By August 1, North Vietnamese patrol boats were tracking "Maddox", and several intercepted communications indicated that they were preparing to attack. "Maddox" retreated, but the next day, August 2, "Maddox", which had a top speed of 28 knots, resumed her routine patrol, and three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats with a top speed of 50 knots began to follow "Maddox". Intercepted communications indicated that the vessels intended to attack "Maddox". As the ships approached from the southwest, "Maddox" changed course from northeasterly to southeasterly and increased speed to 25 knots. On the afternoon of August 2, as the torpedo boats neared, "Maddox" fired three warning shots. The North Vietnamese boats then attacked and "Maddox" radioed she was under attack from the three boats, closing to within , while located away from the North Vietnamese coast in international waters. "Maddox" stated she had evaded a torpedo attack and opened fire with its five-inch (127 mm) guns, forcing the torpedo boats away. Two of the torpedo boats had come as close as and released one torpedo each, but neither one was effective, coming no closer than about after "Maddox" evaded them. Another P-4 received a direct hit from a five-inch shell from "Maddox"; its torpedo malfunctioned at launch. Four USN F-8 Crusader jets launched from the aircraft carrier and 15 minutes after "Maddox" had fired her initial warning shots, attacked the retiring P-4s, claiming one was sunk and one heavily damaged. "Maddox" suffered only minor damage from a single 14.5 mm bullet from a P-4's KPV heavy machine gun into her superstructure. Retiring to South Vietnamese waters, "Maddox" was joined by the destroyer . The North Vietnamese claimed that "Maddox" was hit by one torpedo, and one of the American aircraft had been shot down.