Black Tom explosion

{{Short description|1916 sabotage and munitions explosion in New York Harbor}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox civilian attack | title = Black Tom explosion | partof = United States entry into World War I | image = Pier, Jersey City after munitions explosion (LOC) (14687235026) (cropped).jpg | caption = Black Tom pier shortly after the explosion | location = Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. | coordinates = {{coord|40|41|32|N|74|03|20|W|region:US-NJ_type:event_scale:5000|display=inline,title}} | date = July 30, 1916 | time = 2:08:00 a.m. | timezone = EST; GMT−5 | type = Sabotage, state-sponsored terrorism | fatalities = 7 | injuries = >100 | perps = Imperial German agents: * Kurt Jahnke * Lothar Witzke * Michael Kristoff (alleged) | motive = Deny munitions to Allied powers }}

The '''Black Tom explosion''' was an act of arson by field agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence of the German Empire to destroy U.S.-made munitions awaiting shipment to the Allies during World War I. The explosions occurred on July 30, 1916, in New York Harbor, killing at least 7 people and wounding hundreds more.<ref>{{cite web |title=Enemy Activities – Destruction by Enemy in U.S. – Enemy operations in the U.S |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/31478056 |website=National Archives Catalog |series=Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs |publisher=National Archives |access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref> It also caused damage of military goods worth some $20,000,000 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|20|1916|r=-1}}}} million in {{inflation/year|US}} dollars).<ref name="fbi.gov">{{cite web|date = July 30, 2004|url = https://www.fbi.gov/page2/july04/blacktom073004.htm|title = A Byte out of FBI history|publisher = Federal Bureau of Investigation|access-date = July 5, 2009|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090715040912/http://www.fbi.gov/page2/july04/blacktom073004.htm|archive-date = July 15, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-01|title=Long: Terrorism's 100th anniversary {{!}} Commentary {{!}} roanoke.com|url=https://roanoke.com/opinion/columns_and_blogs/columns/john_long/long-terrorism-s-th-anniversary/article_4d01bca1-e61e-575c-ad64-41c592e55c63.html|access-date=2021-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501113517/https://roanoke.com/opinion/columns_and_blogs/columns/john_long/long-terrorism-s-th-anniversary/article_4d01bca1-e61e-575c-ad64-41c592e55c63.html|archive-date=May 1, 2021}}</ref> This incident, which happened before U.S. entry into World War I, also damaged the Statue of Liberty.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|author=Warner|first=Michael|date=2007-04-14|title=The Kaiser Sows Destruction: Protecting the Homeland the First Time Around|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article02.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613110404/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article02.html|archive-date=2007-06-13|access-date=2021-09-30|website=Wayback Machine}}</ref> It is one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions in history.

