Officially, around four people died due to the explosion. James Doherty, a police officer from Jersey City, was killed in the explosion. 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. The Statue of Liberty took more than $100,000 worth of damage; Lady Libertys torch, which was then open to visitors who could climb an interior ladder for a spectacular view, has been closed ever since. In New York alone, there had been 70 pier fires and 139 fires on board ships. The CIA wouldnt be established until after World War II. 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. Per the Council on Foreign Relations, he called the Black Tom explosion "a regrettable incident at a private railroad terminal.". [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. Germany, under the rule of Hitler, failed to pay up and the settlement was renegotiated in the early 1950s.
Black Tom explosion - Wikipedia Anton Dilger was an American who sympathized with Germany after studying there. Stained-glass windows from inside Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Jersey City, NJ. And no one anticipated that the munitions depot might become the target of enemy agents. 17. But the legacy of this explosion is deeper than just relegating tourists to Lady Libertys crown. Barges sank, collapsed warehouses buried freight cars, and eventually the entire pier went under. Just Southwest of Liberty Island, which used to be known as Bedloes island there was a munitions depot called Black Tom Island. He arrived in 1914 with a staff not of diplomats, but of intelligence operatives, and with millions of dollars earmarked to aid German war efforts by any means necessary. Nearer to Black Tom Island, blackened, twisted metal and debris covered an area several city blocks wide. We strive for accuracy and fairness.
The National Park Service's Statue of Liberty website cites the Black Tom explosion as the reason the torch is closed off, though it is unclear why, a century later, guests are still not allowed inside. The incident took place at on Black Tom Island, between New Jersey and Liberty Island on July 30, 1916, at 2:08 am. Flickr/Wavian. Doctors and nurses arrived on the scene and tended to dozens of injured.
Map of Black Tom Island, Jersey City, New Jersey : showing area damaged 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. It was the largest non nuclear explosion to date. Shrapnel flew in all directions. [52], A stained-glass window at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic church memorialized the victims of the attack.[53]. 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. October 18, 2006 | by Gotham Gazette Staff. However, the damage was estimated at more than $20 million, (nearly half a billion dollars today), and investigations eventually determined that the Black Tom explosions resulted from an enemy attackwhat some historians regard as the first major terrorist attack on the United States by a foreign power. Edgar Clark, a Commissioner with the Interstate Commerce Commission immediately began working on a report to President Woodrow Wilson, and found that there was no violation of federal laws governing the packing and transportation of explosives. 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. The Nazis paid little mind to this finding, and Germany would not settle the debt until 1979. According to historians, the Germans sabotaged the Lehigh Valley munitions depot in order to stop deliveries being made to the British who had blockaded the Germans in Europe. But the stock of US supplies and financial support were offered to the Allies, and Great Britain welcomed the help. Three men and a baby were killed by the explosive energy that erupted from this act of sabotage. On the night of July 30th, 1916, Black Tom island disappeared. At 2:40am, another explosion this one slightly smaller rocked the island. Cookie Settings, http://www.faqs.org/espionage/Bl-Ch/Black-Tom-Explosion.html, https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article02.html, Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog, The Science of California's 'Super Bloom,' Visible From Space, The True Story of the Koh-i-Noor Diamondand Why the British Won't Give It Back. The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in the New York Harbor, destroyed some $20,000,000 worth of military goods. Even though President Wilson strongly advocated U.S. neutrality, public sentiment increased against _____.
