Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.

On the night of June 11, 1962, inmates Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin escaped from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a maximum-security prison located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California, United States. Late on the night of June 11, the three men tucked papier-mâché model heads resembling their own likenesses into their beds, broke out of the main prison building via ventilation ducts and an unguarded utility corridor, and departed the island aboard an improvised inflatable raft to an uncertain fate. A fourth conspirator, Allen West, failed in his escape attempt and remained behind.

Alcatraz Island is a small island about 1.25 miles offshore from San Francisco in San Francisco Bay, California, near the Golden Gate Strait. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison. In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. The strong tidal currents around the island and ice-cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, giving the prison one of the most notorious reputations of its kind in American history. The prison closed on March 21, 1963, leaving the island a major tourist attraction today.