Black Tom, German attack on New York in 1916 –

The history of the United States is truly unique, always in the shadows, full of secrets, lies that pretend to be true. Historical facts confirm this. This is the case of the practically unknown German attack on Black Tom Island, a sabotage that the American government tried to hide for the inconvenience of the moment, the president woodrow wilson, was running for re-election. The reason for this article that we have called Black Tom, German Attack on New York in 1916was born with the intention of telling what happened on black tom islandwhy that island, who perpetrated it and that consequences had.

Black Tom, German attack on New York, 1916 | Situation

Black Tom was the name of an island located in new york bay, in front was the Island of Liberty. Legend has it that it received that name in honor of a legendary black man named Tom, who had settled in it, being its only inhabitant.

The construction of a bridge and a railway line In 1880, he managed to make this island a peninsula attached to the mainland. A pier was built on it that was used as a loading dock for many years.

In 1905, the company that exploited the use of the railway saw the need to expand its commercial area, built dikes practically joining what was beginning to be a growing city that had been baptized with the name of Jersey.

Now, in the annexed section, a 1.5 km wharf had been built, with a great commercial projection, so much so that the National Dock & Storage Company, began to build warehouses and warehouses. Soon black tom island had become one of the most important stores of explosive material.

Black Tom, German attack on New York, 1916 | the great war

With the outbreak of First World War, On July 28, 1914, Europe was divided into two large blocks:

• The Triple Entente: Great Britain, France and the Russian empire
• The Triple Alliance: German empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.

The United States remained in a neutral situation, the country was about to hold elections and the current president Woodrow Wilson, he had pretensions of being elected, in spite of everything he had made it very clear with which of the two blocks he sympathized more.

Until the year 1915, American commerce had been free to trade its products anywhere on the planet, but the ally blockade whose intention was to avoid supplying the Central Powers that made up the Triple Alliance, German empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, caused American trade to be limited to the Allied powers.

This fact did not mean a break for the US industry, at least for the arms industry, a real business opportunity. Europe, with its weapons factories destroyed, could not supply its troops with ammunition or weapons. the United States began to make weapons and store it in the BlackTom Island, which made it a veritable powder keg.

The night of the attack on the island, at least almost 1,000 tons of ammunition, 45 tons of TNT, had been stored, all ready to be sent to France and England. This made Black Tom’s Island a real bomb.

Black Tom, German attack on New York, 1916 | The Sabotage

Sunday night July 30, 1916was presented as another night, a quiet night, where the lights of the city could be seen in the distance, the night promised to be peaceful, until something caught the attention of the few personnel who were in charge of the security of the Island.

A fire at one end it set off a small alarm, soon after there was another fire just at the opposite end, and then another and another, surrounding thus the warehouses containing all the weapons stored to send both to France and England. Due to the importance of fire some of the guards fled before an imminent explosion while others stayed trying to suffocate the sources of fire.

The first part had been completed, now there was the second part of the attack, the most important and that took place around two in the morning. A concatenation of powerful explosions made that the staff could not cover all the burning points, neglecting the vigilance of the main warehouse, true target of the saboteurs.

At 2:12 in the morningthe largest warehouse, the main warehouse was blown up, the shock wave caused extensive damage, fragments were thrown and projected at high speed in all directions. Some of the fragments hit the arm and skirt of the Statue of Liberty, since then access to the arm has been closed.

Black Tom, German attack on New York, 1916 | The authors

The immediate result was arrest of two of the guards who had fled, accused of having caused the first fires, therefore accused of sabotage. At first, it was only thought of as an isolated cataloged act of accident out of recklessness, but they soon realized that the incident was more serious.

All clues led to one man, Michael Kristof, a Slovakian immigrant who had served in the ranks of the US Army, who admitted having a relationship with German intelligence. he also confessed the existence of two infiltrated German agents on Black Tom’s Island.

German special agents at the service of the German embassy in the US, of which he was head Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, had developed different ways of manufacturing simple bombs such as the “Pencil Bomb”, attributed to Captain Franz von Rintelen, had much to do with the way the sabotage had been carried out.

I know blamed the German government of being behind this event and at the end of the War, the Lehigh Valley company, claimed war damages in its facilities. In 1939 a commission declared the responsibility of the German Empire for the damage and forced it to compensate the company with 50 million dollars in 1953, a payment that was made effective years later in 1979.

Black Tom, German attack on New York, 1916 | Balance of Damages

Until 1916, the arm of the statue of Liberty was visitable, one of the best views was provided by the torch where the bay of New York became a spectacular image. Damage caused by fragments thrown from the explosion, damaged the statue’s skirt, arm and torch. Which is why since that day, the arm of the statue remains closed to the public.

In 1986, the torch was replaced by a new one, covered with gold leaves, while the original can be seen in the entrance hall to the statue.

But these were not the only damage. The explosion was of such magnitude that pieces of projectiles came to hit the bell tower of the Jersey Journal, stopping his watch at the time of the explosion 2:12. He caused a tremor equivalent to 5.5 on the Richter scalebecoming felt even in Philadelphia.

The damage was extensive, shops with smashed shop windows, windows, doors, walls, etc. The blast wave was felt within a 40 km radius, being felt in lower Manhattan, Times Square, Maryland, etc. Many of the neighbors got up with the feeling of experiencing the shock of an earthquake.

The official damages were $20 million, which would currently be equivalent to about 400 million, but this figure is estimated to be much lower than the true amount after the damage caused. The reason for hiding the true dimension of the catastrophe was not being able to reveal the poor surveillance of such important facilities.

Hundreds of immigrants who were waiting for dawn to be able to register and thus legally enter the US to work, were surprised in the nearby ellis island, the most affected. All were transferred to Manhattan Island. It is estimated that they could lose life up to 7 people, 1 Jersey policeman, the chief of the railway police, 1 two-month-old baby, and the captain of the barge that was moored at Black Tom Island.

The wounded were counted in the hundreds, while different explosions continued for hours, although with less intensity.

But this fact was not too bad for the claims of President Woodrow Wilson, who after losing the merchandise that should have been sold to allied countries and because it was an act of aggression, created the ideal atmosphere for justify the imminent entry of the United States into the warwhich could ensure his re-election.

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Black Tom, German attack on New York, 1916 | Image gallery