Alcatraz is an island in the San Francisco Bay, which housed a famous prison until 1963. Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly and other guys with a very tough character were kept here. It was considered almost impossible to escape from here, primarily because of the icy water of the bay and 10 species of sharks that live in it.
It is officially believed that in the entire history of the American prison Alcatraz, no one has managed to escape from there. The prison is located on an island, two kilometers from the mainland and is well guarded. From 1934 to 1963, there were 14 escape attempts in Alcatraz, most of the fugitives were caught or shot. But there is one exception in this series, the escape of Frank Lee Morris and the Anglin brothers, which was the only successful escape in the history of the prison.
When Frank got to Alcatraz, he was 33 years old. He spent his childhood in orphanages and had problems with the law from his youth. At Alcatraz, Frank met old friends, the brothers John and Clarence Anglin. They were in prison together in Atlanta. The brothers ended up in Alcatraz for robbing a bank. As soon as he got to prison, Frank began looking for escape options.
The escape plan was that the friends had to get out to the outer wall and leave the damned island on an inflatable raft. They decided to make the raft from rubber raincoats, which the prison administration issued to prisoners. It took 50 cloaks to make the raft, some of them were donated by other prisoners, and some had to be stolen.
A technical corridor passed next to the conspirators' cells; in order to get into it, it was necessary to dig through the cell wall. To dig a hole in the wall, they adapted a motor from a vacuum cleaner, to which a steel spoon was screwed. The work was carried out at the "musical hour", so the prison guards did not hear any suspicious sounds behind the general noise. During the day, the digging was masked with a false wall.
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Finally, everything was ready. On June 11, 1962, at 21:30, the friends left their cells. To lull the vigilance of the guards, they put artificial heads made of papier-mâché on pillows and covered them with blankets. The heads were very similar to real ones, even the hair on them was natural, they were collected in the prison barbershop. The fugitives climbed the pipes to the roof of the prison and descended the outer wall.
After that, they went down to the shore, where they found a blind spot for the searchlights, inflated the raft with the help of a converted accordion, put on homemade life jackets made of waterproof raincoats and sailed off the island.
In the morning, an alarm was announced in the prison, a search began, but the fugitives were never found. No one has yet left Alcatraz alive, so the authorities announced that Frank and the Anglin brothers had drowned.
The FBI, US marshals and the police launched a colossal search operation, but found only a deflated raft, scraps of life jackets, and one of the Englins' wallet with records of friends and relatives. In the end, it was decided that all three died while trying to swim across the strait. Until recently, it was officially believed that no one managed to get out of Alcatraz to freedom.
In 1979, the movie Escape From Alcatraz was shot with Clint Eastwood, who played Frank Morris.
Journalists and experts continued to be interested in this case, and even went as far as trying to simulate the weather and current in the strait on the night of the escape. It turned out that between midnight and morning conditions were quite favorable and the raft could reach the other side. In 2012, the US Department of Justice, just in case, asked experts to simulate on a computer what escaped people might look like 50 years from now.
The Alcatraz prison escape case was reopened many years after the closure. In 2013, the FBI received a letter from a man who signed himself as John Anglin - one of three criminals who tried to escape the island in 1962 and were presumed dead. Perhaps for this famous trinity, about which a film was made with Clint Eastwood, it did not end as it was written in the official conclusion.
At the same time, the relatives of the Anglin and Morris have repeatedly stated that the fugitives called and sent them postcards. John and Clarence Anglin's sister claimed all her life that they managed to escape to Mexico and hide. But the FBI was skeptical about her stories - until 2013, when the bureau received a letter written by hand and signed by John Anglin, reports The Telegraph.
“My name is John Anglin. I fled Alcatraz in June 1962 with my brother Clarence and Frank Morris. I am 83 years old and in bad shape. I have cancer. Yes, we all managed to escape that night, but we barely survived! Frank died in October 2005. His grave is in Alexandria, on the slab there is another name. My brother died in 2011. If you announce on television that you promise to send me to prison for no more than a year and provide me with treatment, I will write to you again and point out exactly where I am. This is not a joke, everything is real and fair."
The FBI waited five years before releasing the letter, as agents had legitimate doubts about its authenticity. However, the case was reopened, now the authorities are officially looking for John Anglin. However, most likely, he has already died if he really suffered from cancer and did not receive any help for five years.
Alcatraz, "cormorant island" in Spanish, was built in the 50s of the 19th century as a military fortress. There was a prison at the fortress, where deserters from the army of the North and war criminals were initially kept. In 1933, the island was taken over by the Ministry of Justice. Al Capone, in particular, was sitting here, and he even managed to get out - but only after the end of the term. A film is being made about this with Tom Hardy.
In total, 36 people tried to escape from the prison, 23 were caught, and the rest were either shot while escaping, or drowned. At least that was the case before. In 1963, less than a year after John Anglin's escape, the prison was closed. Now they take excursions there from San Francisco.
By the way, you can escape from Alcatraz in our time
Escape from Alcatraz is an iconic and coveted race for triathletes. Despite the fact that the registration fee is large (750 USD), a lottery has to be held among thousands of potential participants, in which 1500 slots out of 2000 possible are played. The remaining 500 are given to PRO athletes, participants in charity programs and athletes who qualified through other starts.
You can also qualify through one of the other races in the Escape Triathlon series. Well, no one canceled the entrance through sponsors and charities.
The original distance is 2.4 km of swimming, 29 km of bicycle, 13 km of running. At the same time, after a massive jump from the ferry, you have to sail at water temperatures of 10 to 16 degrees, and go and run along the steep hills of San Francisco.
Another feature of the running stage is the famous Sand Ladder with 400 steps. Many climb it with a brisk pace, holding onto the rope railing, but professionals run here too. Even a separate credit has been invented for the stairs.
It is clear that the priority for the organizers is the safety of athletes. The swimming stage is supervised by a large number of boat lifeguards. In case of urgent need, participants are allowed to briefly climb into the boat to rest or orient themselves.
The time limit for swimming is 1 hour. But even if you do not meet, you will not be disqualified, but will be driven to the shore and allowed to continue the race. As for the scary sharks, they are small in the San Francisco Bay and are not interested in people. Large ones come only occasionally to hunt for seals. Other marine life is not dangerous for triathletes.
The race is very difficult and not recommended for beginners. Nevertheless, the participants are usually delighted with it. “I haven’t had such a beautiful and comfortable sailing since the times of the Bosphorus, and if it were not for the current and big waves, then I would probably have gone to the second circle to the island,” writes Artem Kalabin.
He experienced similar emotions from the running stage: “There is probably no such beautiful distance anywhere else. It should be run without even participating in this race."
For most athletes, Escape from Alcatraz is about participation, not victory. This impression will last a lifetime, and the finisher's medal will surely be passed on to grandchildren in a solemn atmosphere.
But the race, of course, has its own heroes. So, the world champion IRONMAN 70.3 - 2007 Andy Potts won it 6 times, the silver medalist of the 2000 Olympics Michelle Jones - 8. She also holds the women's track record 2:08:54 (2004). The absolute best time in the same year was shown by Simon Lessing - 1:54:41.
The victory in San Francisco graces the resumes of other famous triathletes. In particular, Paula Newby-Fraser, Chris McCormack and Javier Gomez.