History USAT General Frank M. Coxe

1 history

1.1 military use
1.2 alcatraz prison break
1.3 world war ii

history
military use

the coxe active military vessel on san francisco bay 1922 1947, being decommissioned , sold surplus in 1947 after end of world war ii.

prior building of golden gate , bay bridges in mid-1930s, ground transportation in bay area hampered bay , rivers bisected region san jose sacramento river delta. however, region heavily populated army personnel garrisoned , maintained ring of fortresses , ancillary facilities fort point , fort cronkite @ mouth of bay, benicia arsenal @ mouth of delta. there 2 island fortresses: fort mcdowell (angel island) , alcatraz, each of these becoming special purpose facilities time of coxe.

by 1920s, angel island , alcatraz considered obsolete artillery positions, purposes supplanted larger coastal guns , extensive electronic mines primary coastal defenses. aircraft developed, these became irrelevant. angel island developed processing center inductees , recruits, , alcatraz developed maximum security military prison. coxe provided regular service between fort mason, on north coast of san francisco peninsula, , fort mcdowell on angel island, periodic stops @ alcatraz. alcatraz service continued after army relinquished control federal prison bureau in mid-1930s.

alcatraz prison break

the coxe prior restoration, dummy paddle wheel constructed on port side

alcatraz prison lost 1 of boarders when john k. giles, aged 50, mail robber , four-time convict, stole army uniform prison laundry , jumped aboard coxe before departed angel island. although count of both soldiers on coxe , prisoners working on docks alerted authorities escape, error in communication , forged documents allowed giles land @ fort mcdowell. however, discrepancy in uniform brought him attention of officer, recognized forged documents , arrested him not knowing of prison break. giles returned alcatraz serve-out sentence. there controversy on whether constituted successful escape , recapture, or foiled plan. officially, alcatraz retained perfect record escape proof until closed in mid-1960s, since assumed other missing prisoners had drowned.

world war ii

with outbreak of world war ii, angel island became critical processing center troops heading pacific theater of battle. processing substantially divided between fort mcdowell , fort mason, , despite new bridges , highways, ships , ferries connection between locations. during world war ii, coxe made many 8 scheduled trips per day between fort mcdowell , fort mason. however, after satisfying exigencies of war, fort mcdowell phased-out after world war ii, , closed processing center prior korean war. 1947 coxe obsolete , decommissioned.