An official website of the United States government. Visitors have not been allowed inside the torch for over a century after a massive explosion. The aftermath of the Black Tom explosion, an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents that took place on July 30, 1916, in Jersey City . In this episode, we talk about German Saboteurs and then chat with Author of "Branding Democrats," Ken Weber. Long: Terrorism's 100th anniversary. Von Rintelen entered the U.S. with huge sums of money and direct orders from Berlin. The Mixed Claims Commission decided, at last, that there must have been "foul play" behind the Black Tom explosion. The blast was the equivalent of a 5.5 magnitude earthquake. In Manhattan, hundreds of shops experienced broken windows because of the blast. The Second Explosion - The Lusitania Resource Black Tom -- 100 Years Ago Today, the Night New York Harbor Exploded October 18, 2006 | by Gotham Gazette Staff. The Black Tom explosion was an act of sabotage by agents of the German Empire, to destroy U.S.-made munitions that were to be supplied to the Allies in World War I.The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in New York Harbor, killed four people and destroyed some $20,000,000 ($500 million in 2023 dollars) worth of military goods. and our So was Cornelius Leyden, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Chief of Police. The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in the New York Harbor, destroyed some $20,000,000 worth of military goods. On the night of July 30, 1916, Black Tom Island held 2 million pounds of explosives. The lawyers sued Germany in the Mixed Claims Commission at The Hague, and in 1939 won the case. Smaller explosions continued till dawn, but they caused little damage. Statue of Liberty Damaged by Giant Ammunition Explosions Washington Post, July 31, 1916. The Black Tom explosion worked to shift American sentiment against Germany fully. The exhibit is divided into two sections presenting historical and judicial points of view. Sabotage in New York Harbor | History| Smithsonian Magazine While its not thought that he was incredibly successful, he was discovered by the FBI and fled to Mexico. The first of the Black Tom explosions was felt at 2:08 a.m. followed half an hour later by a second blast. At around 2 a.m. on the Sunday morning of July 30, 1916, one hundred years ago today, explosions on Black Tom Islandrocked New York harbor. All was dark and quiet on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor, not far from the Statue of Liberty, when small fires began to burn on the night of July 30, 1916. According to Chad Millman, who wrote The Detonators: The Secret Plot to Destroy America and an Epic Hunt for Justice," there were two main reasons that the investigation took so long. A third spy simply walked into the munitions depot, his pockets filled with cigar-shaped bombs. Black Tom was a distribution point for thousands of tons of munitions, explosives, and black powder shipped across the Atlantic to Allied forces fighting in Europe. A third man, a drifter, entered the depot on foot. German agents who were determined to prevent American munitions shippers from supplying its English enemy during the First World War. One of the barges was loaded with 50 tons of TNT. Just after 2:00 am, slow burning pencil bombs planted by the German agents ignited an explosion so colossal it registered 5.5 on. They had been the victim of whats thought to be one of the first foreign terrorist attacks in the United States. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The Black Tom Explosion Memorial - Jersey City, New Jersey - Atlas Obscura The force of the explosion threw people in Jersey City from their beds. But the legacy of this explosion is deeper than just relegating tourists to Lady Libertys crown. The Black Tom explosion was an act of sabotage by agents of the German Empire to destroy U.S.-made munitions that were to be supplied to the Allies in World War I. He was responsible for setting the fires that led to the explosions. In the aftermath of the explosions, law-enforcement agents quickly arrested officials from the railroad, storage company and barge business who operated from the Black Tom site. Discusses the circumstances and German plotting that surrounded the sabotage explosion at the Black Tom munitions depot in New York Harbor on July 30, 1916 Print length 339 pages Language English Publisher Algonquin Books Publication date May 1, 1989 ISBN-10 0912697989 ISBN-13 978-0912697987 See all details The Amazon Book Review The Bureaus Role During Early World War I Years, FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. Review this podcast athttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-says-it-s-true/id1530853589Bonus episodes and content available athttp://Patreon.com/MichaelKentFor special discounts, visithttp://theinternetsaysitstrue.com/deals, Your email address will not be published. Review this podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-says-it-s-true/id1530853589 The Little-Known Story Of The Black Tom Explosion That Rocked New York In 1916 Genevieve Carlton 4 weeks ago During World War I, German saboteurs ignited 