49, No. Their destination: Jersey City's Black Tom Island, at the time the largest ammunition depot in America. [14], Fragments from the explosion traveled long distances: some lodged in the Statue of Liberty, and other fragments lodged in the clock tower of The Jersey Journal building in Journal Square more than 1 mile (1.6km) away, stopping the clock at 2:12am. [citation needed], It is likely[according to whom?] From Lower Manhattan to Times Square, windows shattered. It was so large, that it measured 5.5 on the Richter Scale. The Black Tom Explosion by Lauren Dillon August 1, 2022 0 In 1916 one of the "largest non-nuclear artificial explosions" occurred in the United States. 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 force of the explosion threw people in Jersey City from their beds. The force of the Black Tom explosion was equivalent to a 5.5 magnitude earthquake. Per the Council on Foreign Relations, he called the Black Tom explosion "a regrettable incident at a private railroad terminal.". 2023 Smithsonian Magazine INTEL - Black Tom Island Explodes Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images. 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. So was Cornelius Leyden, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Chief of Police. And when it erupted, the blast destroyed warehouses, train cars, and piers. It was the largest non nuclear explosion to date. No Evidence of Plot in New York Explosion, Federal Agents Assert Washington Post, July 31, 1916. "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.". It was the center of, and was destroyed by, the terrorist bombing of 1916. The Mare Island Explosion: A Defining Moment In Bay Area History At 2:08 am, five million people were awakened by an explosion that was heard as far away as Maryland. Nearer to Black Tom Island, blackened, twisted metal and debris covered an area several city blocks wide. The incident also influenced public safety legislation. Debris scattered across Manhattan, windows shattered in Times Square, people in Maryland feel the tremors, it's later called "one of the worst acts of terrorism in American history." Domestic . Anton Dilger was an American who sympathized with Germany after studying there. The island received its name from a local legend of an African American resident named . The Dark Invader and the Black Tom Explosion - weirdnj.com After the explosion, Black Tom Island sank into New York Harbor. http://www.faqs.org/espionage/Bl-Ch/Black-Tom-Explosion.html The Kiaser Sows Destruction: Protecting the Homeland the First Time Around by Michael Warner. Gilbert King 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. A second explosion occurred at 2:40 a.m. Two million tons of war materials packed into train cars had blown up in the Black Tom railroad yard on what is now a part of Liberty State Park. At 2:08 am, the first and largest of the explosions took place. BONUS Episodes The Black Tom explosion was a peak act of German sabotage on American soil during the first World War. On the night of July 30th, 1916, Black Tom island disappeared. For centuries, humans used tallow in skin moisturizers and healing balms, but unfortunately, the topical application of these fats seemed to stop around the same time that animal fats stopped being considered part of a healthy diet. Some guards on the island sent for the Jersey City Fire Department, but others fled as quickly as they could, and for good reason: Black Tom was a major munitions depot, with several large powder piers. That night, Johnson Barge No. It is not known how many died. Sabotage at Black Tom - Google Books But there was a blockade of Germany in place by the Royal Navy, so America was only supplying munitions to the Allies. All Rights Reserved. New Jersey's forgotten terror attack - Asbury Park Press One of the largest profiteers was J.P. Morgan and the same German agent, Eric Muenter broke into the home of Morgan and shot him twice. The 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. Black Tom explosion (30 July 1916), Jersey City, New Jersey; act of World War I sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent shipments to the Allies. While that incident caused anger, it did not galvanize the American public to action. On July 30, 1916 the Black Tom munitions depot exploded rocking New York Harbor and sending residents tumbling from their beds. What happened to the Statue of Liberty in 1916? - Heimduo In the aftermath of the explosion, Americans tried to identify the saboteurs behind the devastating attack. Why the explosion? 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. [3], The Russian government[40] sued the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company operating the Black Tom Terminal on grounds that lax security (there was no entrance gate; the territory was unlit)[41] permitted the loss of their ammunition and argued that due to the failure to deliver them the manufacturer was obliged by the contract to replace them. After years of deliberating, the German-American Mixed Claims Commission ultimately ordered Germany to pay $50 million in reparations. [44], The Statue of Liberty's torch was closed to the public following the explosion, due to structural damages. The Mixed Claims Commission, set up after World War I to handle damage claims by companies and governments affected by German sabotage, awarded $50 million to plaintiffs in the Black Tom explosionthe largest damage claim of any in the war. As for the other boats Raceta had seen earlier in the night, he said, "It looked as if they all went up in the air. that the bombing involved some of the techniques developed by German agents working for Ambassador Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, who covertly acted as a spymaster while under German Foreign Office