Page "Gulf of Tonkin incident" Paragraph 16

Others, such as Admiral Sharp, maintained that U. S. actions did not provoke the August 2 action.

He claimed that North Vietnamese radar had tracked Maddox along the coast, and was thus aware that the destroyer had not actually attacked North Vietnam and that Hanoi ( or the local commander ) had ordered its craft to engage Maddox anyway.

North Vietnamese General Phùng Thế Tài later claimed that the Maddox had been tracked since July 31 and that it had attacked fishing boats on August 2, forcing North Vietnamese Navy to " fight back.