No Evidence of Plot in New York Explosion, Federal Agents Assert Washington Post, July 31, 1916. The Black Tom explosion was an apparent act of sabotage by German agents. And if you liked this post, be sure to check out these popular posts: By 1916, World War I had already been raging for two years. Shrapnel flew in all directions. At least five people were killed, including a baby in Jersey City who was thrown from. Central Intelligence Agency https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article02.html. The lawyers sued Germany in the Mixed Claims Commission at The Hague, and in 1939 won the case. Decades would pass, however, before Germany settled it. It is not known how many died. They were right. Photo: Wikimedia Commons. The Black Tom Explosion didn't happen in our original universe [Week of July 28th, 1916] ( https://youtu.be/lu9VPY2DHPk ) On July 30th of 1916, German agents detonated a munition depot in New York harbor which resulted in 4 deaths, hundreds of injuries, and damage to the Statue of Liberty. After years of deliberating, the German-American Mixed Claims Commission ultimately ordered Germany to pay $50 million in reparations. Visitors have not been allowed inside the torch for over a century after a massive explosion. And the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which sustained much of the financial damage, knew who to blame: Germany. By blowing up a munitions depot on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor, Germany slowed the shipment of supplies to Britain and France from the ostensibly neutral United States. Fires burned on Black Tom Island into the morning after German saboteurs attacked the munitions depot. Smaller explosions continued till dawn, but they caused little damage. This Week In History News, Mar. In Manhattan, hundreds of shops experienced broken windows because of the blast. In New York alone, there had been 70 pier fires and 139 fires on board ships. Statue of Liberty Damaged by Giant Ammunition Explosions Washington Post, July 31, 1916. Some simply ran away, thinking there was no way these fires were going to be contained. Cookie Notice In the aftermath of the explosions, law-enforcement agents quickly arrested officials from the railroad, storage company and barge business who operated from the Black Tom site. 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. The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in New York Harbor, killed four people and destroyed some $20,000,000 worth of military goods. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Very. 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. One Mandela Effect thats related to this story is about the Statue of Liberty. Advertising Notice 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. American authorities charged into the breach, ready to find out exactly what had happened. 7. [8] Between 1905 and 1916, the Lehigh Valley Railroad, which owned the island and causeway, expanded the island with land fill, and the entire area was annexed by Jersey City. 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. When Germany attacked New Jersey | Black Tom explosion IT'S HISTORY 480K subscribers Join Subscribe 661 Share Save 19K views 1 year ago The FBI recalls, It was still dark in Manhattan on a Sunday. A series of blasts were heard and felt some 90 miles in every direction, even as far as Philadelphia. Well, as reported in many of the newspapers in the aftermath, they thought it was negligence. 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. Shrapnel from the explosion even hit the Statue of Liberty. It was named allegedly after a freed slave named Tom who used to fish on the island. Long: Terrorism's 100th anniversary. 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. 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. The island was the location of 2 million pounds of small arms and artillery ammunition. In the 1950s, Germany finally agreed to pay the $50 million. This massive cache of unguarded weapons was an easy target for the Germans, who had already experimented with targeting American ships, factories, and piers. Unedited videos of guest interviews and quizzes The explosion damaged the torch of the Statue of Liberty, shown in the background. Police arrested three railroad-company officials on charges of manslaughter, on the assumption that the fires began in two freight cars. Von Rintelen entered the U.S. with huge sums of money and direct orders from Berlin. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. Two hours later, at 2:08 in the morning, a huge explosion rocked the island. The force of the explosion extended for miles from ground zero. [4] Being largely built up from city refuse, it developed a reputation as an unseemly environmental hazard. On July 30, 1916, an explosion at Black Tom Island rocked New York Harbor. While its not thought that he was incredibly successful, he was discovered by the FBI and fled to Mexico. [16] The outer wall of Jersey City's City Hall was cracked and the Brooklyn Bridge was shaken. On Ellis Island, terrified immigrants were evacuated by ferry to the Battery. But writing off the explosion as an accident also downplayed its role in American history, and few remember the explosive event today. Why the explosion? Most people had never heard of that island, they don't even know where it is.". Their destination: Jersey City's Black Tom Island, at the time the largest ammunition depot in America. 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. 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. 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. Theme by ILoveWP.com. Scientists would later assess the magnitude of the blast at 5.5 on todays Richter scale. Because while the statue was built for the torch to be accessed by tourists, its been closed from visitors since 1916. A dozen homes were destroyed and there were several injuries, though thankfully no casualties. Many guards fled, fearing an explosion. Required fields are marked *. The massive blasts obliterated Black Tom Island, the largest munitions depot in the United States, located in New York Harbor and connected by rail bed to Jersey City, New Jersey. [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. It was 1939 and Germany had other plans happening at the time. Survivors quickly evacuated the area around Black Tom Island after the 2:08 a.m. explosion. A plaque in Liberty State Park calls the Black Tom explosion one of the worst acts of terrorism in . The Black Tom explosion did massive damage to the pier. German spies attacked New York on July 30th, 1916. Divers recovered shells lost in the harbor after the explosion. In some ways, it's shocking that the explosion didn't cause more damage. Photo: Wikipedia. Rail Heads Face Arrest in Pier Blast at N.Y. Chicago Daily Tribune, August 1, 1916. The Bureau of Investigation initially concluded the explosion was an accident, but doubts were widespread. Privacy Statement An explosion on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor in the middle of the night could be heard from miles away,. 