Black Tom Explosion - Investigation

Investigation

Two of the watchmen who had lit smudge pots to keep away mosquitoes on their watch were immediately arrested. It soon became clear that the fires of the smudge pots had not caused the fire and that the blast had not been an accident. It was traced to a Slovak immigrant named Michael Kristoff, who had served in the U.S. Army, but admitted to carrying suitcases for the Germans before America entered World War I. According to him, two of the guards were German agents. It is likely that the bombing involved some of the techniques developed by a group of German agents surrounding German ambassador Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, probably using the pencil bombs developed by Captain Franz von Rintelen. Although suspicion at the time fell solely on German saboteurs like Kurt Jahnke and his assistant Lothar Witzke, still judged as "likely" responsible by some, later investigations in the aftermath of the Annie Larsen affair unearthed links between the Ghadar conspiracy and the Black Tom explosion.

Later investigations by the Directorate of Naval Intelligence are known to have found links to some members of the Irish "Clan na Gael" group, the Indian "Ghadar Party", and Communist elements. The Irish socialist James Larkin gave a supportive affidavit to McCloy in 1934.

The Statue of Liberty's torch was closed to tourist traffic, according to a U.S. Park Service Officer.

The Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, advised by John J. McCloy, sought damages against Germany under the Treaty of Berlin from the German-American Mixed Claims Commission. The commission declared in 1939 that Imperial Germany had been responsible and ordered damages. The two sides finally settled on $50 million in 1953 (US$ 482,987,551.87 in 2012). The final payment was made in 1979.