Fifty Virtual Boats Every Thirty Minutes

Name: Fifty Virtual Boats Every Thirty Minutes
Genre: Documentary

An unidentified body and decades of investigation give way to a modern experiment that discovers a narrow path to land.

This episode needs All Access, from $4.99 a week.

Transcript

Three prisoners vanished from their cells—and were never seen again.
On June 11th, 1962, Alcatraz stood 1.5 miles offshore in San Francisco Bay.
The alarm was not raised until the following morning.
That morning, guards found dummy faces in the bunks of Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin.
The escape plan used homemade drills to enlarge ventilation holes behind the cells.
Allen West helped plan the escape, but remained inside his cell when it was discovered.
Behind the cells, a utility corridor had locked steel doors at both ends. Escapees climbed utility pipes to the cellblock roof.
On the northeast shore, prison-issued raincoats became a raft and crude life vests.
Searchers found two life vests and oars. Three men remained officially missing and presumed drowned.
Several weeks after the escape, an unidentified body was found up the coast. It wore clothing similar to the prison uniform.
The FBI investigated until 1980. The three men stayed officially missing and presumed drowned.
A hydraulic study released fifty virtual boats every half-hour from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
In 2013, a letter claimed to be from John Anglin. The author claimed to be 83 years old and have cancer.
The simulations found a narrow window when the raft could reach land without paddling.

A launch at 11:30 p.m. could have carried the raft to Horseshoe Bay inside the Golden Gate Bridge.

All Access is $4.99 a week, $14.99 a month or $39.99 a year. The annual plan starts with three days free.

Renews until you cancel. Terms · Privacy