USS Arizona’s Scandal: The Untold Story

Okay…. We all know about the USS Arizona and her demise during the attack on Pearl Harbor. But what you may not know is that she was involved in a scandal that saw a lot of sailors facing serious criminal charges… And it all involved a woman.

The Stowaway Scandal

In March of 1924, the USS Arizona had a woman by the name of “Madeline Blair” (also known as Adelaide Andrews) stow away on board as the ship was redeployed to the Pacific Fleet in California. At 19 years old, Madeline convinced some of the crew of the Arizona to help stow her away on the battleship. She had dreams of moving to the West Coast and becoming a starlet in Hollywood. Madeline was what you might call a “lady of the night,” and possibly through her line of work, she was able to gain the assistance of the Arizona crew. They were on shore leave at the time in New York City, and she didn’t have enough money to travel via rail.

The crew involved gave Madeline a naval uniform for a disguise, had her cut her hair short, and snuck her on board the Arizona by having her pretend she was a drunk crewman. Once on board, she was stowed away in an unused compartment on the ship, and the crew would bring her food and water during the long voyage. Additionally, they would use her “services,” for which she charged $3 per “customer.” That was a lot of money back then. She used that money to actually pay for the food she was given.

Discovery and Aftermath

When the Arizona arrived in the warmer waters of the tropics, Madeline would sneak on deck at night to allow herself some fresh air. The heat in her compartment was too much, and it was too dark for anyone to see her. Unfortunately, her luck finally ran out when, during one outing and in disguise, one sailor (who didn’t know about her) reached over to grab a match from what he thought was a fellow sailor’s breast pocket and ended up grabbing “something else.” Needless to say, he was quite shocked, and it was not long before rumors began to spread of there being a woman on board the Arizona.

Eventually, Madeline was found out right after the ship passed through the Panama Canal when she was discovered by an officer who was also not in the know. She was eventually found after a ship-wide search. Madeline didn’t rat out those who had helped her and had even claimed there were other women on board. But eventually, she was sent ashore in Panama and then back to New York on another ship.

The Consequences

To say that the Navy was pissed about what happened would be an understatement. After an investigation, 23 members of the Arizona crew were court-martialed and given lengthy jail sentences as a result, up to 10 years in some cases. A number of officers were given reprimands, including future naval admiral Arleigh Burke. You know, the guy that has an entire class of destroyers named after him?

Fortunately, these reprimands were removed from their records, although those who were jailed had to serve out their time. As for Madeline, no one really knows what happened to her once she returned to New York. She did publish her story in a weekly magazine in San Francisco, which means she probably did make it to California, but other than that, she was basically never heard from again.

~NC