== Black Tom Island == thumb|alt=colour map|Black Tom Island, lying off Jersey City, 1915 The term "Black Tom" originally referred to an island in New York Harbor next to Liberty Island, named for a "dark-skinned" fisherman who inhabited the island for many years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Black Tom Explosion |url=https://njcu.libguides.com/blacktom |website=Jersey City Past and Present |publisher=New Jersey City University |access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref> The island was artificial, created by land fill around a rock of the same name, which had been a local hazard to navigation.<ref name="ENR">{{cite journal|title=Providing Better Terminal Facilities for New York|journal=Engineering News Record|date=July 31, 1880|page=258|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b8hBAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA258|access-date=April 26, 2017}}</ref> Being largely built from city refuse, it developed a reputation as an unseemly environmental hazard.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1869-07-27|title=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.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1869/07/27/archives/where-street-refuse-goes-the-island-of-black-tom-in-newyork-bayhow.html|access-date=2020-07-28|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728185755/https://www.nytimes.com/1869/07/27/archives/where-street-refuse-goes-the-island-of-black-tom-in-newyork-bayhow.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The island was the site of two different explosions. The first occurred on January 26, 1875, when an accidental explosion in a powder factory killed four people.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1875-01-17|title=A Terrible Explosion.; a Powder Factory Completely Destroyed Four Men Instantly killed|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1875/01/17/archives/a-terrible-explosion-a-powder-factory-completely-destroyed-four-men.html|access-date=2020-07-28|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728174851/https://www.nytimes.com/1875/01/17/archives/a-terrible-explosion-a-powder-factory-completely-destroyed-four-men.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The more famous and deadly explosion occurred on July 30, 1916. By 1880, the island was transformed into a {{convert|25|acre|adj=on}} promontory,<ref>Roberts, Russell. [https://books.google.com/books?id=JP0wBwAAQBAJ&dq=The%20Black%20Tom%20promontory&pg=PT122 ''Rediscover the Hidden New Jersey'']. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2015.</ref> and a causeway and railroad had been built to connect it with the mainland to use as a shipping depot.<ref>{{Cite news | title = The Point of Rocks Line: More about the Little Railroad | newspaper = New York Times | date = September 8, 1879 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1879/09/08/81762152.pdf | access-date = June 14, 2018 | archive-date = September 22, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200922161405/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1879/09/08/81762152.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> 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. A {{cvt|1|mi|km}}-long pier on the island housed a depot and warehouses for the National Dock and Storage Company. Black Tom Island is now part of Liberty State Park.

Black Tom was a major munitions depot for the northeastern United States. Until April 6, 1917, the United States was neutral in respect to World War I and its munitions companies earlier in the war could sell to any buyer. Due to the Royal Navy's blockade of Germany, however, only Allied governments could purchase American munitions. As a result, Imperial Germany sent spies to the United States to disrupt by any means necessary the production and delivery of war munitions intended to kill German soldiers on the battlefields of the Great War.<ref>{{cite magazine|author1=H. R. Balkhage|author2=A. A. Hahling|url=http://www.getnj.com/jchist/blacktoma.shtm|title=The Black Tom Explosion|magazine=The American Legion Magazine|date=August 1964}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Explosion == thumb|Burning barges cut loose from the docks at Black Tom, NJ following the 1916 explosion.thumb|right|View of the Lehigh Valley pier after the explosion. thumb|300px|Wrecked warehouses and scattered debris after the explosion. On the night of the Black Tom explosion, July 30, 1916, about {{convert|2000000|lb|t}} of small arms and artillery ammunition were stored at the depot in freight cars and on barges, including {{convert|100000|lb|t}} of TNT on Johnson Barge No. 17.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hx7OAAAAMAAJ&dq=Chief+of+police+cornelius+leyden&pg=PA73 |title=Safety Engineering |date=1916 |publisher=A. H. Best Co. |language=en |access-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216000947/https://books.google.com/books?id=Hx7OAAAAMAAJ&dq=Chief+of+police+cornelius+leyden&pg=PA73 |url-status=live }}</ref> All were waiting to be shipped to Russia.<ref name="Rielage">{{Cite book |last=Rielage |first=Dale C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0XauRj69-gsC&pg=PA71 |title=Russian Supply Efforts in America During the First World War |date=2002 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-1337-9 |page=71 |language=en |access-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104235143/https://books.google.com/books?id=0XauRj69-gsC&pg=PA71#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Jersey City's Commissioner of Public Safety, Frank Hague, later said he had been told the barge was "tied up at Black Tom to avoid a twenty-five dollar charge".<ref name="state.nj" />

