; 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. 26 - Apr. At 2:08 am, five million people were awakened by an explosion that was heard as far away as Maryland. Divers recovered shells lost in the harbor after the explosion. ?1918", "The Officer Down Memorial Page Remembers", The terror attack on N.J. that America forgot, New York at War Four Centuries of Combat, Fear, and Intrigue in Gotham. The Black Tom explosion destroying 2 million pounds of ammunition was an example of _____ sabotage. "I think partly because of the isolation of the explosion. 3 By David Pfeiffer Enlarge A shipment of horses at a New York City rail yard, 1918. To this day, access to that torch is banned. [44], The Statue of Liberty's torch was closed to the public following the explosion, due to structural damages. A series of blasts were heard and felt some 90 miles in every direction, even as far as Philadelphia. Used as a munitions warehouse for the Allies, Black Tom Island in the New York Harbor rarely gained any attention during WWII. In the early 20th century, enemy attacks on American soil were so rare that many assumed the Black Tom explosion was an accident. On July 30, 1916, an explosion at Black Tom Island rocked New York Harbor. Sabotage at Black Tom: Imperial Germanys Secret War in America, 1914-1917, Algonquin Books, 1989. And what of the Black Tom saboteurs? The event that sparked the ban occurred 102 years ago Monday, on July 30, 1916. 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special discounts, visithttp://theinternetsaysitstrue.com/deals, Your email address will not be published. Stained-glass windows from inside Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Jersey City, NJ. Library of Congress photograph. In this episode, we talk about German Saboteurs and then chat with Author of Branding Democrats, Ken Weber. Authorities successfully recovered shells lost in the harbor during the explosion. [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. 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. [13] A notable location for one of the first major explosions was around the Johnson Barge No. 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 culprits? According to North Jersey, after placing bombs along the island, one of the saboteurs fled to his aunt's nearby home, shouting, "Oh, my God, what did I do?". In spite of newspaper headlines claiming that dozens died, the official tally counted four deaths. In fact, it was almost too easy for the spies to infiltrate Black Tom Island. Long: Terrorism's 100th anniversary. The total damage came to an estimated $20 million - a massive sum in 1916 equivalent to more than half a billion dollars today. The incident took place at on Black Tom Island, between New Jersey and Liberty Island on July 30, 1916, at 2:08 am. It was 1939 and Germany had other plans happening at the time. Visitors have not been allowed inside the torch for over a century after a massive explosion. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Sadly, there was no stopping them. Still, the impact of the Black Tom Island explosion is still felt in at least one small way today. 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 a peak act of German sabotage on American soil during the first World War. The U.S. government had a plan for Mare Island and intended to convert it into one of first major Pacific shipyards for the American Navy. The CIA wouldnt be established until after World War II. First, a lack of documentation made it incredibly difficult to prove Germany was guilty of the crime. the New York City region in the early hours of the morning of July 30, 1916. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [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. Black Tom Island stored freight cars, barges, and warehouses full of explosives. The FBI was in its infancy. One paper reported that after seeing the blast, watchmen "got down on their knees and prayed.". 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. And now you can tell them why. 19? The deadly Battle of the Somme had just begun in France and would last for 5 more months, producing more than one million casualties. S. Liebmann's Sons Brewing Co.By the 1910s, Black Tom Island was a key shipping port. At least five people were killed, including a baby in Jersey City who was thrown from. 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. And after the explosion, multiple smaller blasts continued to rip through the air, the shrapnel and flying bullets making it nearly impossible for firefighters to control the blazing inferno. No Evidence of Plot in New York Explosion, Federal Agents Assert Washington Post, July 31, 1916. The force of the explosion threw people in Jersey City from their beds. Most people had never heard of that island, they don't even know where it is.". In the days after the blasts, confusion reigned. Melted bottle from the Black Tom explosion, Black Tom pier shortly after the explosion, largest artificial non-nuclear explosions, List of German sponsored acts of terrorism during WWI, Largest artificial non-nuclear explosions, List of accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition, "Long: Terrorism's 100th anniversary | Commentary | roanoke.com", "The Kaiser Sows Destruction: Protecting the Homeland the First Time Around", "Providing Better Terminal Facilities for New York", "Where Street Refuse Goes; The Island of "Black Tom" in New-York Bay How the Offal of the City Adds to the Territory of New-Jersey", "A Terrible Explosion. How successful were they? WWI Liberty Bonds poster Nearby at the Statue of Liberty, a legacy of the disaster remains: Due to the damage the statue sustained on July 30, 1916, its torch has been closed to the public for the last century. A circle of U.S. flags complements the plaque, which stands east of the visitors' center. Two million tons of war materials packed. They were right. It is now believed that they set timed fuses and then fled the area. German agents who were determined to prevent American munitions shippers from supplying its English enemy during the First World War. It's as if they didn't know the event existed either. Per the Council on Foreign Relations, he called the Black Tom explosion "a regrettable incident at a private railroad terminal.". Nearby Ellis island was evacuated. In Manhattan, hundreds of shops experienced broken windows because of the blast. Flying bullets and shrapnel rendered firefighters powerless. Survey map of ammunition storage facilities, industrial plants, warehouses, railroad tracks, wharves, and piers damaged by a German sabotage operation during World War I. [49] In an interview with Jules Witcover, McCloy noted that as assistant secretary of the navy under Wilson, Roosevelt "knew all about Black Tom." That night, two German spies rowed across New York Harbor, their boat heavy with dynamite. After years of deliberating, the German-American Mixed Claims Commission ultimately ordered Germany to pay $50 million in reparations. It took investigators years to determine that operatives working for Germany were to blame. Theme by ILoveWP.com. The damage was estimated at $20 million the equivalent of more than $500 million in 2021 dollars. 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. No one stopped them. Black Tom Cassidy (created October 1976), a Marvel Comics supervillain, an enemy of the X-Men. In the 1950s, Germany finally agreed to pay the $50 million. But it was too late. Decades would pass, however, before Germany settled it. They were right. On the night of July 29, 1916 German saboteurs snuck past the soldiers on watch at Bedloe's Island and proceeded to Black Tom. Black Tom Explosion Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security, by Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. German spies attacked New York on July 30th, 1916. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. Second, for political reasons more than anything, Germany was incredibly reluctant to admit it. On July 30, 1916, a massive explosion shakes the harbor, a blast so tremendous it's felt in Philadelphia and Baltimore. The New York Times reported that the explosion was initially attributed to negligence by those working on the island. Your email address will not be published. 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. One barge alone held 100,000 pounds of TNTl, and the total weight of the munitions topped two million pounds. This was one of the major reasons that Germany was sending saboteurs to disrupt the supply chain from America. He was lucky to escape with his life. The torch has not been open to the public since 1916. On July 30, 1916, Kaiser Wilhelm's German agents, exploded the largest munitions depot on the east coast, Black Tom Island. Well it was option B on July 30th, 1916. [5] On January 26, 1875, an accidental explosion killed four. 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. [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. German intrigues on American soil essentially evaporated. 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. In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, two watchmen who had lit smudge pots to keep away mosquitoes were questioned by police but the police soon determined that the smudge pots had not caused the fire and that the blast had likely been an accident. Owen Fitzpatrick worked on nearby Ellis Island as a telephone operator. A total of 7 people were killed as a result of the series of explosions.And what did the public think caused the explosions? jailed in kent 2021, large cylinder glass vase,