2 million pounds of munitions on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor, triggering one of the largest explosions to ever occur on American soil. Giveaways and swag All Rights Reserved. With few national security laws and no real intelligence community to thwart German agents, America was vulnerable. cites the Black Tom explosion as the reason the torch is closed off, $50 million in damages were awarded to plaintiffs. [8] Between 1905 and 1916, the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which owned the island and causeway, expanded the island with land fill, and the entire area was annexed by Jersey City. One of the largest examples of sabotage during World War I happened half a mile from the Statue of Liberty and hardly anyone knows the story. Most of the arms, however, were going to the AlliesBritain, France and Russiabecause the British navy had blockaded Germany. The Forgotten Attack On NYC - Gotham Gazette Review this podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-says-it-s-true/id1530853589Bonus episodes and content available athttp://Patreon.com/MichaelKentFor special discounts, visithttp://theinternetsaysitstrue.com/deals. Windows were broken as far as 25 miles (40 km) away, including thousands in Lower Manhattan. Now at this point in the war mid-1916 America was neutral, meaning that the munitions being stored at Black Tom Island could have been sold to the highest bidder, whether that be Germany, France, Austria, or Great Britain. At 2:08 am, the first and largest of the explosions took place. Even the heaviest plate-glass windows in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn shattered, and falling shards of glass preceded a mist of ash from the fire that followed the explosion. Used as a munitions warehouse for the Allies, Black Tom Island in the New York Harbor rarely gained any attention during WWII. Divers recovered shells lost in the harbor after the explosion. German spies attacked New York on July 30th, 1916. [citation needed], This attack was one of many during the German sabotage campaign against the neutral United States, and it is notable for its contribution to the shift of public opinion against Germany, which eventually resulted in American support to enter World War I. Authorities recovered munitions from the blast site without knowing whether they were live. And explode is barely the word: The shock-waves from Black Tom . Officially, around four people died due to the explosion. And the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which sustained much of the financial damage, knew who to blame: Germany. After midnight on July 30, 1916, a series of small fires were discovered. The Black Tom explosion truly shifted American sentiment against Germany and German-Americans. The torch has not been open to the public since 1916. And during the great war, there were at least 10 instances of attempted terrorist attacks in America by Germany. WW1: German Spies Blew Up 100,000 Pounds of TNT in New Jersey And ", At the Woolworth building, the tallest skyscraper in the world at the time, watchmen feared that the world was ending. At the time President Roosevelt said to him: "We don't want any more Black Toms."[50][51]. Producer Credits 19? How successful were they? The loss of life, however, was not great: Counts vary, but fewer than ten people perished in the explosions. Sabotage at Black Tom: Imperial Germany's Secret War in America, 1914-1917 Their destination: Jersey City's Black Tom Island, at the time the largest ammunition depot in America. He bribed officials, which included some of the security men responsible for guarding the pier at Black Tom Island. Never mind that the U.S. was officially neutral in the conflict at this point. "The shock was so great that I was thrown off my chair into the hall and the broken glass fell in showers upon me as I lay on the floor," Fitzpatrick said, according to the Natural Hazards Center. As the powder settled, it would have reached explosive concentrations, triggering the second explosion. Firefighters were unable to fight the fires until the bullets and shrapnel stopped flying. Firefighters battled the flames well into the next day after the massive explosion. The Black Tom explosion was an act of sabotage by German agents to destroy U.S.-made munitions that were to be supplied to the Allies in World War I. That made munitions depots like Black Tom Island a major target for German saboteurs. On the island, the explosion destroyed more than one hundred railroad cars, thirteen warehouses, and left a 375-by-175-foot (110 by 50m) crater at the source of the explosion. "Four shells of three-inch caliber fell on the gravel path in front of the main door and another shell passed through the roof of the coal bunker attached to the power house.". At eight minutes past two o'clock on the morning of Sunday, July 30, 1916, a thundering explosion at the Black Tom munitions depot sent sleeping residents of New York City and surrounding areas tumbling from their beds. Terms of Use They then fled the scene. [3] It was one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions in history. And no one anticipated that the munitions depot might