Escape from a 3D Model of Alcatraz

Two of the first men to try to escape the island were Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe. Convicted bank robbers, they filed through iron bars in the prison’s mat shop, using grease and shoe polish to disguise the damage as they slowly worked their way through. They waited till a day when dense fog obscured views of the bay and slipped out. 

There’s no evidence the two had prepared any sort of boat or raft. Instead, they likely relied on improvised floatation devices in their attempt to cross the water. They never made it to shore and it’s presumed they didn’t survive the swim. However, they were listed as #1 and #2 on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

Most escapees planned to break out of the jail and swim to the shore. However, John Knight Giles had a very different plan. After stealing a technical sergeant’s uniform while working in the laundry, Giles jumped aboard a military boat as it departed the island. 

As soon as the boat left, a headcount of soldiers was carried out revealing one extra person on board. At the same time, prison guards on the dock counted the prisoners to find one person was missing. Despite an alarm being raised, Giles was able to exit the boat using a forged pass, however he was recaptured shortly after and returned to the prison.

One of the most violent escape bids from Alcatraz occurred in May 1946 when a failed attempt led to a confrontation that became known as the ‘Battle of Alcatraz’. It all started when 6 prisoners overpowered the guards in their cell house and obtained the keys to the weapons store. 

Their plan was to escape the island by boat. When this failed, they took two guards hostage and decided to battle it out. The incident lasted two days and only came to an end when U.S. Marines intervened to help restore order to the prison. By the end of the Battle of Alcatraz, two guards and three prisoners were dead and no one had managed to escape.

The 11th June 1962 saw one of the most famous - and potentially successful - escape attempts. During their bid for freedom, three prisoners, Frank Morris, John Anglin and  Clarence Anglin, chiselled their way into a narrow utility corridor that ran behind their cells. The men left papier mache heads in their beds to fool the guards and buy themselves that little bit more time.

Prior to the escape, the prisoners had collected around 50 rubber raincoats from other inmates. They used these to fashion an improvised raft and launched themselves into the treacherous waters of San Francisco Bay. The men were never found and, though it’s believed they drowned in the attempt, it’s possible they were the only ones to successfully flee the prison.