cover, and Captain Franz von Rintelen of the intelligence wing of the German Imperial Navy, using the cigar bombs developed by Dr. Walter Scheele[de]. As described by Witcover: The Black Tom promontory was a charred ruin; 13 huge warehouses were leveled and six piers destroyed, and fires continued to eat their way through the remains and consume hundreds of railroads cars and barges tied to the docks. Articles: First Explosion Terrific New York Times, July 31, 1916. President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the Black Tom explosion as part of his rationale for the internment of Japanese Americans following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. "Black Tom is certainly not well known, even in the New York area," Jackson said. The 8 Most Horrifying Disasters That Ever Happened In New Jersey Were the saboteurs ever identified? The most successful and experienced anti-sabotage investigators turned out to be the detectives of the New York Police Departments Bomb Squad. [1][2] This incident, which happened prior to U.S. entry into World War I, also damaged the Statue of Liberty. Black Tom explosion - An even more iconic example of World War I sabotage than Bergen County's Kingsland Explosion, the Black Tom explosion rocked Hudson County and beyond on July 30,. Peter Raceta was captaining a barge in the harbor when the blast shook the air. The first blast started inside Johnson 17, a barge tied to the pier that contained 100,000 pounds of TNT and 25,000. Just after 2:00 a.m., an explosion lit the skiesthe equivalent of an earthquake measuring up to 5.5 on the Richter scale, according to a recent study. For an event as big as the Black Tom Explosion, why did this well known Youtube channel with over a million subscribers completely ignore the event? 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. Black Tom Island stored freight cars, barges, and warehouses full of explosives. Employees on the island started frantically trying to fight the fires, and eventually called the Jersey City Fire Department for help. With debris raining down, authorities were forced to evacuate hundreds of terrified immigrants having just escaped from war-torn Europe from Ellis Island to the mainland. One barge contained 50 tons of TNT, and was only moored at Black Tom Island to avoid a $25.00 charge. That made munitions depots like Black Tom Island a major target for German saboteurs. A plaque in Liberty State Park calls the Black Tom explosion one of the worst acts of terrorism in . 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. Privacy Policy. LAW CAN'T HALT MUNITIONS Representative Hamill Introduces Bill Giving Cities Power to Bar Explosives. They had been the victim of whats thought to be one of the first foreign terrorist attacks in the United States. The deadly Battle of the Somme had just begun in France and would last for 5 more months, producing more than one million casualties. Well, as reported in many of the newspapers in the aftermath, they thought it was negligence. Most people had never heard of that island, they don't even know where it is.". On July 30, 1916, a massive explosion shakes the harbor, a blast so tremendous it's felt in Philadelphia and Baltimore. The fire risked setting off munitions that survived the first blast. And the Bureau exercised primary jurisdiction over all of these laws as it pursued a wide variety of national security investigations. Updated: September 1, 2018 | Original: July 29, 2016, Two years after the start of World War I, the greater New York region was a major hub of the American munitions industry, with 75 percent of all ammunition and armaments shipped from the United States to Europe went out within a radius of five miles of City Hall in Lower Manhattan, according to Sabotage at Black Tom by Jules Witcover. In New York alone, there had been 70 pier fires and 139 fires on board ships. Still, the impact of the Black Tom Island explosion is still felt in at least one small way today. Chad: So when the guard saw him he didn't think twice about this guy being in the area . The immigrants waiting for processing on Ellis Island had to be evacuated. [13] A notable location for one of the first major explosions was around the Johnson Barge No. Most of the arms, however, were going to the AlliesBritain, France and Russiabecause the British navy had blockaded Germany. The last payment was made to Black Tom claimants in 1979. One barge alone held 100,000 pounds of TNTl, and the total weight of the munitions topped two million pounds. Producer Credits He had worked with a chemist to perfect a particular type of tiny bomb with a time-delayed incendiary device and he told Admiral von Tripitz back in Berlin Ill buy what I can and blow up what I cant.. Others attempted to fight the fires and eventually called the Jersey City Fire Department. Hours after the blasts, with the Black Tom fires still burning out of control, The New York Times printed a story listing 42 explosions at American munitions and chemical facilities since war. Now nothing remains of the munitions depot save a plaque marking the explosion that rocked the nation. the New York City region in the early hours of the morning of July 30, 1916. Just a few months earlier, on July 30, 1916, the area shook with the horrific explosion at Black Tom Island in Jersey City, NJ, an act of sabotage that blew out thousands of windows and even damaged the Statue of Liberty. 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. Before these weapons are loaded onto ships and sent across the Atlantic, they are stored at Black Tom Island in Jersey City, a munitions depot projecting into New York Harbor just behind the Statue of Liberty. The Lehigh Valley pier was at the center of the explosion. Sabotage at Black Tom | Intelligence Analysis and Reporting Sign up to access all of it today! It blew the windows out of every high-rise building in Lower Manhattan. 