After midnight, a series of small fires were discovered on the pier. Some guards fled, fearing an explosion. Others attempted to fight the fires and eventually called the Jersey City Fire Department. At 2:08 am, the first and largest of the explosions took place. Around 2:40 am, the second and smaller explosion occurred.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/nyregion/an-attack-that-turned-out-to-be-german-terrorism-has-a-modest-legacy-100-years-later.html|title=An Attack That Turned Out to Be German Terrorism Has a Modest Legacy 100 Years Later|last=Roberts|first=Sam|date=July 24, 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 8, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408001440/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/nyregion/an-attack-that-turned-out-to-be-german-terrorism-has-a-modest-legacy-100-years-later.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A notable location for one of the first major explosions was around the Johnson Barge No. 17, which contained 50 tons of TNT and 417 cases of detonating fuses.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.firerescuemagazine.com/articles/print/volume-11/issue-7/command-and-leadership/the-black-tom-explosion.html|title=The Black Tom Explosion|website=www.firerescuemagazine.com|access-date=May 9, 2019|archive-date=April 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407203222/https://www.firerescuemagazine.com/articles/print/volume-11/issue-7/command-and-leadership/the-black-tom-explosion.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Fragments from the explosion traveled long distances: some lodged in the Statue of Liberty, and others in the clock tower of ''The Jersey Journal'' building in Journal Square over {{convert|1|mi|km}} away, stopping the clock at 2:12 am.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Robinson|first=Kathleen|date=2014-05-02|title=Looking Back – Black Tom railroad yard – NFPA Journal|url=https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications/NFPA-Journal/2014/May-June-2014/News-and-Analysis/Looking-Back|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611051132/https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications/NFPA-Journal/2014/May-June-2014/News-and-Analysis/Looking-Back|archive-date=2016-06-11|access-date=2021-09-30|website=Wayback Machine}}</ref> The explosion was the equivalent of an earthquake measuring between 5.0 and 5.5 on the Richter scale<ref name="state.nj">{{cite web|date = January 26, 2005|url = http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/liberty_state_park/liberty_blacktomexplosion.html|title = Black Tom Explosion (1916)|publisher = state.nj.gov|access-date = July 5, 2009|archive-date = December 4, 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221204035209/https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/liberty_state_park/liberty_blacktomexplosion.html|url-status = live}}</ref> and was felt as far away as Philadelphia. Windows were broken as far as {{convert|25|mi}} away, including thousands in Lower Manhattan. Some window panes in Times Square were shattered. The stained glass windows in St. Patrick's Church were destroyed.<ref>{{cite book|last=Capo|first=Fran|title=It happened in New Jersey|year=2004|publisher=Twodot|location=Guilford, Conn.|isbn=0-7627-2358-0|page=106|chapter=Terrorist Attack Blamed on Mosquitoes}}</ref> The outer wall of Jersey City's City Hall was cracked and the Brooklyn Bridge was shaken. People as far away as Maryland were awakened by what they thought was an earthquake.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/nyregion/on-the-map-explosion-by-the-hudson-foreign-espionage-local-fear-1916.html| title=On the Map; Explosion by the Hudson, Foreign Espionage, Local Fear: 1916| newspaper=The New York Times| date=September 23, 2001| last1=Nash| first1=Margo| access-date=January 30, 2018| archive-date=January 30, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130013554/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/nyregion/on-the-map-explosion-by-the-hudson-foreign-espionage-local-fear-1916.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mappen |first1=Mark |title=Jerseyana |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/14/nyregion/jerseyana.html |access-date=19 November 2022 |newspaper=New York Times |date=July 14, 1991 |archive-date=November 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119022630/https://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/14/nyregion/jerseyana.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Property damage from the attack was estimated at {{US$|20000000|1916|long=no|round=-6|about=yes}}. On the island, the explosion destroyed over one hundred railroad cars, thirteen warehouses, and left a {{convert|375|by|175|ft|m|adj=on|-1}} crater at its source.<ref name=":1" /> The damage to the Statue of Liberty was estimated to be {{US$|100000|1916|long=no|round=-4|about=yes}}, and included damage to the skirt and torch.<ref name="mcall">{{cite web|last=Warner|first=Frank|date=2009-07-04|title=When Liberty trembled|url=https://www.mcall.com/2009/07/04/when-liberty-trembled-statues-torch-has-been-closed-since-1916-sabotage-at-lehigh-valley-railroad-pier/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112191426/http://articles.mcall.com/2009-07-04/news/4400845_1_statue-liberty-national-monument-torch|archive-date=2013-11-12|access-date=2021-09-30|work=Wayback Machine|publisher=The Morning Call}}</ref>