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. One of those newcomers to America was Count Johann Von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to Washington. In June 1916, Witzke and Jahnke left San Francisco for New York City, where they connected with Kristoff. Hurricane Sandy - October 29, 2012. The New York Times reported that the explosion was initially attributed to negligence by those working on the island. But in the aftermath of the catastrophic explosions on Black Tom Island, the agencies investigating sort of preemptively decided it wasnt the work of foreign saboteurs. The force of the Black Tom explosion was equivalent to a 5.5 magnitude earthquake. This Black Tom Explosion commemorative plaque in Liberty State Park is the only reminder of the incident. 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. The Mandela Effect is when a large group of people share a common memory of something that differs from what is generally accepted to be fact. Witzke was arrested in January 1918 by the U.S. Army after decrypted German cables alerted authorities to his movements; he was later found guilty of espionage. Authorities successfully recovered shells lost in the harbor during the explosion. Copyright 2023 The Internet Says it's True. 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 more information, please see our Despite the enormity of the explosions, only four persons were reported killed. A railway connected the landfill island to shore and it became a key munitions depot during World War I. The Black Tom explosion worked to shift American sentiment against Germany fully. While that incident caused anger, it did not galvanize the American public to action. The Little-Known Story Of The Black Tom Explosion That Rocked New York In 1916. There were four confirmed fatalities in the explosion:[20][1] the barge captain,[21] Jersey City Police Department officer James F. Doherty,[22][21] Lehigh Valley Railroad chief of police Joseph Leyden,[23][24] and ten-week-old infant Arthur Tosson. Barges sank, collapsed warehouses buried freight cars, and eventually the entire pier went under. Seven people perished in the explosion, and over $20 million in damages resulted. 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. 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,. Following the explosion, the Jersey Journal warned of as many as 50 deaths. Theyve likely been up to the crown, which is open to the public, but the public hasnt visited the torch since 1916. The explosion,. Never mind that the U.S. was officially neutral in the conflict at this point. The Statue of Liberty was pelted with shrapnel. They knew a fire had started the chain of events. Shrapnel hit the nearby Statue of Liberty, closing off the arm to future visitors, as noted on a commemorative plaque that remains on the site to this day. Others attempted to fight the fires. Germany. 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? Explosions rocked A second explosion occurred at 2:40 a.m. One of the things that was blamed was the lighting of smudge pots to keep mosquitos away. People as far away as Maryland were awakened by what they thought was an earthquake. People felt the shockwave as far away as Philadelphia and Baltimore. Why can't we go up the Statue of Liberty's torch? By the 1910s, Black Tom Island was a key shipping port. In the early 20th century, enemy attacks on American soil were so rare that many assumed the Black Tom explosion was an accident. Two million tons of war materials packed. Von Rintelen and his ring of helpers was fairly successful in their efforts. According to an article at Firefighter Nation, the blast wave traveled at 24,000 feet per second and tore firefighters from their boots, throwing them in the air. "World War I Intrigue: German Spies in New York! (REBROADCAST of Episode 17) - The Internet Says it's True. The Black Tom Explosion. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. And they couldnt imagine that Germans would have done this. After wiring the facilities with explosives, the trio set small fires in boxcars brimming with TNT and gunpowder and loaded other time-delayed bombs and incendiary devices onto a barge tied to a pier. One thing the authorities initially seemed to agree on was that the explosions werent the work of foreign saboteurs. "Violating the Law of One Price: Should We Make a Federal Case Out of It? Black Tom Cassidy (created October 1976), a Marvel Comics supervillain, an enemy of the X-Men. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/news/the-black-tom-explosion, In 1916, German Terrorists Launched an Attack on American Soil. And what of the Black Tom saboteurs? The incident took place at on Black Tom Island, between New Jersey and Liberty Island on July 30, 1916, at 2:08 am. A circle of U.S. flags complements the plaque, which stands east of the visitors' center. They approached the island and easily snuck past the eight guards on duty, placing explosives and setting small fires all over before hastily leaving. It had 417 cases of detonating fuses. 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. 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." 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. The bottom stained-glass windows have text in Polish to commemorate the explosion in 1916. 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. Germany, under the rule of Hitler, failed to pay up and the settlement was renegotiated in the early 1950s. An explosion that initially looked like an accident, turned out to be an act of sabotage. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Windows were broken as far as 25 miles (40 km) away, including thousands in Lower Manhattan. The event that sparked the ban occurred 102 years ago Monday, on July 30, 1916. One barge contained 50 tons of TNT, and was only moored at Black Tom Island to avoid a $25.00 charge. This explosion was so large, it was heard all the way in Philadelphia. Gilbert King is a contributing writer in history for Smithsonian.com. And not so much as a fence guarded the two million pounds of munitions. Officially, around four people died due to the explosion. LAW CAN'T HALT MUNITIONS Representative Hamill Introduces Bill Giving Cities Power to Bar Explosives. Giveaways and swag The total damage came to an estimated $20 million - a massive sum in 1916 equivalent to more than half a billion dollars today. World War One was raging in Europe. [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. The nearby Statue of Liberty suffered severe shrapnel damage, closing visitor access to the Statues torch for good. October 18, 2006 | by Gotham Gazette Staff. 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. The Little-Known Story Of The Black Tom Explosion That Rocked New York In 1916 Genevieve Carlton 4 weeks ago During World War I, German saboteurs ignited 2 million pounds of munitions on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor, triggering one of the largest explosions to ever occur on American soil. 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. (We recount the entire story in our podcast from 2016 about the Black Tom Explosion.) the New York City region in the early hours of the morning of July 30, 1916. The sinking of the Lusitania occurred over a year earlier. Due to the blockade of Germany by the Royal Navy, however, only the Allied Governments were able to purchase American munitions. 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 exhibit is divided into two sections presenting historical and judicial points of view.