The incredible 'great escape' of Alcatraz remembered as Donald Trump launches new plan

Alcatraz has been shut since 1963 (Image: Getty)

Donald Trump has floated plans to reopen Alcatraz, a notorious prison once home to America’s most dangerous criminals. Though the institution has been closed for over 60 years, the US president said the island could once again be used to house "America’s most ruthless and violent offenders".

Mr Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday, saying: "I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders." He added: "When we were a more serious nation… we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals and keep them far away from anyone they could harm." The US President's plan was criticised by politicians including former House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, who questioned the feasibility of the project.

Closed in 1963, Alcatraz was opened as a federal penitentiary in 1934. It sits in San Francisco Bay and the island itself spreads across 22 acres of land. Strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, making it the preferred location for notorious criminals. While open, Alcatraz held some of the most infamous criminals in American history, including gangsters such as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Bumpy Johnson.

The former prison sits in San Francisco Bay, surrounded by cold water and unforgiving currents (Image: Getty)

There were also political terrorists in the facility, including Rafael Cancel Miranda, a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who attacked the US Capitol building in 1954.

Alvin Francis Karpin, a Canadian-American gangster, served more time in Alcatraz than any other prisoner, serving time in the facility for 26 years.

He was one of only four "public enemies" every to be given the title of "Public Enemy #1" by the FBI, and was the only one to be taken into custody while still alive.

Alcatraz authorities claimed no prisoner successfully escaped during its 29 years of operation, though a total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, with two men trying twice.

While 23 were caught alive, six were shot and killed during their escape, two drowned, and five are officially listed as "missing and presumed drowned"

Perhaps the most famous attempt was a 1962 attempt, hatched by Frank Morris and the Anglin brother John and Clarence, who spent months meticulously planning to flee, with help from a fourth inmate, Allen West.

They used stolen saw blades, spoons and a homemade drill adapted from a vacuum cleaner motor to saw through ventilation grills behind their cells.

Officials do not believe any prisoner successfully escaped from Alcatraz (Image: Getty)

Concealing their work with cardboard and furniture, they eventually reached an unguarded utility corridor behind their cells, which allowed them to leave undetected.

They established a workshop above the block which housed their cell and used over 50 stolen raincoats to fashion a 6x14 foot rubber raft and life jackets.

Carving paddles from wood, they also adapted a concertina to inflate the raft.

They attempted the escape on the night of June 11 1962, when the trio placed dummy heads in their beds to fool guards as they climbed to the roof, and descended a smokestack to reach the water.

Though an official FBI investigation, which remained open for 17 years, concluded the group likely drowned, no bodies were ever found.

To this day, the US Marshals Service consider the three men fugitives.

Nowadays, there is an annual Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon during which a 1.5 mile (2.4km) swim from the island to the bay shore is swum by competitors.

Since 1972, the site has been owned by the National Park Service, and sits within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, operating as a tourist site and museum.