There were several reported fatalities in the explosion:<ref>{{cite web |title=Enemy Activities – Destruction by Enemy in U.S. – Enemy operations in the U.S |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/31478056 |website=National Archives Catalog |series=Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs |publisher=National Archives |access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref><ref name="fbi.gov"/> the barge captain,<ref name="njcu" /> Jersey City Police Department officer James F. Doherty,<ref>{{cite web|year = 2009|url = http://www.odmp.org/officer/4153-patrolman-james-f.-doherty|title = The Officer Down Memorial Page Remembers|publisher = The Officer Down Memorial Page|access-date = July 5, 2009|archive-date = May 17, 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090517063919/http://www.odmp.org/officer/4153-patrolman-james-f.-doherty|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="njcu">{{cite web|year = 2009|url = http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/B_Pages/Black_Tom_Explosion.htm|title = Black Tom Explosion|publisher = New Jersey City University|access-date = July 5, 2009|last = Carmela Karnoutsos|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101205013226/http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/pages/b_pages/black_tom_explosion.htm|archive-date = December 5, 2010|url-status = dead}}</ref> Lehigh Valley Railroad chief of police Joseph Leyden,<ref>{{cite web|year = 2009|url = http://www.odmp.org/officer/17457-chief-of-police-cornelius-joseph-leyden|title = The Officer Down Memorial Page Remembers|publisher = The Officer Down Memorial Page|access-date = July 5, 2009|archive-date = May 17, 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090517063907/http://www.odmp.org/officer/17457-chief-of-police-cornelius-joseph-leyden|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hx7OAAAAMAAJ&q=Chief+of+police+cornelius+leyden&pg=PA73|title=Safety Engineering|date=July 25, 2017|publisher=A. H. Best Co.|via=Google Books|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-date=January 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104235216/https://books.google.com/books?id=Hx7OAAAAMAAJ&q=Chief+of+police+cornelius+leyden&pg=PA73#v=snippet&q=Chief%20of%20police%20cornelius%20leyden&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> and ten-week-old infant Arthur Tosson. One contemporary newspaper report estimated as many as seven deaths in the attack.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19160731&id=fk9XAAAAIBAJ&pg=5781,1786188&hl=en|title=Eugene Register-Guard|via=Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418004329/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19160731&id=fk9XAAAAIBAJ&pg=5781,1786188&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref> Immigrants being processed at Ellis Island had to be evacuated to Manhattan Island.{{citation needed|date = December 2024}}

