Turner Joy, another destroyer, into the Gulf of Tonkin to join the Maddox. The administration also sent a note to the North Vietnamese warning that another attack on U.S. ships would have "grave consequences." On August 3rd the South Vietnamese shelled northern military facilities from the Gulf of Tonkin. At the time though, the two battleships were about 70 nautical miles north east of the mainland. The next night around 9:30pm the Maddox reported radar contact with unidentified vessels. The Maddox fired star shells when the contacts were within 8,000 yards, and the C. Turner Joy began firing when the contacts were within 6,000 yards. Visual confirmation of the contacts was never made because it was a cloudy night, with rough seas. Two days later Secretary McNamara reported that the two destroyers had avoided a number of torpedoes and had sunk two of the attacking craft. The evening of August 4th President Johnson called a meeting with sixteen congressional leaders and informed them that he intended to bomb the gunboat-support facilities where it was believed that the attacking craft had originated from and also told the members that he wanted a Congressional resolution on Southeast Asia. Johnson followed this up with an address to American people informing them of the attacks on U.S. ships and that he had asked the Congress to pass a resolution "making it clear that our government is united in its determination to take all necessary measures in support of freedom and in defense of peace in Southeast Asia.".
Congress immediately took up creating a resolution on Southeast Asia. The resolution was turned over to a joint, closed-door session of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees. The resolution passed 31-1 with the lone dissenter being Senator Wayne Morse who called the resolution a "predated declaration of war." Senator Morse called the United States a "provocateur, every bit as much as North Vietnam has been a provocateur.