The story of the first big terrorist attack on American soil
How the explosion on Black Tom Island was an act of sabotage by Germany
Date: July 30, 1916 Location: Black Tom Island, Port of New York Depot, New Jersey, United States Mission: Destroy port facilities and munitions intended for the Allies
This act of sabotage was the first large-scale terrorist attack on American soil. Committed by a foreign power with which the United States was not yet at war, this sabotage, which terrified millions of citizens and caused incalculable damage, is now little known, perhaps due to the low number of casualties.
Diplomacy and sabotage
In 1916, the United States was officially neutral, and its merchants could theoretically trade with anyone. But, in practice, the British naval blockade prevented them from selling their goods to Germany and the Axis powers. As a result, American munitions and other exports primarily benefited Great Britain and its allies. The German government, which maintained diplomatic relations with the United States, secretly funded sabotage operations aimed at disrupting these trade relations.
A prime target
For 18 months, a team of spies and propagandists, supervised by the German ambassador, Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, engaged in various illegal activities, including bomb-making and industrial sabotage. These men decided to target Black Tom. Three-quarters of American munitions and armaments sold to the Allies passed through the docks of New Jersey and New York; moreover, the majority of this military equipment passed through Black Tom Island, nicknamed the “arsenal of democracy.” Surprisingly, this site of crucial importance was poorly guarded.
Terror strikes
Everything seemed normal on the warm and humid evening of Saturday, July 29; the longshoremen had just finished their six-day workweek, and the poorly lit maze of rail junctions and warehouses was guarded as usual by eight men — six railroad company detectives and two agency detectives. There was no guardhouse to protect the entrance and restrict access to the wagons containing over 2,000 pounds of TNT, black powder, shells, and dynamite. Contrary to regulations, there was also a barge moored at one of the piers, containing 45 tons of TNT.
The saboteurs arrived on the island that night, planted their bombs, lit fires, and quickly left the scene. At 0:12, noticing a fire starting on the barge, guard Barton Scott called the New Jersey fire service. Shells began to explode. At 0:40, three fire trucks arrived on the scene, but after fighting the flames for 90 minutes, the firefighters realized that their hoses could not control this inferno. At 2:08, everything exploded. The New York Times reported that “one million people, and perhaps five million, had been awakened” by the explosion that blew out windows in a 40-kilometer radius, toppled tombstones, set fire to barges anchored in the harbor, disrupted telephone communications, and showered shell fragments on the Statue of Liberty.
Shockwaves and smaller explosions continued for hours. A security guard, a police officer, a barge captain, a baby, and three other people lost their lives. The material damage was estimated at $20 million (equivalent to $540 million today). The truth about this German sabotage operation was only revealed 23 years later.