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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. On July 30, 1916, Kaiser Wilhelm's German agents, exploded the largest munitions depot on the east coast, Black Tom Island. The term "Black Tom" originally referred to an island in New York Harbor next to Liberty Island. He wanted to try to buy off some of the people in charge of the storing of ammunition to see if he could get some re-routed to Berlin. The explosion on Black Tom Island, a 25-acre promontory jutting from Jersey City that was built from New Yorkers' garbage, registered an estimated 5.5 on the Richter scale 30 times more . Smaller explosions continued till dawn, but they caused little damage. Anton Dilger was an American who sympathized with Germany after studying there. It starts, You are standing on a site which saw one of the worst acts of sabotage in American history!. It looked as if they all went up in the air. Of the two men he was with, she said, I didnt see where they went, but I think they must be dead.. [4] Being largely built up from city refuse, it developed a reputation as an unseemly environmental hazard. [13] A notable location for one of the first major explosions was around the Johnson Barge No. As far away as Philadelphia and Baltimore, people felt the blast. Three years after the war ended, the United States and Germany formed the quasi-government Mixed Claims Commission (MCC) to investigate claims and negotiate financial compensation for wartime damages to commercial and private property. [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. The Night America First Faced Terror | by Chad Millman - Medium American Passage: This History of Ellis Island by Vincent J. Cannato, HarperCollins, 2009. In this episode, we talk about German Saboteurs and then chat with Author of Branding Democrats, Ken Weber. The Black Tom event was the largest and the deadliest.We know all of this now, but without any sort of unified investigative body in 1916, this info took years to uncover. So the men that were initially arrested were freed. Liberty State ParkFollowing the explosion, the Jersey Journal warned of as many as 50 deaths. Producer Credits And during the great war, there were at least 10 instances of attempted terrorist attacks in America by Germany. JULY 30, 2016, marked the 100th anniversary of the Black Tom explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey. "The shock was so great that I was thrown off my chair into the hall and the broken glass fell in showers upon me as I lay on the floor," Fitzpatrick said, according to the Natural Hazards Center. A dozen homes were destroyed and there were several injuries, though thankfully no casualties. The Black Tom explosion did massive damage to the pier. Every episode ends by playing a gameshow-style quiz game with a celebrity guest. [14], Fragments from the explosion traveled long distances: some lodged in the Statue of Liberty, and other fragments lodged in the clock tower of The Jersey Journal building in Journal Square more than 1 mile (1.6km) away, stopping the clock at 2:12am. 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. But it took years for investigators to piece together the evidence against the Germans in the bombing. Gilbert King One Mandela Effect thats related to this story is about the Statue of Liberty. [47], The Black Tom explosion resulted in the establishment of domestic intelligence agencies for the United States. In the meantime, landfill projects eventually incorporated Black Tom Island into Liberty State Park. 17. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Sabotage at Black Tom: Imperial Germany's Secret War in America, 1914-1917 Includes text, notes, and inset of northern portion . 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. 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. The CIA wouldnt be established until after World War II. 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]. 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. One of his master spies was Franz Von Rintelen, who had a pencil bomb designed for his use. The Untold Story Of Espionage In New Jersey Scientists would later assess the magnitude of the blast at 5.5 on todays Richter scale. A 1mi (1.6km)-long pier on the island housed a depot and warehouses for the National Dock and Storage Company. So if you ever run across someone who claims theyve been up to the Statue of Libertys torch, now you know why they havent. Black Tom Explosion: German Sabotage on US Soil During WWI and our People felt the shockwave as far away as Philadelphia and Baltimore. Nearer to Black Tom Island, blackened, twisted metal and debris covered an area several city blocks wide. How Eyewitnesses Survived Explosion 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. Required fields are marked *. It was 1939 and Germany had other plans happening at the time. Explosion. In 1916, German Terrorists Launched an Attack on American Soil 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. According to historians, the Germans sabotaged the Lehigh Valley munitions depot in order to stop deliveries being made to the British who had blockaded the Germans in Europe. Some guards on the island sent for the Jersey City Fire Department, but others fled as quickly as they could, and for good reason: Black Tom was a major munitions depot, with several large powder piers. That night, Johnson Barge No. Authorities assess the damage after the Black Tom explosion, which left the munitions depot in tatters. The Black Tom Explosion Memorial - Jersey City, New Jersey - Atlas Obscura Survivors quickly evacuated the area around Black Tom Island after the 2:08 a.m. explosion. ", "Men of Secrets: Teddy Roosevelt and Winston Churchill", "Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. Aluminum powder explosion, advanced by Patrick O'Sullivan. Today In History: The Black Tom Explosion Rocked NY Harbor 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