1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: show for those who can never know enough about history. 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lusier, and today we're looking at the brutal 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: two day siege of Alcatraz Island that left five people 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: dead and fourteen others gravely wounded. As a warning, today's 7 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: episode includes descriptions of gun violence, which some listeners may 8 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: find disturbing. The day was May twi, nineteen forty six, 9 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: six inmates at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary carried out the most 10 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: violent escape attempt in the prison's history. The Rocky Island 11 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: Fortress was widely viewed as escape proof thanks to its 12 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: remote location more than a mile off shore of San Francisco. 13 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: Even if an inmate did manage to break out of 14 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: their cell and slip past security, they'd have to swim 15 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 1: through frigid water and strong currents to secure their freedom. 16 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: Such a feat would be possible with the right training, 17 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: but on a prison diet and exercise schedule, the inmates 18 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: of Alcatraz didn't stand a chance. Of course, that didn't 19 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: stop some of them from trying, and while most of 20 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: their escape plans relied on stealth and secrecy to reach 21 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: the water's edge. The one hatched in nineteen forty six 22 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: took a more direct approach. The mastermind behind the operation 23 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: was Bernard Coy, a bank robber from Kentucky who was 24 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: serving a twenty six year sentence for armed robbery. After 25 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: arriving at Alcatraz, he managed to earn one of the 26 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: cushiest prison jobs available, a cell house orderly responsible for 27 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: general upkeep and janitorial work. His duties required him to 28 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: move freely through most of the main cell block, which 29 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: also gave him ample opportunity to study the guard's routines. 30 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: Koi began searching for a weak point in the prison security, 31 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: and after a few months he found one. The gun gallery, 32 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: where all the guard's weapons were stored, was protected only 33 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: by bars, and there was no wire mesh in front 34 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: of them. Koi figured that if he pried the bars 35 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: a little wider, he could squeeze his way through. Then, 36 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: after arming himself to the teeth, he could take the 37 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: guard's hostage, negotiate his way to the prison boat dock, 38 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:45,119 Speaker 1: and then sail to freedom. No swimming required. He knew 39 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: he wouldn't be able to do it alone, though, so 40 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: he enlisted the help of three accomplices, Marvin Hubbard, Joseph Kretzer, 41 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: and Clarence Carnes. Hubbard and Kretzer were lifelong bank robbers 42 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: themselves who had taken part in violent prison breaks at 43 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,079 Speaker 1: Alcatraz before. Carnes, on the other hand, was the youngest 44 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: inmate in the island's history. Convicted at age eighteen, he 45 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: was imprisoned for killing a garage attendant during an attempted 46 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: robbery two years earlier. Another pair of inmates, Sam Shockley 47 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: and Mirn Thompson, would later join the crew in the breakout, 48 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: but they weren't a part of the initial planning. Once 49 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: Cooy's gang was assembled, and after he'd shed roughly twenty 50 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: pounds to better fit through the bars, it was time 51 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: to make a run at the gun gallery. The men 52 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: put their plan into action on May second, nineteen forty six, 53 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: at around one thirty in the afternoon. Hubbard distracted prison 54 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: guard Bill Miller, allowing Koy to sneak up from behind 55 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: and beat the guard unconscious. Koi took Miller's keys and 56 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: released his other accomplices from their cells. Then he climbed 57 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: to the top of the gun gallery, which he knew 58 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: was now unguarded, and used a makeshere device fashioned from 59 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 1: pliers and toilet pipes to pry apart the bars of 60 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: the cage. Once he had struggled his way through the bars, 61 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,000 Speaker 1: aided by a coating of axle grease, Coy laid in 62 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: wait for the next guard and then took him by surprise. 