From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository. Captain Franz von Rintelen had arrived in the U.S. the previous year. Anton Dilger was an American who sympathized with Germany after studying there. A circle of U.S. flags complements the plaque, which stands east of the visitors' center. 17, which contained 50 tons of TNT and 417 cases of detonating fuses. The island was artificial, created by land fill around a rock of the same name, which had been a local hazard to navigation. 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. Munition barges, freight cars, and warehouses were all damaged during the Black Tom explosion. Some simply ran away, thinking there was no way these fires were going to be contained. The German Christmas Pickle: Tradition or Marketing? 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. In this episode, we talk about German Saboteurs and then chat with Author of "Branding Democrats," Ken Weber. FATCO sells organic & responsibly-made tallow-based skincare products. Divers recovered munitions from New York Harbor after the explosion. To Boldly Go: How Spacemen Poo and Pee (REBROADCAST of Episode 5) - The Internet Says it's True, The Nebraska Miracle: The West End Baptist Church Explosion. One Mandela Effect thats related to this story is about the Statue of Liberty. But the stock of US supplies and financial support were offered to the Allies, and Great Britain welcomed the help. And no one anticipated that the munitions depot might become the target of enemy agents. Nearly three years after this storm, the state is still rebuilding. [Week of July 28th, 1916] (https://youtu.be/lu9VPY2DHPk). Germany. After midnight small fires started on some of the piers and then began to grow. The Black Tom explosion worked to shift American sentiment against Germany fully. [47], The Black Tom explosion resulted in the establishment of domestic intelligence agencies for the United States. 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. [6] By 1880, the island was transformed into a 25-acre (10ha) promontory,[7] and a causeway and railroad had been built to connect it with the mainland to use as a shipping depot. One of the things that was blamed was the lighting of smudge pots to keep mosquitos away. [15] The explosion was the equivalent of an earthquake measuring between 5.0 and 5.5 on the Richter scale[12] and was felt as far away as Philadelphia. 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 awaken half the east coast, changing history. The area was targeted by WW1 saboteurs because it was the location of a major munitions depot, containing tons . 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. So was Cornelius Leyden, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Chief of Police. Congress immediately passed the Espionage Act, which outlawed a variety of crimes associated with German agents; passed several other wartime laws; then the following year passed the Sabotage Act. [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. Along with two German saboteurs, Lothar Witzke and Kurt Jahnke, Kristoff is believed to have set the incendiary devices that caused the mayhem on Black Tom. 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. On July 30, 1916, Kaiser Wilhelm's German agents, exploded the largest munitions depot on the east coast, Black Tom Island. "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.". While its not thought that he was incredibly successful, he was discovered by the FBI and fled to Mexico. He served for years as an intelligence agent for the Nazi regime and was executed by the Soviets after his capture in 1945. Books: The Detonators: The Secret Plot to Destroy America and an Epic Hunt for Justice by Chad Millman, Little, Brown and Company, 2006. [26] Suspicion at the time fell solely upon suspected German intelligence operatives Kurt Jahnke and Lothar Witzke, who are still judged as legally responsible. He was a German Naval Intelligence officer and a master spy. [13] The damage to the Statue of Liberty was estimated to be $100,000 (equivalent to about $2,490,000 in 2021), and included damage to the skirt and torch.[19]. It took years for investigators to determine that Germany was actually responsible for the explosion, a conclusion that had been written off in the immediate aftermath. Spotting the smoke, guards eventually ran to call the fire department. In the early 20th century, enemy attacks on American soil were so rare that many assumed the Black Tom explosion was an accident. 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. [25] Immigrants being processed at Ellis Island had to be evacuated to Lower Manhattan. [1][2] This incident, which happened prior to U.S. entry into World War I, also damaged the Statue of Liberty. It was 1939 and Germany had other plans happening at the time. This disambiguation . [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. 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. Firefighters battled the flames well into the next day after the massive explosion. Despite the enormity of the explosions, only four persons were reported killed. Others attempted to fight the fires and eventually called the Jersey City Fire Department. They knew a fire had started the chain of events. For instance, Germany had sponsored a program the previous year to sabotage the American Cattle Industry. Already packed barges sat tied to piers, ready to cross the Atlantic. How successful were they? [32] Von Rintelen used many resources at his disposal, including a large amount of money. ", "Men of Secrets: Teddy Roosevelt and Winston Churchill", "Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. A third spy simply walked into the munitions depot, his pockets filled with cigar-shaped bombs. That money continued to be paid until 1979, 63 years after the attack. Due to the blockade of Germany by the Royal Navy, however, only the Allied Governments were able to purchase American munitions. US GovernmentThe next day, a sign warning of fire danger remained in the wreckage left by the explosion. The Mixed Claims Commission declared in 1939 that Imperial Germany had been responsible and awarded $50 million (the largest claim) in damages, which Nazi Germany refused to pay. Some lodged in the Statue of Liberty, damaging her skirt and torch. In Manhattan, hundreds of shops experienced broken windows because of the blast. The nearby Statue of Liberty suffered severe shrapnel damage, closing visitor access to the Statues torch for good. Nearly everyone in Manhattan and Jersey City was jolted awake, and many were thrown from their beds. It tossed Jersey City residents from their beds. That night, two German spies rowed across New York Harbor, their boat heavy with dynamite. With generous cash bribes, Von Rintelen had little problem gaining access to pierswhich is how Michael Kristoff, a Slovak immigrant living in Bayonne, New Jersey, is believed to have gotten to the Black Tom munitions depot in July of 1916. The Black Tom explosion destroying 2 million pounds of ammunition was an example of _____ sabotage. 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 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. Black Tom Explosion Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security, by Adrienne Wilmoth Lerner. In addition to scholarly publications with top presses, she has written for Atlas Obscura and Ranker. As for the other boats Raceta had seen earlier in the night, he said, "It looked as if they all went up in the air. 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. The Black Tom explosion (1916) The best-known of the German attacks occurred at Black Tom Island (actually a pier) in what is now Liberty State Park in Jersey City, early on the morning of July 30 . On July 30, 1916, at just after 2 in the morning, a massive explosion ripped apart the island of Black Tom on the shoreline near Jersey City, sending a shockwave through the region and thousands of pounds of wartime shrapnel into the neighboring Ellis Island and Bedloe's Island (home to the Statue of Liberty). Ever wonder why visitors aren't allowed inside the Statue of Libertys torch? An explosion on Black Tom Island in New York Harbor in the middle of the night could be heard from miles away,. Boats and barges of all sizes were destroyed during the attack. The island received its name from a local legend of an African American resident named . 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. James Doherty, a police officer from Jersey City, was killed in the explosion. The CIA wouldnt be established until after World War II. Nearby Ellis Island had to be evacuated after the explosion, which also damaged the Statue of Liberty. Just after 2:00 am, slow burning pencil bombs planted by the German agents ignited an explosion so colossal it registered 5.5 on. Many guards fled, fearing an explosion. ", Sabotage at Black Tom - Imperial Germany's Secret War in America, 1914-1917, "Explosion at Liberty! The devastating explosion on Black Tom was carried out by three men, one of whom worked at the depot. Central Intelligence Agency https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article02.html. [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. Some guards fled, fearing an explosion. The blast was believed by some to be the work of the same German operatives responsible for the numerous explosions and fires that had bedeviled ships and factories involved in the munitions trade for more than a year. Police officers stood outside stores with broken windows following the explosion to prevent looting. This was the Black Tom explosion.

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