become the target of enemy agents. Three men were eventually recruited to carry out the operation: Michael Kristoff, a 23-year-old Austrian immigrant who served briefly in the U.S. Army; Kurt Jahnke, a naturalized American citizen and former U.S. Marine, who was recruited as an operative by the German Consul General in San Francisco; and Polish-born Lothar Witzke, a young German naval lieutenant who survived his ships sinking by the British Navy off the South American coast in late 1915. And that was partly true. [36][37] Irish socialist and labour union leader James Larkin asserted that he had not participated in sabotage, but admitted to having encouraged work stoppages and strike actions in munitions factories, in an affidavit to McCloy in 1934. Black Tom had been a center for the production of armaments that were being shipped to Europe to aid mainly Britain and France, both of which were fighting Germany, during World War I though the United States was technically neutral at the time. After shrapnel from the blast hit the Statue of Liberty, its torch, which was once used as a viewpoint from which visitors could enjoy spectacular views of the city, became unsafe for visitors and guests are still barred from entering the torch to this day. The Black Tom explosion was a peak act of German sabotage on American soil during the first World War. Black Tom Explosion | Encyclopedia.com According to an article at Firefighter Nation, the blast wave traveled at 24,000 feet per second and tore firefighters from their boots, throwing them in the air. Library of CongressThe damage from the Black Tom explosion stretched across the railroad yard and pier. 3 By David Pfeiffer Enlarge A shipment of horses at a New York City rail yard, 1918. All Rights Reserved. Then guards at the pier were taken in for questioning; on the night of the explosions, they had lit smudge pots to keep mosquitoes away, and their carelessness with the pots was believed to have started the fires. Its thought that, had the Richter scale existed, the Black Tom Island explosions would have registered somewhere around a 5.5.It wasnt until the next morning that most of the city saw the devastation. Despite Americas claim of neutrality in World War I, it was no secret that the United States was selling massive quantities of munitions to the British. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Well it was option B on July 30th, 1916. Peter Raceta was captaining a barge in the harbor when the blast shook the air. Police arrested three railroad-company officials on charges of manslaughter, on the assumption that the fires began in two freight cars. The Black Tom explosion did massive damage to the pier. It looked as if they all went up in the air. Of the two men he was with, she said, I didnt see where they went, but I think they must be dead.. We must not again be caught napping with no adequate national intelligence organization. ; a Powder Factory Completely Destroyed Four Men Instantly killed", "The Point of Rocks Line: More about the Little Railroad", "An Attack That Turned Out to Be German Terrorism Has a Modest Legacy 100 Years Later", "Looking Back Black Tom railroad yard NFPA Journal", "On the Map; Explosion by the Hudson, Foreign Espionage, Local Fear: 1916", "Rogue River courier. This was one of the major reasons that Germany was sending saboteurs to disrupt the supply chain from America. At 2:08 am, the first and largest of the explosions took place, the second and smaller explosion occurring around 2:40 am. American Passage: This History of Ellis Island by Vincent J. Cannato, HarperCollins, 2009. Already packed barges sat tied to piers, ready to cross the Atlantic. Black Tom Cassidy (created October 1976), a Marvel Comics supervillain, an enemy of the X-Men. World War One was raging in Europe. However, that decision came in 1939 the year Hitler invaded Poland and set off World War II. Get 15% off by using my promo code: INTERNET or click HERE. James Doherty, a police officer from Jersey City, was killed in the explosion. [29], Soon after the explosion, suspicion fell upon Michael Kristoff,[30] a Slovak immigrant. Long: Terrorism's 100th anniversary - Roanoke Times Anton Dilger was an American who sympathized with Germany after studying there. Three men and an infant were killed by the sheer explosive energy, with over 100 more people wounded. Shrapnel from the explosion even hit the Statue of Liberty. American intelligence agencies tied the Black Tom explosion to German saboteurs. This incident, which happened prior to U.S. entry into . It was heard and felt as far away as Philadelphia, and in Baltimore, people spilled from their homes, fearing an earthquake was underway. Privacy Policy. Von Bernstorff not only helped obtain forged passports for Germans who wanted to elude the Allied blockade, he also funded gun-running efforts, the sinking of American ships bringing supplies to Britain, and choking off supplies of phenol, used in the manufacture of explosives, in a conspiracy known as the Great Phenol Plot. Was it an accident or planned? But writing off the explosion as an accident also downplayed its role in American history, and few remember the explosive event today.