Black Tom explosion

black-tom-explosion-1753005001803-363fba

Description

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 that were about to be shipped 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. It also caused damage of military goods worth some $20,000,000. This incident, which happened prior to U.S. entry into World War I, also damaged the Statue of Liberty. It is one of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions in history.

ID: black-tom-explosion-1753005001803-363fba

Share this TL;DR