On August 2, 1964, three North Vietnamese gunboats allegedly fired torpedoes at the U.S.S. Maddox, a destroyer which was positioned in international waters near the Gulf of Tonkin (approximately thirty miles off the coast of North Vietnam). This attack, which was disputed by the North Vietnamese, became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It resulted in the swift passage by the U.S. Congress of the "Gulf of Tonkin Resolution" which gave President Lyndon Johnson authorization to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." This legislation effectively gave Johnson the power to wage all out war against North Vietnam without seeking any further approval from Congress. The Pentagon Papers, leaked in 1971 by Department of Defense worker Daniel Ellsberg, have since revealed that the Johnson administration essentially fabricated these attacks in order to gain support for the war.