The Only Successful Escape From Alcatraz
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Alcatraz. The Rock. The inescapable prison that held some of the most ruthless and colorful criminals the world has ever seen. Some of whom were notorious for escaping other prisons. But there’s only a handful of escape attempts at Alcatraz that could remotely be considered successful. Here’s the story of (and the mystery around) those attempts.
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LINKS LINKS LINKS
https://www.bop.gov/about/history/alcatraz.jsp
https://abcnews.go.com/US/great-white-shark-drags-fishing-boat-san-francisco/story?id=64339365
https://www.cityexperiences.com/blog/growing-up-on-alcatraz/
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alcatraz-escape
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/periscope/xwFQwF5CgoryZQ?hl=en
https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/genius-two-brothers-and-fake-heads
https://books.google.com/books?id=CeEDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22your+life+preserver%22&pg=
PA135#v=onepage&q=%22your%20life%20preserver%22&f=false
https://archive.org/details/PopularMechanics1960/Popular%20Mechanics-11-1960/mode/1up
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/alcatraz-escape-map-alcatraz-island-san-francisco-bay/2683/
https://www.sfgate.com/local-donotuse/article/1962-Alcatraz-escape-Morris-Anglin-anniversary-11211846.php
https://www.sfgate.com/local-donotuse/article/1962-Alcatraz-escape-Morris-Anglin-anniversary-11211846.php
https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/genius-two-brothers-and-fake-heads
https://www.cityexperiences.com/blog/anglin-brothers-escape/
https://abc7news.com/post/i-team-exclusive-new-leads-in-alcatraz-escapees-manhunt/1349024/
https://www.ktvu.com/news/a-strange-letter-keeps-the-mystery-of-an-alcatraz-escape-alive
https://medium.com/@thealcatrazblog/wrong-way-superman-alcatraz-escape-attempt-9-d98094a61355
https://blueridgetruecrime.com/crime/kentucky-bank-robber-becomes-first-alcatraz-inmate-to-reach-shore/
https://www.history.com/articles/alcatraz-closed
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Intro
1:19 – History of Alcatraz
4:19 – The Design of Alcatraz
5:30 – The Escape Plan
10:32 – Sightings, Hoaxes, and Rumors
13:30 – John K. Giles
15:20 – John Paul Scott
18:40 – Sponsor – Nebula
@gwynn2528
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
Man, I had to jump into the bay and got hypothermia instantly. Good luck to anyone who gets in that water who is just a dumb regular person and not an athlete in a wetsuit.
@danieldevito6380
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
The Clint Eastwood movie is pretty close to the actual, true story.
@guessmyhandle
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
Always hilarious to hear youtubers fail to pronounce Marin country correctly.
@argos_lucien
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
about the naming thing, yeah…
Rio de Janeiro means "river of january", because they say the bay and thought it was a river (big L) and they arrived in january… so yeah, it checks
@MorganPhillipsPage
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
4:56 youre not alone? 😮
@CaiusTheSkoomaFiend
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
I went there in 2013 and it was eerie touring it at night. The hospital was creepy as hell.
@stuarttweed7452
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
Your Nicholas cage impression 😂😂😂 brilliant
@DanaMichelleCarter
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
All I can think of when I hear Alcatraz is " My name is John Johnson, but everyone here calls me Vicky."
@gaiahathaway3490
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
My grandfather lived there as a child for a time.
His dad was a guard there and he and his brother would ferry to school.
My great grandma would tell the story of her playing tennis against the walls of the prison.
Fun family fact I guess 😂😅
@Shannonlynnss
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
The fact the one life vest was still knotted in the back probably points to them not surviving, as if a body in the water might have gone slack, their arms lifting up as they sank down, and life vests doing what they do (remain to float) the body just snaked out of it. Idk just a idea that popped into my head
@anthonybanchero3072
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
Still an open case, but not much longer, as the deadline is what would have been their 100th birthday, draws closer.
@Robinthebank__
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
Wait untill joe hears about the island of madeira
@mr_brown5974
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
Just found out that the og Alcatraz is point to point exactly the same as the Alcatraz map in call of duty! And that I know the layout by heart completely!
Edit: adds a whole another dimension to enjoying this video
@PhysicsBros-n9z
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
10:50. I saw what you did there!
@omCi
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
Please never stop with the jokes.
@DannyB_2099
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
ALCATRAZ IS QUITE THE PLACE. I HEAR CLINT EASTWOOD AND SEAN CONNERY SUMMERED THERE.
@DannyB_2099
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
15:34 CAN'T BLAME THEM FOR RUNNING FROM PRISON FOOD. WHAT'S IN THOSE MEATBALLS?
@DannyB_2099
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
IT'S STUFF LIKE THIS THAT RUINS A PERFECTLY GOOD CLINT EASTWOOD MOVIE. LOL.
@emilys1418
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
I subscribed after that rock-hard place joke
@2rx_bni
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
My neighbor got a rotten egg dropped on her when we went there as school kids. We'd JUST gotten off the ferry. (Yes I am local). I'm still razzing her about it. She hasn't gotten over it.
Anyway there's a powwow there every October. Hope it happens again this year. It was a sacred place before they put a prison on it. 🧍🏾
@MariaFeodorovna-s5i
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
I’ve swum in the Bay without a wetsuit. Winter, 49 degrees, Aquatic Park, slack tide, predawn, magical. San Francisco’s Dolphin Club hosts a swim from SF to Alcatraz every year. They swim with neoprene caps but not wetsuits, I think. The event is timed to coincide with tides that are conducive to finishing. SF Bay currents are more dangerous than the temperatures.
@ourfav1
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
An IQ of 133 and he ended up sleeping with the fishes. What a waste
@acinoralas
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
The one thing that really surprised me when I visited was how small the prison is. Like 80ish cells all on one small block. Probably half the size of a football field at most
@ChasonC
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
15:44 School of Rock!
@lullanie
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
Millard Fillmore has got to be an ancestor of Alec Baldwin
@AvaLearn-g8d
May 23, 2026 at 6:51 am
My Dad did the triathlon involving the swim to Alcatraz