== Investigation == thumb|Newspaper headline about the Black Tom explosion. Soon after the explosion, the police questioned two watchmen who had lit smudge pots to keep away mosquitoes but soon determined that the smudge pots did not cause the fire and that the blast was likely an accident.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sabotage-in-new-york-harbor-123968672/|title=Sabotage in New York Harbor|last=King|first=Gilbert|work=Smithsonian|access-date=January 22, 2018|archive-date=January 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122235058/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sabotage-in-new-york-harbor-123968672/|url-status=live}}</ref> President Wilson remarked that the event was "a regrettable incident at a private railroad terminal",<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |url=https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2016/07/29/the-terror-attack-on-nj-that-america-forgot/92739322/ |title=The terror attack on N.J. that America forgot |access-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416025826/https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2016/07/29/the-terror-attack-on-nj-that-america-forgot/92739322/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AbGGFQ19t9AC&pg=PT197 |title=New York at War – Four Centuries of Combat, Fear, and Intrigue in Gotham |isbn=978-0-465-02970-9 |access-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104235143/https://books.google.com/books?id=AbGGFQ19t9AC&pg=PT197#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live |last1=Jaffe |first1=Steven H. |date=April 10, 2012 |publisher=Basic Books }}</ref> and Edgar E. Clark of the Interstate Commerce Commission was dispatched to investigate.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/08/05/archives/clark-to-fix-blame-for-big-explosion-wilson-sends-commerce.html |title=CLARK TO FIX BLAME FOR BIG EXPLOSION; Wilson Sends Commerce Commissioner Here to Continue Investigation. LAW CAN'T HALT MUNITIONS Representative Hamill Introduces Bill Giving Cities Power to Bar Explosives. |website=The New York Times |date=August 5, 1916 |access-date=March 19, 2021 |archive-date=April 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418022105/https://www.nytimes.com/1916/08/05/archives/clark-to-fix-blame-for-big-explosion-wilson-sends-commerce.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Soon afterward, Slovak immigrant Michael Kristoff was suspected,<ref>{{Cite web| url=http://www.historynet.com/world-war-i-intrigue-german-spies-in-new-york.htm| title=World War I Intrigue: German Spies in New York!| date=February 27, 2013| access-date=January 29, 2018| archive-date=January 29, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129195801/http://www.historynet.com/world-war-i-intrigue-german-spies-in-new-york.htm| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Carmela Karnoutsos. [http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/B_Pages/Black_Tom_Explosion.htm Black Tom Explosion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205013226/http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/pages/b_pages/black_tom_explosion.htm |date=December 5, 2010 }}, ''New Jersey State University''</ref> Kristoff later served in the United States Army in World War I, but admitted to working for German agents (transporting suitcases) in 1915 and 1916 while the U.S. was still neutral. According to Kristoff, two guards at Black Tom were German agents.{{citation needed|date = February 2019}}

It is likely{{According to whom|date=February 2019}} that the bombing involved some techniques developed by German agents working for Ambassador Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, who acted covertly as a spymaster while using 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. {{ill|Walter Scheele|de}}.<ref name="getnj">{{cite web|date = August 1964|url = http://www.getnj.com/jchist/blacktoma.shtml|title = The Black Tom Explosion|work = The American Legion Magazine|access-date = July 5, 2009|last = H. R. Balkhage and A. A. Hahling|archive-date = May 11, 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090511114901/http://www.getnj.com/jchist/blacktoma.shtml|url-status = live}}</ref> Von Rintelen used many resources at his disposal, including a large amount of money.<ref name=":3" /> Von Rintelen used these resources to make generous cash bribes, one was notably given to Michael Kristoff in exchange for access to the pier.<ref name=":3" /> German intelligence operatives Kurt Jahnke and Lothar Witzke were then suspected, and are still judged as responsible legally.<ref>Witcover, Jules. ''Sabotage at Black Tom: Imperial Germany's Secret War in America, 1914–1917''. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1989.</ref><ref>''World War I Encyclopedia''. Volume 4 S–Z. Edited by Spencer Tucker, p. 1033.</ref> It is also believed that Kristoff, a 23-year-old Austrian immigrant who had served in the U.S. Army, was responsible for planting and initiating the incendiary devices that caused the explosions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sabotage-in-new-york-harbor-123968672/|title=Sabotage in New York Harbor|last=King|first=Gilbert|website=Smithsonian|access-date=May 9, 2019|archive-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421193219/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sabotage-in-new-york-harbor-123968672/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The United States did not have an established national intelligence service, other than diplomats and a few military and naval attaches, making the investigation difficult. Without a formal intelligence service, the United States had only rudimentary communications security and no federal laws forbidding espionage or sabotage except during wartime,<ref name=":0"/> making the associations with the saboteurs and accomplices almost impossible to track.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

== Aftermath == This attack was one of many during the German sabotage campaign against the neutral United States, and is notable for its contribution to the shift of public opinion against Germany, which eventually resulted in American approval for participating in World War I.<ref name=":0" />

