Alcatraz is an Island located 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco, California, United States in the San Francisco Bay. The Island was originally developed for a lighthouse, a military fort, a military prison, and a federal prison. This was like this from 1933 until 1963 and has since been changed to an official National Historical Landmark as of 1986. It is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Areas and is open to tours. Out of the 1576 prisoners on Alcatraz, only a few were ‘well-known’ gangsters. Most of them were people who refused to obey the rules of the other federal prisons. At Alcatraz prisoners would have four rights which were food, clothing, shelter and medical care. All other privileges had to be earned. After prison
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There were 36 men who were involved in 14 separate escape attempts two of which who had attempted to escape twice. Twenty three were caught, 6 were shot and killed during the escapes, 2 drowned, and another two of the men were caught later and executed in gas chambers. Whether or not someone successfully escaped from Alcatraz all depends on your definition of ‘successful escape’. Officially, as of this day, there have been no successful escapes from Alcatraz though there are 5 prisoners listed as ‘missing and presumed drowned’. These are the 14 escape attempts from Alcatraz. On April 27, 1936, while working his job as a trash incinerator, Joe Bowers had begun to climb up the chain link fence at the border of the federal prison grounds. After refusing to climb down off of the fence, Bowers was shot by a correctional officer and fell from the fence 50-100 feet below where he later died from his fatal injuries. In another incident, on December 16, 1937, Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe who were working their jobs in the industrials building in the mat shop filed their way through the flat iron bars on a window. After climbing through the window they made their way down to the water edge and disappeared in San Francisco Bay. Officially, Ralph and Theodore were written as missing and presumed dead as they had tried to escape in a harsh storm and the waves would’ve been too strong for them to swim through. Thomas Limerick, Jimmy Lucas, and Rufus Franklin worked in the woodworking shop in the model industries building. During one of their shifts they attacked an unarmed correctional officer Royal Cline with a hammer. Cline later died from his injuries. The inmates then climbed to the roof to attempt to disarm the officer in the roof tower. The officer shot Limerick and Franklin. Limerick died and Lucas and Franklin received life sentences for Cline’s murder. There was one inmate who must’ve
There were 36 men who were involved in 14 separate escape attempts two of which who had attempted to escape twice. Twenty three were caught, 6 were shot and killed during the escapes, 2 drowned, and another two of the men were caught later and executed in gas chambers. Whether or not someone successfully escaped from Alcatraz all depends on your definition of ‘successful escape’. Officially, as of this day, there have been no successful escapes from Alcatraz though there are 5 prisoners listed as ‘missing and presumed drowned’. These are the 14 escape attempts from Alcatraz. On April 27, 1936, while working his job as a trash incinerator, Joe Bowers had begun to climb up the chain link fence at the border of the federal prison grounds. After refusing to climb down off of the fence, Bowers was shot by a correctional officer and fell from the fence 50-100 feet below where he later died from his fatal injuries. In another incident, on December 16, 1937, Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe who were working their jobs in the industrials building in the mat shop filed their way through the flat iron bars on a window. After climbing through the window they made their way down to the water edge and disappeared in San Francisco Bay. Officially, Ralph and Theodore were written as missing and presumed dead as they had tried to escape in a harsh storm and the waves would’ve been too strong for them to swim through. Thomas Limerick, Jimmy Lucas, and Rufus Franklin worked in the woodworking shop in the model industries building. During one of their shifts they attacked an unarmed correctional officer Royal Cline with a hammer. Cline later died from his injuries. The inmates then climbed to the roof to attempt to disarm the officer in the roof tower. The officer shot Limerick and Franklin. Limerick died and Lucas and Franklin received life sentences for Cline’s murder. There was one inmate who must’ve