The history of Mare Island started in 1853 when the United States government purchased the slender, 3.5 miles long peninsula-like island off Vallejo for around $83,000. 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. Producer Credits Smaller explosions continued till dawn, but they caused little damage. So was Cornelius Leyden, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Chief of Police. After escaping from internment, Witzke traveled to San Francisco, where he met with the German Consul General there and was paired to work with Jahnke. A third man, a drifter, entered the depot on foot. 26 - Apr. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine One contemporary newspaper report estimated up to seven deaths in the attack. In Sabotage at Black Tom, Jules Witcover draws on his skills as an . 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. 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 . One of the things that was blamed was the lighting of smudge pots to keep mosquitos away. Undetected, the saboteurs lit multiple fires on the island. Was it an accident or planned? Total damage was calculated at $45 million ($1.127 trillion in 2021), with damage to Lady Liberty costing $100,000 ($2.5 million in 2021) alone. Some guards fled, fearing an explosion. Scientists would later assess the magnitude of the blast at 5.5 on todays Richter scale. The act of sabotage was the largest enemy attack on continental American soil prior to 9/11. 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. 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. 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. But federal authorities could not trace the fire to the pots, and reports ultimately concluded that the blasts must have been accidentaleven though several suspicious factory explosions in the United States, mostly around New York, pointed toward German spies and saboteurs. 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. There were five or six other lighters alongside mine at the dock, and a tug was just coming up to drag us away. I dont know what became of the tug or the other lighters. 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 . The Black Tom explosion destroying 2 million pounds of ammunition was an example of _____ sabotage. To this day, access to that torch is banned. Warehouses collapsed onto freight cars filled with TNT. The explosions that went off that night would have registered high on the Richter scale. 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? A 10-week old baby lost its life as well, being thrown from his crib in Jersey City. 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. For the U.S., responding was difficult. He bribed officials, which included some of the security men responsible for guarding the pier at Black Tom Island. "I think partly because of the isolation of the explosion. 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. 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. Anton Dilger was an American who sympathized with Germany after studying there. He said the isolation of the island, along with the decreased influx of immigrants to nearby Ellis Island at the time other countries were deterring their citizens from leaving and escaping the draft lowered the casualty count. Many Explosions Since War Began New York Times, July 31, 1916. Due to the blockade of Germany by the Royal Navy, however, only the Allied Governments were able to purchase American munitions. Then, read about how flour caused the 1878 Washburn Mill explosion that killed four people in Minneapolis. It wasnt until 1953 when the Federal Republic of Germany agreed to settle the matter and paid the United States $95 million dollars in damages. Captain Franz von Rintelen had arrived in the U.S. the previous year. [48] The then Police Commissioner of New York, Arthur Woods, argued, "The lessons to America are clear as day. So if you ever run across someone who claims theyve been up to the Statue of Libertys torch, now you know why they havent. On Ellis Island, terrified immigrants were evacuated by ferry to the Battery. "It was a terrific explosion the worst that had ever happened in New York," said Kenneth Jackson, a history professor at Columbia University and one of the country's foremost scholars on New York history. One of those newcomers to America was Count Johann Von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to Washington. The Black Tom Explosion (1916) From Redditor u/ finlay_mcwalter: A terrorist attack, a massive explosion, a huge pall of smoke hangs over New York harbor. Unedited videos of guest interviews and quizzes They then fled the scene. 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. View of the Statue of Liberty from the site of the explosion: The explosion caused $100,000 worth of damage to the statue, and from then onward the torch has been closed to tourists. Germ Warfare in WWI Used on Horses in the U.S. Fall 2017, Vol. 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. 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. LAW CAN'T HALT MUNITIONS Representative Hamill Introduces Bill Giving Cities Power to Bar Explosives. The explosion on Black Tom Island could be heard from miles away. [35], Additional investigations by the Directorate of Naval Intelligence also found links to some members of the Irish republican Clan na Gael organization and far-left organizations. Hurricane Sandy - October 29, 2012. Special Shoutouts 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. German intrigues on American soil essentially evaporated. As far away as Philadelphia and Baltimore, people felt the blast. And that was partly true. But it was too late. 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. Peter Raceta was captaining a barge in the harbor when the blast shook the air. Shrapnel pock-marked the Statue of Liberty. Never mind that the U.S. was officially neutral in the conflict at this point. The force of the explosion left wreckage strewn across Black Tom Island. If designed and placed properly, a pencil bomb could be timed to detonate days later, while ships and their cargo were at sea. Three men and an infant were killed by the sheer explosive energy, with over 100 more people wounded. [13] A notable location for one of the first major explosions was around the Johnson Barge No. Giveaways and swag Very. Books: The Detonators: The Secret Plot to Destroy America and an Epic Hunt for Justice by Chad Millman, Little, Brown and Company, 2006. Gilbert King All Rights Reserved. The Bureau of Investigationthe FBIs predecessorlikewise did what it could, but it was held back by its small size (260 employees in a handful of offices) and lack of jurisdiction. 