The Russian government<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mooney|first=Eugene F.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8IfBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA39|title=Foreign Seizures: Sabbatino and the Act of State Doctrine|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|year=2014|isbn=978-0-8131-6382-6|pages=39–40|language=en|access-date=July 17, 2020|archive-date=January 4, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104235216/https://books.google.com/books?id=O8IfBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA39#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> sued the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company operating the Black Tom Terminal on grounds that lax security (no entrance gate existed and the territory was unlit)<ref>Landau, Henry, Capt. [https://books.google.com/books?id=3MQNAwAAQBAJ&dq=The%20Black%20Tom%20promontory&pg=PA78 ''The Enemy Within: The Inside Story of German Sabotage in America''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104235144/https://books.google.com/books?id=3MQNAwAAQBAJ&dq=The%20Black%20Tom%20promontory&pg=PA78#v=onepage&q=The%20Black%20Tom%20promontory&f=false |date=January 4, 2024 }}. New York: Putnam, 1937, pp. 78–80.</ref> permitted the loss of their ammunition and argued that due to the failure to deliver them the manufacturer was obliged by the contract to replace them.<ref name="Rielage" />

After the war, the Lehigh Valley Railroad, advised by John J. McCloy, sought damages from Germany under the Treaty of Berlin before the German-American Mixed Claims Commission. The Mixed Claims Commission declared in 1939 that Imperial Germany was responsible and awarded $50 million (the largest claim) in damages, which Nazi Germany refused to pay.<ref>[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sabotage-in-new-york-harbor-123968672/ Sabotage in New York Harbor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624230903/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sabotage-in-new-york-harbor-123968672/ |date=June 24, 2023 }}, ''Smithsonian.com''</ref> The issue was finally settled in 1953 for $95 million (interest included) with the Federal Republic of Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2010-06-07|title=The Kaiser Sows Destruction – Central Intelligence Agency|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol46no1/html/v46i1a02p.htm|url-status=dead|access-date=2021-10-22|website=Wayback Machine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607070146/https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol46no1/html/v46i1a02p.htm|archive-date=June 7, 2010}}</ref> The final payment was made in 1979.<ref>Burkhard Jähnicke. ''Washington und Berlin zwischen den Kriegen: Die Mixed Claims Commission in den transatlantischen Beziehungen.'' Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2003, p. 240. {{ISBN|978-3832900564}}</ref>

The Statue of Liberty's torch was closed to the public after the explosion, due to structural damage.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions – Statue Of Liberty National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/stli/faqs.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060902055753/http://www.nps.gov/stli/faqs.htm|archive-date=2006-09-02|access-date=2021-10-22|website=Wayback Machine}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-01|title=Long: Terrorism's 100th anniversary {{!}} Commentary {{!}} roanoke.com|url=https://roanoke.com/opinion/columns_and_blogs/columns/john_long/long-terrorism-s-th-anniversary/article_4d01bca1-e61e-575c-ad64-41c592e55c63.html|access-date=2021-12-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501113517/https://roanoke.com/opinion/columns_and_blogs/columns/john_long/long-terrorism-s-th-anniversary/article_4d01bca1-e61e-575c-ad64-41c592e55c63.html |archive-date=May 1, 2021 }}</ref> Access was not opened even after the 1984–1986 restoration which included repairs to the arm and installation of a new gold-plated copper torch.<ref>Nina Ruggiero. [http://www.amny.com/lifestyle/why-can-t-we-go-up-the-statue-of-liberty-s-torch-1.7320932 Why can't we go up the Statue of Liberty's torch?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170608100751/http://www.amny.com/lifestyle/why-can-t-we-go-up-the-statue-of-liberty-s-torch-1.7320932 |date=June 8, 2017 }} ''amNewYork'', October 28, 2016.</ref>