INTEL - Black Tom Island Explodes Your Privacy Rights [44], The Statue of Liberty's torch was closed to the public following the explosion, due to structural damages. Aftermath of German bombing and sabotage of Black Tom Railroad train cars in New Jersey on July 30, 1916. Captain Franz von Rintelen had arrived in the U.S. the previous year. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. That night, two German spies rowed across New York Harbor, their boat heavy with dynamite. Just outside of Jersey City, the island was a manmade rectangle of land, mostly built up from refuse and rocks in the New York Harbor. It was heard and felt as far away as Philadelphia, and in Baltimore, people spilled from their homes, fearing an earthquake was underway. Learn about the exhibit that inspired this site, If you would like to not see this alert again, please click the "Do not show me this again" check box below, The Statue of Liberty; Recovering debris at Black Tom; Damaged Black Tom Island pier, German saboteur Kurt Jahnke; German saboteur Lothar Witzke; Wanted poster for German saboteur Michael Kristoff, Storefront damage from the Black Tom Island blast; Black Tom Island explosion headline in, Diving for debris at Black Tom Island; Sorting recovered artillery shells; John J. McCloy of the Mixed Claims Commission, Benjamin Church: Surgeon, Son of Liberty, Spy, Thomas Hickey and the Plot Against George Washington, Edward Bancroft: A Man of Competing Loyalties, Benedict Arnold: A Name Synonymous with Treason, John Andr: Officer, Gentlemanand Spymaster, The Birth of American Counterintelligence, Union Espionage: From Patronage to Professionalism, Allan Pinkerton: Skilled Detective, Dubious Spymaster, Bureau of Military Information: The Trailblazers, Confederate Espionage: Spies, Scouts, & Sympathizers, Benjamin Franklin Stringfellow: A Spy Who Spared a General. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. 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. The several federal bureaus should be welded into one and that one should be eternally and comprehensively vigilant. Jahnke and Witzke fled to Mexico shortly before the United States entered the war and were among the German agents who stirred anti-American sentiment and organized sabotage operations from across the border. Smoke billowing from the Black Tom explosion, a German sabotage . One barge alone held 100,000 pounds of TNTl, and the total weight of the munitions topped two million pounds. Sign up to access all of it today! In one terrifying, ear-splitting moment, the Great War then raging overseas had come to America. One thing the authorities initially seemed to agree on was that the explosions werent the work of foreign saboteurs. On July 29, 1916, German agents set fire to a complex of warehouses and ships in the New York harbor that held munitions, fuel, and explosives bound to aid the Allies in. 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. "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.". Damaged canal boats in the wreckage after the explosion. 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. That same year, a German agent entered the U.S., planted a bomb in the Senate reception room at the U.S. Capitol and set it to detonate at midnight. This explosion was so large, it was heard all the way in Philadelphia. The German Christmas Pickle: Tradition or Marketing?
Black Tom Explosion: US WW1 History for Kids - American Historama 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. [49] In an interview with Jules Witcover, McCloy noted that as assistant secretary of the navy under Wilson, Roosevelt "knew all about Black Tom."
Many Explosions Since War Began New York Times, July 31, 1916. Second, for political reasons more than anything, Germany was incredibly reluctant to admit it. The deadly Battle of the Somme had just begun in France and would last for 5 more months, producing more than one million casualties. [25] Immigrants being processed at Ellis Island had to be evacuated to Lower Manhattan. This Black Tom Explosion commemorative plaque in Liberty State Park is the only reminder of the incident. Every episode ends by playing a gameshow-style quiz game with a celebrity guest. After the explosion, Black Tom Island sank into New York Harbor. A dozen homes were destroyed and there were several injuries, though thankfully no casualties. A railway connected the landfill island to shore and it became a key munitions depot during World War I. This F3 tornado was one of the strongest to ever touch down in New Jersey. Theyve likely been up to the crown, which is open to the public, but the public hasnt visited the torch since 1916. He bribed officials, which included some of the security men responsible for guarding the pier at Black Tom Island. And as of 1916, the United States still wanted to remain isolated from the war. 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. He returned to the United States with anthrax and glanders with the intention of infecting and killing livestock. Some guards fled, fearing an explosion. The blast shattered windows across the harbor in Manhattan and Brooklyn. It took seventeen years for the MCC to find Germany responsible for the destruction of Black Tom Island, ordering the German government to pay the United States $50 million in damages. The rivets popped out of the right arm and the arm holding the torch was pushed up against the statues crown. None of the baggage handlers who were above the magazine survived the sinking. The explosion on Black Tom Island, a 25-acre promontory jutting from Jersey City that was built from New Yorkers' garbage, registered an estimated 5.5 on the Richter scale 30 times more . There still is a cloak of secrecy about what happened on July 30, 1916. German agents who were determined to prevent American munitions shippers from supplying its English enemy during the First World War. The culprits? One of the things that was blamed was the lighting of smudge pots to keep mosquitos away. In the meantime, landfill projects eventually incorporated Black Tom Island into Liberty State Park.
Why can't we go up the Statue of Liberty's torch? "Violating the Law of One Price: Should We Make a Federal Case Out of It? The policy was clearly rooted in McCloys experience with German sabotage, views that were shared by President Roosevelt who had been the Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War I, and who attempted to justify this indefensible action, by declaring We dont want another Black Tom.. But writing off the explosion as an accident also downplayed its role in American history, and few remember the explosive event today.