Attacks on North America during World War I

Attacks on North America during World War I by the Central Powers were rare, mainly due to the continent's geographical separation from the central theaters of conflict in Europe. This article includes attacks on continental territory (extending 200 miles [370 km] into the ocean) which is today under the sovereignty of the United States and Canada but excludes military action involving the Danish territory of Greenland and the Caribbean.

German Assaults

Black Tom explosion

After midnight on July 30, 1916, a series of small fires were found on the pier. Some guards fled, fearing an explosion; others attempted to fight the fires. Eventually they called the Jersey City Fire Department. The explosion occurred at 2:08 a.m., the first and biggest of the explosions took place. Shrapnel from the explosion traveled long distances, some lodging in the Statue of Liberty and other places. It is also the reason why the arm of the Statue is permanently closed.

Kingsland Explosion

Following the successful sabotage of Black Tom Island, the next target selected by the German saboteurs was the Canadian Car and Foundry Company at Kingsland. The company based in Montreal signed large contracts with Russia and England for delivery of shells. An enormous factory was constructed in the New Jersey Meadowlands, which was then referred to as Kingsland. The company executives decided not to take any chances with security for their plant. They constructed a six-foot fence around the plant and hired security guards to conduct 24-hour patrols around the perimeter and to screen each worker as they entered the plant. It was located on the site of Lyndhurst’s present industrial park.

On January 11, 1917, a fire started in Building 30 of the Canadian Car and Foundry Company in Kingsland, (now Lyndhurst) Bergen County, New Jersey. In four hours, probably 500,000, three-inch-high explosive shells were discharged [citation needed] . The entire plant was destroyed. It was said to have been a spectacle more magnificent than the explosion at Black Tom. From the office buildings and tall apartments, people in New York City, watched with amazement.

U-Boat Attack on Orleans, Massachusetts

On the morning on July 21st, 1918, U-156 quietly positioned itself off of Orleans, Massachusetts. It then opened fire on a tugboat, the Perth Amboy, and its four barges. Men from the nearby Coast Guard Station rushed up to the tower to see what all the commotion was about. One of them, called Chatham Naval Air Station to inform them of the U-Boat attack. The tug was quickly sent to the bottom and U-156 then started firing upon the barges.