Kurt Jahnke escaped capture. He later served as an Abwehr agent during World War II. Jahnke worked as intelligence advisor to Walter Schellenberg. He and his wife were captured by Soviet SMERSH agents in April 1945 and interrogated. In 1950, Jahnke was put on trial as a spy, found guilty, and executed the same day.<ref>Reinhard R. Doerries: ''Tracing Kurt Jahnke: Aspects of the Study of German Intelligence''. In: George O. Kent (Hrsg.): ''Historians and Archivists''. (Fairfax, VA, 1991), 27–44.</ref>

Witzke was arrested at the Mexican border on February 1, 1918, near Nogales, Arizona. U.S officials did not prosecute him for the bombing but rather as a spy. A military court at Fort Sam Houston found him guilty of espionage and sentenced him to death by hanging. While in custody, he tried to escape twice and succeeded once, but was recaptured the same day. On November 2, 1918, Witzke's death sentence was approved by the Department Commander. However, he was not executed because of the November Armistice. In May 1920, President Woodrow Wilson commuted Witzke's sentence to life in prison. In September 1923, Witzke, as a result of heroic conduct in prison and pressure for his release by the Weimar Republic, was pardoned by President Calvin Coolidge, and deported to Germany. Upon his arrival, Witzke was awarded the Iron Cross, First and Second Class, by the Reichswehr. Witzke later joined the Abwehr, and after World War II, lived in Hamburg. He was a monarchist who represented the German Party in the Hamburg Parliament from 1949 to 1952. Witzke died in 1961.{{citation needed|date = December 2024}}

Kristoff was arrested by the Jersey City police on suspicion of involvement in the blast, but later released due to a lack of evidence. Over the next several years, he drifted in and out of prison for various crimes. Kristoff died of tuberculosis in 1928.<ref>{{Cite web |title=INTEL - Black Tom Island Explodes |url=https://www.intelligence.gov/evolution-of-espionage/world-war-1/sabotage-subterfuge-and-war/black-tom-island-explodes |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=www.intelligence.gov |archive-date=August 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822172957/https://www.intelligence.gov/evolution-of-espionage/world-war-1/sabotage-subterfuge-and-war/black-tom-island-explodes |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Legacy == The Black Tom explosion resulted in the establishment of domestic intelligence agencies for the United States.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://hazards.colorado.edu/article/100-years-of-terror-the-black-tom-explosion-and-the-birth-of-u-s-intelligence-services-1|title=100 Years of Terror|last=Sabella|first=Elke Weesjes|website=hazards.colorado.edu|access-date=May 9, 2019|archive-date=April 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407203225/https://hazards.colorado.edu/article/100-years-of-terror-the-black-tom-explosion-and-the-birth-of-u-s-intelligence-services-1|url-status=live}}</ref> Then-Police Commissioner of New York Arthur Woods argued, "The lessons to America are clear as day. We must not again be caught napping with no adequate national intelligence organization. The several federal bureaus should be welded into one and that one should be eternally and comprehensively vigilant."<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Engel|first1=Charles|last2=Rogers|first2=John|date=July 1999|title=Violating the Law of One Price: Should We Make a Federal Case Out of It?|location=Cambridge, MA|doi=10.3386/w7242|doi-access=free}}</ref> The explosion also played a role in how future presidents responded to military conflict. President Franklin D. Roosevelt used the Black Tom explosion as part of his rationale for the internment of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.<ref name=":5"/> In an interview with Jules Witcover, McCloy noted that as assistant secretary of the navy for President Wilson, Roosevelt "knew all about Black Tom". At the time President Roosevelt said to him: "We don't want any more Black Toms".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=y9xmAAAAMAAJ Sabotage at Black Tom – Imperial Germany's Secret War in America, 1914–1917] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104235144/https://books.google.com/books?id=y9xmAAAAMAAJ |date=January 4, 2024 }}, p. 311, by Jules Witcover</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190329233418/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/29/nyregion/about-books.html "About Books"], Oct. 29, 1989, New York Times</ref>

The incident also influenced public safety legislation.<ref name=":4"/> The sabotage techniques used by Germany, and the United States' declaration of war on Germany, resulted in the creation of the Espionage Act, which passed by Congress in late 1917.<ref name=":0"/> Landfill projects later made Black Tom Island part of the mainland, and it was incorporated into Liberty State Park.<ref name=":6" /> The former Black Tom Island is at the end of Morris Pesin Drive in the southeastern corner of the park, where a plaque marks the spot of the explosion. A circle of U.S. flags complements the plaque, which stands east of the visitors' facility.