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 damage from the Black Tom explosion stretched across the railroad yard and pier. Forgotten history, bizarre tales & facts that seem too strange to be true! The stained glass windows in St. Patrick's Church were destroyed. [33][34] It is also believed that Michael Kristoff was responsible for planting and initiating the incendiary devices that led to the explosions. It was named allegedly after a freed slave named Tom who used to fish on the island. That night, two German spies rowed across New York Harbor, their boat heavy with dynamite. A Little Island In The Bay. Millions of Persons Heard and Felt Shock New York Times, July 31, 1916. And it permanently damaged the nearby Statue of Liberty. 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. Fires raged along the pier after the early-morning explosion. BONUS Episodes One of the American MCC investigators was Harvard Law School graduate John McCloy, a 12-year staff member for the Commission. At the time President Roosevelt said to him: "We don't want any more Black Toms."[50][51]. Kristoff was arrested by the Jersey City police on suspicion of involvement in the blast, but they released him for lack of evidence. One barge contained 50 tons of TNT, and was only moored at Black Tom Island to avoid a $25.00 charge. Black Tom Island is now part of Liberty State Park. The term "Black Tom" originally referred to an island in New York Harbor next to Liberty Island. It also meant fewer people would remember what happened at Black Tom. In fact, it was almost too easy for the spies to infiltrate Black Tom Island. The New York Times reported that the explosion was initially attributed to negligence by those working on the island. IE 11 is not supported. Nearer to Black Tom Island, blackened, twisted metal and debris covered an area several city blocks wide. It was the center of, and was destroyed by, the terrorist bombing of 1916. 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 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. The Bureau of Investigation initially concluded the explosion was an accident, but doubts were widespread. On the evening of July 29, 1916, the three saboteurs easily infiltrated the lightly-guarded depot, with one entering on foot as the other two approached by rowboat. We strive for accuracy and fairness. After midnight small fires started on some of the piers and then began to grow. Throughout the city, office buildings were missing windows. 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." The event that sparked the ban occurred 102 years ago Monday, on July 30, 1916. People as far away as Maryland were awakened by what they thought was an earthquake. Pieces of metal from the explosion struck the Jersey Journal building clock tower at Journal Square, stopping the clock at 2:12 a.m. There still is a cloak of secrecy about what happened on July 30, 1916. One of the barges was loaded with 50 tons of TNT. Second, for political reasons more than anything, Germany was incredibly reluctant to admit it. There is a Youtube channel called "The Great War" that covers WW1 week by week and not once do they mention the Black Tom Explosion. Its been awhile since weve talked about the Mandela Effect the idea that somehow a large group of people misremember something collectively. 7. Black Tom was an island off of Jersey City, New Jerseyits remains are now joined by landfill to the mainland of Liberty State Park. Germany, under the rule of Hitler, failed to pay up and the settlement was renegotiated in the early 1950s. His book Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013. The German Christmas Pickle: Tradition or Marketing? 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.. [42] The issue was finally settled in 1953 for $95 million (interest included) with the Federal Republic of Germany. And during the great war, there were at least 10 instances of attempted terrorist attacks in America by Germany. It is not known how many died. Senate Document 105-2", "The Kaiser Sows Destruction Central Intelligence Agency", "Frequently Asked Questions Statue Of Liberty National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)". Aftermath of German bombing and sabotage of Black Tom Railroad train cars in New Jersey on July 30, 1916. 49, No. The first of the Black Tom explosions was felt at 2:08 a.m. followed half an hour later by a second blast. On the night of July 29, 1916 German saboteurs snuck past the soldiers on watch at Bedloe's Island and proceeded to Black Tom. In the 1950s, Germany finally agreed to pay the $50 million. Two million tons of war materials packed. 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. On July 30, 1916, Kaiser Wilhelm's German agents, exploded the largest munitions depot on the east coast, Black Tom Island. In early 1941, McCloy was named Assistant Secretary of War, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor, helped craft the policy to intern more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans in remote facilities for much of the duration of World War II. It was so large, that it measured 5.5 on the Richter Scale. Smoke billowing from the Black Tom explosion, a German sabotage . Assuming office in 1913, ___ was only the second Democrat elected President since the Civil War. [43] The final payment was made in 1979. Central Intelligence Agency https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article02.html. [26] President Wilson remarked of the incident that it was "a regrettable incident at a private railroad terminal",[27][28] and Edgar E. Clark of the Interstate Commerce Commission was dispatched to investigate. Onlookers in Manhattan watched as munition shells rocketed across the water and exploded a mile from the fires on Black Tom Island. Nearby Ellis island was evacuated. The Statue of Liberty was pelted with shrapnel. "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.". Others attempted to fight the fires and eventually called the Jersey City Fire Department. "World War I Intrigue: German Spies in New York! Category:Black Tom explosion. ", At the Woolworth building, the tallest skyscraper in the world at the time, watchmen feared that the world was ending. Barges sank, collapsed warehouses buried freight cars, and eventually the entire pier went under. 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. 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. [48] The sabotage techniques used by Germany, and the United States' declaration of war on Germany, led to the creation of the Espionage Act, which passed by Congress in late 1917.

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