It also meant fewer people would remember what happened at Black Tom. German intrigues on American soil essentially evaporated. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Nearly everyone in Manhattan and Jersey City was jolted awake, and many were thrown from their beds. Unedited videos of guest interviews and quizzes Black Tom was literally a ticking time bomb. Flickr/Wavian. A third spy simply walked into the munitions depot, his pockets filled with cigar-shaped bombs. 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.. Black Tom was a major munitions depot for the northeastern United States. The Black Tom explosion was the peak act of German sabotage on American soil during the First World War. 49, No. Pieces of metal from the explosion struck the Jersey Journal building clock tower at Journal Square, stopping the clock at 2:12 a.m. Others attempted to fight the fires and eventually called the Jersey City Fire Department. For days, artillery shells and other munitions continued to explode, showering New York Harbor, to include Ellis Island, with embers and shell fragments. Entire structures vanished into the water after a massive explosion ripped through the air at 2:08 a.m. on July 30, 1916. After midnight small fires started on some of the piers and then began to grow. WWI Liberty Bonds poster We strive for accuracy and fairness. Many guards fled, fearing an explosion. The devastating explosion on Black Tom was carried out by three men, one of whom worked at the depot. Special Shoutouts The Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916, in Jersey City, New Jersey, was an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materiel from being used by the Allies in World War I. 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. They were being stored on rail cars sitting on barges, ready to be shipped to Russia to assist them in the war effort.That night, around midnight several small fires were discovered on the pier near the barges. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Property damage was estimated at $20 million. The United States remained officially neutral, but the U.S. also sold millions of dollars in weapons to Britain and France. It's as if they didn't know the event existed either. It took investigators years to determine that operatives working for Germany were to blame. At 2:08 am, the first and largest of the explosions took place, the second and smaller explosion occurring around 2:40 am. And the reason it was closed? Many Explosions Since War Began New York Times, July 31, 1916. The island was temporarily closed. Already packed barges sat tied to piers, ready to cross the Atlantic. But it was too late. 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]. Firefighters were unable to fight the fires until the bullets and shrapnel stopped flying. There simply wasnt any sort of federal body with the ability or the authority to deal with foreign saboteurs.It wasnt until several decades later that Germany was declared officially responsible and was sued. German spies attacked New York on July 30th, 1916. [48] The then Police Commissioner of New York, Arthur Woods, argued, "The lessons to America are clear as day. It was still dark in Manhattan on a Sunday morning, July 30, 1916, when the sky suddenly exploded with an unnatural brilliance. There are a ton of people alive today who claim to remember visiting the statue of liberty and climbing the stairs all the way up to the torch, where they looked out over the New York Harbor. And after decades of debate, Germany agreed to pay reparations for the damage. The noise of the explosion was heard as far away as Maryland and Connecticut. Windows were broken as far as 25 miles (40 km) away, including thousands in Lower Manhattan. [3] Landfill projects later made Black Tom Island part of the mainland, and it was incorporated into Liberty State Park. Spotting the smoke, guards eventually ran to call the fire department. 19? But its doubtful that anyone currently living has been up to the torch of the statue. 17 was packed with 50 tons of TNT, and 69 railroad freight cars were storing more than a thousand tons of ammunition, all awaiting shipment to Britain and France. The Black Tom explosion was an apparent act of sabotage by German agents. By the early 1900s, it became known as Black Tom Island. Theme by ILoveWP.com. The damage was estimated at $20 million the equivalent of more than $500 million in 2021 dollars. And the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which sustained much of the financial damage, knew who to blame: Germany. And not so much as a fence guarded the two million pounds of munitions. The first of the Black Tom explosions was felt at 2:08 a.m. followed half an hour later by a second blast. The island was artificial, created by land fill around a rock of the same name, which had been a local hazard to navigation. This F3 tornado was one of the strongest to ever touch down in New Jersey. [12], After midnight, a series of small fires were discovered on the pier. 