Read in this informative book how Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary convicts Bernard Paul Coy, Joseph Cretzer, Marvin Hubbard, Clarence Carnes, Miran Edgar Thompson and Sam Shockley Jr. started a prison riot escape attempt at this island federal prison on the San Francisco Bay between May 2 to May 4, 1946 that failed. Find out how Alcatraz Lieutenant Phil Bergen suppressed the prison revolt known as The Battle of Alcatraz, which was an escape attempt by six prisoners that began when convicted armed robber Bernard Paul Coy used a bar spreader he obtained by bartering hand-rolled cigarettes and home-made brew for this bar spreader, which he obtained from an inmate plumber who made the bar spreader in exchange for the cigarettes and liquor. Bernard Paul Coy used the bar spreader to make a man-sized gap in the gun gallery bars to climb through the bars of the gun gallery, overpower the gun-gallery guard and steal his weapon. After Bernard Paul Coy conducted this dastardly act, he gave weapons to his fellow inmate convict rioter co-conspirators in this Alcatraz prison riot. Find out how these rioter inmates, who planned to escape through the exercise yard to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary's docks to a launch boat, were prevented from doing so by a guard who hid the key to the door accessing the exercise yard the convicts planned to enter to escape the prison. While mostly all of the other inmates did not participate in this riot-escape attempt, this prison riot resulted in the death of three inmates that were participating in the riot-escape attempt and also resulted in the death of two prison guard officers, which were killed by the gunfire of inmates. Fourteen guards were wounded in this prison riot escape attempt. Lieutenant Phil Bergen of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary launched a response to this prison riot hostage taking escape attempt by deploying assault rescue teams into the gun gallery and then the U.S. Marines were called in by the warden of Alcatraz island, James Johnston. Find out how grenades were thrown into Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary when the Marines used these explosive weapons, as part of tactics they learned in World War II against Japanese fortified positions, so that these soldiers could trap the convicts in the prison. Bernard Paul Coy, Marvin Hubbard and Joe Kretzer, were found dead in a utility corridor of the prison once the riot was over with obvious signs of death resulting from bullet wounds. Find out about the background of Bernard Paul Coy as an armed robber in Kentucky, which is the reason Coy ended up at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in the first place.