63 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: He choked the guard unconscious with his own necktie, and 64 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: then helped himself to all the guns and ammo he 65 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:27,279 Speaker 1: could carry, Armed and free the inmates, overpowered seven more guards, 66 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: and then locked all nine of them and cells. Everything 67 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: had gone smoothly up to that point, and it was 68 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: time to begin Phase two, using the hostages to commandeer 69 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: a prison boat. The first step was to open the 70 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: cell block door that led to the recreation yard, but 71 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:49,280 Speaker 1: that proved easier said than done. Coy tried every key 72 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: they had confiscated from the guards, but none of them 73 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: unlocked the door. It later came to light that prison 74 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: guard Miller had pocketed the crucial key and hidden it 75 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: in the the toilet of his cell. The escapees never 76 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: managed to find it and were effectively trapped inside the 77 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 1: cell block. The entire prison was now on high alert, though, 78 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: and with emergency alarms blaring and guards gathering outside, the 79 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: crew began to panic. Convinced they would soon be captured, 80 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 1: Joseph Kretzer decided it was best to kill the hostages 81 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: so that they couldn't testify as witnesses. Later on, Clarence 82 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: Carnes is believed to have intervened on the guard's behalf, 83 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: but Kretzer still managed to fire a few shots into 84 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: a cell containing the captive guards. One of the bullets 85 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,239 Speaker 1: struck Bill Miller, and he later died from the injury. 86 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: At that point, Carnes, Shockley, and Thompson called it quits. 87 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: The three of them went back to their cells and 88 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: waited for the inevitable siege, but the other escapees, Koy 89 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: Hubbard and Kretzer decided to go for broke. They headed 90 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: for the high ground of the cell block tower and 91 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: settled in for what would later be known as the 92 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: Battle of Alcatraz. Meanwhile, the prison's warden mobilized the Coastguard 93 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: and the Marines to help take back the cell house, 94 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: and fortunately they had a few points working in their favor. First, 95 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: the takeover had happened after lunch time, which meant the 96 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: majority of the inmates were at work, leaving the cell 97 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: block mostly empty. And second, Koi and his crew hadn't 98 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,680 Speaker 1: brought the hostages with them when they moved to the tower. 99 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: This allowed the police and military to coordinate strike teams 100 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: to rescue the guards. It also freed them up to 101 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 1: use more than just small arms in their assault. When 102 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: the first team entered the cell house, the inmates opened fire, 103 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: killing one officer and wounding four others. The fire fight 104 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:52,680 Speaker 1: that ensued lasted well into the night, with the Marines 105 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: eventually using machine guns and grenades to push Koi and 106 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: his crew back to a less defensible position. The barrage 107 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: continued all through the next day as well, and didn't 108 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: stop until the morning of May fourth, nearly forty eight 109 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: hours after the breakout began. When the guards finally stormed 110 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: the cell block, they found the three conspirators, Coy, Hubbard, 111 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: and Kretzer lying dead from bullet wounds and shrapnel. The 112 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: men who had returned to their cells and surrendered didn't 113 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: fare much better. Shockley and Thompson were sentenced to death 114 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: for the murder of Bill Miller and were later executed 115 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: in the gas chamber at San Quentin Prison. Clarence Carnes 116 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: escaped the death penalty because he had tried to stop 117 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: the others from killing the guards, but he still had 118 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: ninety nine years added to his sentence for his role 119 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: in the breakout. Carnes remained at Alcatraz until its closure 120 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,679 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty three. He was one of twenty three 121 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: escaped inmates to be recaptured during the life of the prison. 122 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: The other thirteen who tried and failed to escape were 123 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:07,560 Speaker 1: either shot and killed, confirmed drowned, or presumed drowned. Escaping 124 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: the island prison may not have been as impossible as 125 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: some people claimed that it was near enough. I'm Gabe 126 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: Luesia and hopefully you now know a little more about 127 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to 128 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 129 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 130 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my 131 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 1: way by writing to this day at iHeartMedia dot com. 132 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: Thanks to Kasby Bias for producing the show, and thanks 133 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 134 00:08:45,720 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History. Class s