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. When the explosions, fire and smoke cleared on Monday afternoon, the pier, warehouses, rail cars, locomotives, barges and even Black Tom Island had been obliterated. The island and the depot were completely destroyed. [11], The Lehigh Valley Railroad, advised by John J. McCloy, sought damages against Germany under the Treaty of Berlin from the German-American Mixed Claims Commission. The nearby Statue of Liberty suffered severe shrapnel damage, closing visitor access to the Statues torch for good. 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. It starts, You are standing on a site which saw one of the worst acts of sabotage in American history!. Aftermath of German bombing and sabotage of Black Tom Railroad train cars in New Jersey on July 30, 1916. 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 their fight. Police arrested three railroad-company officials on charges of manslaughter, on the assumption that the fires began in two freight cars. James Doherty, a police officer from Jersey City, was killed in the explosion. Nearby Bedloe's Island saw some of the worst damage, with plaster torn from the walls and windows shattered. He was responsible for setting the fires that led to the explosions. As a result, Imperial Germany sent spies to the United States to disrupt by any means necessary the production and delivery of war munitions that were intended to kill German soldiers on the battlefields of the Great War. 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. Shortly after 2:00 am, an earsplitting explosion rattled the Brooklyn Bridge, swayed skyscrapers, and shattered glass windows throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. It wasnt until 1939 that $50 million in damages were awarded to plaintiffs in the Black Tom explosion, the largest settlement by an international tribunal. The incident took place at on Black Tom Island, between New Jersey and Liberty Island on July 30, 1916, at 2:08 am. | READ MORE. In some ways, it's shocking that the explosion didn't cause more damage. 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 He served for years as an intelligence agent for the Nazi regime and was executed by the Soviets after his capture in 1945. Smaller explosions continued till dawn, but they caused little damage. At 2:08 am, the first and largest of the explosions took place. As for Black Tom Island, it would eventually sink into the bay. Munition barges, freight cars, and warehouses were all damaged during the Black Tom explosion. On the night of July 29, 1916 German saboteurs snuck past the soldiers on watch at Bedloe's Island and proceeded to Black Tom. Every episode ends by playing a gameshow-style quiz game with a celebrity guest. A lot of this criticism came because of an 1875 accidental explosion on the island that killed 4 people. For reference, when the World Trade Centers North Tower collapsed in 2001, it registered a 2.3 on the Richter scale. 1, The Bizarre Legend Of Belsnickel, The Centuries-Old Christmas Figure From German Folklore, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. 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. On July 30, 1916, an explosion at Black Tom Island rocked New York Harbor. October 18, 2006 | by Gotham Gazette Staff. 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. 9." Watermark: Permalife, 25% cotton content. One of his master spies was Franz Von Rintelen, who had a pencil bomb designed for his use. "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.". ", Sabotage at Black Tom - Imperial Germany's Secret War in America, 1914-1917, "Explosion at Liberty! Shrapnel pock-marked the Statue of Liberty. He was lucky to escape with his life. The CIA wouldnt be established until after World War II. The blasts lit the night sky and shook the earth with the force of a Richter scale 5.5 earthquake. Review this podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-says-it-s-true/id1530853589 Kristoff was arrested by the Jersey City police on suspicion of involvement in the blast, but they released him for lack of evidence. As Chad Millman points out in his book, The Detonators, there was a certain naivete at the timePresident Woodrow Wilson could not bring himself to believe that Germans might be responsible for such destruction. Von Rintelen and his ring of helpers was fairly successful in their efforts. Without a formal intelligence service on the national level, the United States only had rudimentary communications security and no federal laws forbidding espionage or sabotage except during wartime,[3] making the connections to the saboteurs and accomplices almost impossible to track. 17, which contained 50 tons of TNT and 417 cases of detonating fuses. In spite of the magnitude of the attack, Wilson had not wanted to get dragged into World War I. 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. Even the other agents from the German military didnt know about his secret orders. Hurricane Sandy - October 29, 2012. Even though President Wilson strongly advocated U.S. neutrality, public sentiment increased against _____. The Nazis paid little mind to this finding, and Germany would not settle the debt until 1979. 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.
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