The inscription on the plaque reads: <blockquote> '''Explosion at Liberty!'''

On July 30, 1916 the Black Tom munitions depot exploded rocking New York Harbor and sending residents tumbling from their beds.

The noise of the explosion was heard as far away as Maryland and Connecticut. On Ellis Island, terrified immigrants were evacuated by ferry to the Battery. Shrapnel pierced the Statue of Liberty (the arm of the Statue was closed to visitors after this). Property damage was estimated at $20 million. It is not known how many died.

Why the explosion? Was it an accident or planned? 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.

You are walking on a site which saw one of the worse [sic] acts of terrorism in American history.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Explosion at Liberty! Historical Marker|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=126348|access-date=2021-12-17|website=www.hmdb.org|language=en|archive-date=December 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217134224/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=126348|url-status=live}}</ref> </blockquote>

A stained-glass window at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic church memorialized the victims of the attack.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=July 30, 2006 | last=Pyle | first=Richard | title=1916 Black Tom Blast Anniversary Observed | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/30/AR2006073000267.html | access-date=February 1, 2011 | archive-date=November 11, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111225857/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/30/AR2006073000267.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Gallery"> File:StatueOfLibertyFromBlackTomIslandToday.jpg|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. File:ExplosionAtLibertyPlaque.jpg|Commemorative plaque File:Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic church in Jersey City - Black Tom explosion commemorative stained glass windows.jpg|Stained-glass windows from inside Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Jersey City, NJ. The bottom stained-glass windows have text in Polish to commemorate the explosion in 1916. File:Blacktom.JPG|Melted bottle from the Black Tom explosion </gallery>

== References == {{Reflist|2}}

== Bibliography == * {{cite book |last=Millman |first=Chad |url=https://archive.org/details/detonatorssecret00mill/page/352 |title=The Detonators: The Secret Plot to Destroy America and an Epic Hunt for Justice |date=2006 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company |isbn=0-316-73496-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/detonatorssecret00mill/page/352 352] |url-access=registration}} * {{Cite book |last=Semple |first=Ron |url=http://archive.org/details/blacktomterroron0000semp |title=Black Tom: Terror on the Hudson |date=2015 |publisher=Top Hat Books |isbn=978-1-78535-110-5 |url-access=registration}} * {{cite book |last=Witcover |first=Jules |url=https://archive.org/details/sabotageatblackt0000witc |title=Sabotage at Black Tom: Imperial Germany's Secret in America, 1914–1917 |publisher=Algonquin Books |year=1989 |isbn=0-912697-98-9 |page=339 |url-access=registration}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Black Tom explosion}} * [http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/liberty_state_park/liberty_blacktomexplosion.html Black Tom Explosion (1916)], ''Liberty State Park'' * [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sabotage-in-new-york-harbor-123968672/ Sabotage in New York Harbor], ''Smithsonian.com'' * [http://www.history.com/news/the-black-tom-explosion The Black Tom Explosion], ''History.com'' * [http://gendisasters.com/new-jersey/14865/jersey-city-nj-munitions-explosion-july-1916 GenDisasters Black Tom 1916] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423133739/http://gendisasters.com/new-jersey/14865/jersey-city-nj-munitions-explosion-july-1916 |date=April 23, 2021 }} {{German sponsored acts of terrorism during WWI}} {{Statue of Liberty|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}

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