 1967. Aircraft from CONSTELLATION flew to the aid of MADDOX and TURNER JOY during the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident. (Photo: U.S. Navy Historical Society)
2210H, 4 August 1964: One F-8E Crusader and two A-4D Skyhawks arrive overhead to provide a combat air patrol. These planes return to TICONDEROGA at dusk. The aircraft strafe the waters where the enemy boats are believed to be, but most of the pilots, including future Vice Admiral and Medal of Honor recipient CDR James Stockdale, do not see any hostile craft.
A Douglas A-4D Skyhawk of the type that flew CAP for MADDOX and TURNER JOY. The A-4D carried two Mk 12 20mm guns in the wing roots and various combinations of rockets or bombs on a centerline double or triple ejector rack. The two large fuel tanks were to give the small aircraft increased range. The Skyhawk was only 39 feet long with a wingspan of 27 feet, a feature that enabled it to dispense with folding wings, unlike other carrier aircraft. Skyhawk cockpits were snug-fitting -- pilots said that getting into the aicraft was like putting on a tight pair of trousers. (Photo: U.S. Navy)
Pilots of two TICONDEROGA A-1H Skyraiders, CDR George Edmondson, commanding officer of [attack squadron] VA-98, and his wingman, LT Jere Barton, both experienced at night search, report significant infromation. Flying between 700 and 1,500 feet above the water, the aviators sight gun flashes as well as bursts of light at their altitude. They attribute these to enemy vessel's anti-aircraft fire. On one pass over the destroyers, CDR Edmondson identifies a "snakey," high-speed wake a mile and a half ahead of MADDOX, the lead ship. LT Barton on another pass spots a dark object, in the wake. It is midway between the two destroyers and it soon moves away from the ships and out of sight.
A Douglas AD-6 (renumbered A-1H in 1962) Skyraider attack aircraft loaded for a ground attack mission. The Skyraider was the backbone of carrier attack aviation from 1945 to 1966. The first attack aircraft to carry more ordnance than its own wieght, the Skyraider could loiter for long times over the target thanks to its large fuel capacity. This Skyraider carries four Mk 12 20mm cannons, two 5-inch "Zuni" rocket pods, two 2.75-inch rocket pods, two "gravel" aerial mine dischargers, and eight 250-pound bombs with fuze extenders. The extenders would detonate the bomb above ground to maximize the blast and shrapnel effect. When the Skyraider was replaced in the attack role by jets such as the A-4 Skyhawk and A-6 Intruder, these aircraft were recycled to the USAF and Vietnamese AF. In this capacity they were used for support of combat search and rescue of downed pilots and close air support of troops. (Photo: U.S. Navy)
2242H, 4 August 1964: All surface contacts are gone from the radars of MADDOX and TURNER JOY. Both ships are now steaming independently. For the next 10 minutes, both ships maneuver to avoid possible torpedoes reported by sonar.
2301H, 4 August 1964: TURNER JOY picks up several contacts between 2,000 to 6,000 yards to the west. At 2310H, TURNER JOY briefly opens fire on the fleeting targets, and ceases fire at 2318H. One contact (V2) is plotted as dead in the water and subsequently is presumed damaged or sunk. Verification is not possible.
2321H, 4 August 1964: TURNER JOY heads south again and tracks another surface craft (V3) at 3,600 yards away and closing at 48 knots. When the hostile contact reaches 2,500 yards, TURNER JOY opens up with a heavy volume of fire and its crewmen observe numerous explosions.
2328H, 4 August 1964: Radarmen on TURNER JOY witness many hits on the target. CDR Robert Barnhart, TURNER JOY's commanding officer, and others see a thick column of black smoke rise from the target area. This boat is presumed sunk. Soon afterward, another high-speed contact (V4) approaches from the north, following TURNER JOY. TURNER JOY changes course to starboard several times and the contact overshoots the destroyer's wake. Star shells are fired by MADDOX. Flares are dropped by aircraft overhead. TURNER JOY crewmen identify this target as an enemy PT [patrol torpedo] boat.
The day after the battle, on 5 August 1964, Boatswain's Mate 3rd Class Donald Sharkey, Seaman Kenneth Garrison, and Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Delner Jones all observe the craft from their station at the 3"/50 RF gun Mount 32. Sharkey states: "[the] outline of this contact was clearly seen by me and it was definitely a PT boat." Garrison corroborated the sighting and adds: "I saw it long enough to make sure what it was."
Jones sketches the craft, which he has seen for the first time the previous night, for Radarman 1st Class John Spanka. Spanka compares the drawing with an intelligence photograph of a P-4 torpedo boat. He finds tha the "two were very similar in nature" and particularly noteworthy is the enlongated bow. Spank adds: "I had no trouble identifying his sketch as the P-4."
2347H, 4 August 1964: TURNER JOY drops a depth charge astern in an attempt to shake the enemy pursuer. Throughout the latter part of the action, several enemy craft appear to guide on the wakes of the two destroyers. CDR Ogier believes the North Vietnamese use this tactic because they lack on-board radar. At the same time, several seamen admidships and sailors manning gun Mount 31 on TURNER JOY observe splashes "That may have been spashes of American shell fragments."
2354H, 4 August 1964: CDR Barnhart turns his ship hard left and attempts to ram the craft, but without success. The boat, now 1,500 yards on the starboard side of the U.S. destroyer, is taken under fire exactly at midnight.
0003H, 5 August 1964: After radarmen observe four bursts on target, the contact disappears from their radar screens. During the lst attack, all of TURNER JOY's bridge personnel, including CDR Barnhart, sight a searchlight to the north in the general vicinity of the trailing enemy boats. Senior Chief Quartermaster Walter Shishim relates he observes the light "by eye and its beam . . . by binoculars" and that it "remained at constant brightness and the beam was elongated in shape and and pointing up."
Signalman 3rd Class Gary Carroll adds: "the light was moving around and at times skyward. It made a couple of sweeps at us before going out." Signalman 2nd Class Richard Bacino concludes: "as a signalman, I feel I can tell a searchlight from any other light that could possibly be mistaken for such." Several of the men verified, through the CIC, the current position of MADDOX. That [current position of MADDOX] ruled out the ship as the source of the light. When American aircraft were dispatched to investigate what was perhaps a North Vietnamese boat-to-boat signaling attempt, the light goes out.
Meanwhile, MADDOX, almost 10 miles to the west of TURNER JOY, drops a depth charge and fires in the general vicinity of a contact reported astern. No results are observed.
0010H, 5 August 1964: TURNER JOY takes similar actions to ward off an a contact (V5) trailing her. For the next 40 minutes the U.S. destroyers drop depth charges or fire their guns at contacts. During that same time, TURNER JOY returns to her position 4,000 yards astern of MADDOX.
The Desoto Patrol ships then steam for the mouth of the Tonkin Gulf and a rendezvous with the destroyer USS SAMUEL N. MOORE (DD-747). There are no further sightings of the enemy. The entire engagement [on the night of the 4th and early morning of the 5th] lasts about four hours.
Throughout the melee, MADDOX and TURNER JOY fire 249 5-inch shells, including 24 star shells, and 123 3-inch rounds. The two destroyers also drop four or five depth charges, one of which fails to detonate, against boats following in their wakes.
A summary plot by the U.S. Naval Historical Society of the second Gulf of Tonkin Incident,
the night action fought on 4 and 5 August 1964.
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