1.7K views 2 years ago #JerseyCity #HistorysHeadlines It is the early morning hours of July 30, 1916, minutes before the Black Tom Island munitions dump explosion in Jersey City, N.J. will. There still is a cloak of secrecy about what happened on July 30, 1916. Discover our mission: IC principles, history, and success stories, Check out Bin Laden's Bookshelf, IC on the Record, and declassified documents, Read the latest news about and from the IC, Learn about how we work, IC members, and oversight. The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in New York Harbor, "killed four people and destroyed some $20,000,000 ($500 million in 2022 dollars) worth of military goods." According to Kristoff, two of the guards at Black Tom were German agents. Others attempted to fight the fires. Sabotage at Black Tom: Imperial Germanys Secret War in America, 1914-1917, Algonquin Books, 1989. "[49] The explosion also played a role in how future presidents responded to military conflict. The Bureau of Investigation initially concluded the explosion was an accident, but doubts were widespread. [47], The Black Tom explosion resulted in the establishment of domestic intelligence agencies for the United States. The explosion on Black Tom Island, in New York Harbor at Jersey City, jolted millions from their beds and broke windows all over the region about a million dollars worth of shattered glass.. At least five people were killed, including a baby in Jersey City who was thrown from. Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Investigations immediately claims the explosion at Black Tom is, "an accident." President Wilson, vacationing in Chesapeake Bay, calls the devastation at Black . On the night of July 30, 1916, Black Tom Island held 2 million pounds of explosives. Black Tom explosion | Military Wiki | Fandom The Black Tom Explosion Forgotten History 9." Watermark: Permalife, 25% cotton content. James Doherty, a police officer from Jersey City, was killed in the explosion. Saboteurs got credit for fires and bombs at other American factories, and one estimate claimed that about 43 factories were damaged or destroyed and about 48 ships suffered from the German bombs. The blast was believed by some to be the work of the same German operatives responsible for the numerous explosions and fires that had bedeviled ships and factories involved in the munitions trade for more than a year. It is said that three men were seen making their way along the Jersey City's Black Tom docks at midnight. Even though President Wilson strongly advocated U.S. neutrality, public sentiment increased against _____. Genevieve Carlton - All That's Interesting N.Y. Vast quantities were stored in barges moored alongside a mile-long wharf, with one barge alone holding fifty tons of TNT and 25,000 detonators. October 18, 2006 | by Gotham Gazette Staff. The total damage came to an estimated $20 million a massive sum in 1916 equivalent to more than half a billion dollars today. Harrison. Black Tom was an island off of Jersey City, New Jerseyits remains are now joined by landfill to the mainland of Liberty State Park. Jackson noted that given the massive destructive power of the explosion, it is fortunate that more people were not killed. German agents who were determined to prevent American munitions shippers from supplying its English enemy during the First World War. A circle of U.S. flags complements the plaque, which stands east of the visitors' center. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-says-it-s-true/id1530853589, The Worst Way to Die: The Erfurt Latrine Disaster, BalloonFest 86 The Cleveland Balloon Disaster, Origin of the Blaster: Han Solos Weapon in Star Wars Rewind, The Invention of WiFi and Hedy Lamarr Rewind, James H. Snook: Known for More Than a Hook, New Years Eve: The TRUE History of the NYE Ball Drop (REBROADCAST of Episode 18) - The Internet Says it's True, New Years Eve: The TRUE History of the NYE Ball Drop, The German Christmas Pickle: Tradition or Marketing? Senate Document 105-2", "The Kaiser Sows Destruction Central Intelligence Agency", "Frequently Asked Questions Statue Of Liberty National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)". First, a lack of documentation made it incredibly difficult to prove Germany was guilty of the crime. Due to the blockade of Germany by the Royal Navy, however, only the Allied Governments were able to purchase American munitions. [31] Kristoff would later serve in the United States Army in World War I, but admitted to working for German agents (transporting suitcases) in 1915 and 1916 while the US was still neutral. Martin Casella: The title Black Tom Island comes from the name of a small island that used to be off the coast of New Jersey, about a half-mile from the Statue of Liberty. Yes, the Bureau and other agencies doggedly pursued the case after the war until the saboteurs were identified and, ultimately, reparations were paid for German attacks against our neutral country. The Black Tom explosion was the peak act of German sabotage on American soil during the First World War. Spotting the smoke, guards eventually ran to call the fire department. Even so, the German agents who blew up Black Tom were not identified at the time. Damaged canal boats in the wreckage after the explosion. World War One was raging in Europe. Educated, industrious and neatly dressed, German-Americans perceived patriotism and commitment to life in America allowed them to integrate into society with less initial friction than other ethnic groups. That night, two German spies rowed across New York Harbor, their boat heavy with dynamite. Photo: Wikipedia.
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