6. Lasting from May 2 until May 4, 1946, the Battle of Alcatraz began when a group of prisoners escaped their confines and took guards hostage in an ill-fated escape attempt
Planned by Bernard Coy, an inmate serving a sentence of 25 years for bank robbery, Coy, observing flaws in the prison’s security, gathered a team of similarly long-serving convicts to attempt a breakout. Springing their plan on May 2, 1946, whilst co-conspirator Marvin Hubbard was being frisked upon re-entry to C Block by William Miller, Coy attacked and overpowered the officer. Releasing two others, Cretzer and Carnes, from their cells, Coy climbed to the gun gallery and, having starved himself for weeks, used a makeshift tool to spread the bars sufficiently to squeeze through. Armed and with hostages, the team proceeded into D Block gathering force.
However, in their rush to reach the outdoors, the lock to the yard door was jammed by the wrong key. Trapped in the cellhouse, with a total of nine officers captive, the would-be escapees resolved to fight rather than surrender. Opening fire on the guard towers, the alarm was raised. After a failed attempt to storm the building, with one guard dead and four wounded, Warden Johnston called up the Marines. After two days of bombardment, on May 4, soldiers stormed the building to discover the bodies of Cretze, Coy, and Hubbard along with two officers. Two prisoners, Thompson and Shockley, were executed in 1948 for their role in the failed escape.