Metallurgist admits faking steel-test results for Navy subs
Source: AP
By GENE JOHNSON
SEATTLE (AP) A metallurgist in Washington state pleaded guilty to fraud Monday after she spent decades faking the results of strength tests on steel that was being used to make U.S. Navy submarines.
Elaine Marie Thomas, 67, of Auburn, Washington, was the director of metallurgy at a foundry in Tacoma that supplied steel castings used by Navy contractors Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding to make submarine hulls.
From 1985 through 2017, Thomas falsified the results of strength and toughness tests for at least 240 productions of steel about half the steel the foundry produced for the Navy, according to her plea agreement, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. The tests were intended to show that the steel would not fail in a collision or in certain wartime scenarios, the Justice Department said.
There was no allegation that any submarine hulls failed, but authorities said the Navy had incurred increased costs and maintenance to ensure they remain seaworthy. The government did not disclose which subs were affected.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-washington-tacoma-shipbuilding-us-navy-8f9d5d69411642689696d6b52a290f95
Demovictory9
(32,320 posts)NotHardly
(1,062 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,572 posts)usaf-vet
(6,092 posts)paleotn
(17,778 posts)I have no words.
groundloop
(11,486 posts)captain queeg
(10,035 posts)Now the government does QA, quality assurance, which is just letting contractors run the show and do their own QC.
DENVERPOPS
(8,677 posts)as the Foundry made by not having their metal legitimately tested.........
NCjack
(10,279 posts)Auggie
(31,060 posts)according to the link.
LudwigPastorius
(8,943 posts)...even if it means she never sees freedom again.
usaf-vet
(6,092 posts)pecosbob
(7,502 posts)Not the company, not the Navy...
onetexan
(12,994 posts)Submariner
(12,483 posts)and if there is a female Master Chief she should be allowed to punch treason weasel Elaine in the mouth.
Let's hope no boats have a mechanical failure that dooms the boat and crew due to her deliberate negligence. What a horrible human being.
artemisia1
(756 posts)CMCPO's as well as parents of young sailors. She can answer their "questions"...
keldridge
(9 posts)This is horrifying. As a civil engineer myself I hate to see someone else compromising safety like this. And I hate it that it was another woman
area51
(11,868 posts)Owl
(3,629 posts)denbot
(9,894 posts)She did not commit her crimes in a vacuum. She was not the primary beneficiary of her acts. Prosecuting her is like clipping off the rattles of a diamond back. It's the bitey end that's the danger.
pecosbob
(7,502 posts)NutmegYankee
(16,177 posts)While the navy can destroy smaller parts for destructive testing like a Charpy test, once you get into $800,000+ castings, it really isn't an option. The production rate is very low. It's also going to legally dubious to fire someone in the procurement chain - the certification paperwork was properly filled out and signed by the foundry with a clear warning right on the sheet that fraudulent statements is a felony - what did you expect that person to do?
sakabatou
(42,082 posts)SheCat
(34 posts)Capitalism over country. Life in prison sounds right.
LunaSea
(2,892 posts)All the stories I'm finding manage to omit that detail.
Their execs and board have a lot of explaining to do.
"In June 2020, the company agreed to pay $10.9 million in a deferred-prosecution agreement.
When confronted with the doctored results, Thomas told investigators, Yeah, that looks bad, the Justice Department said. She suggested that in some cases she changed the tests to passing grades because she thought it was stupid that the Navy required the tests to be conducted at negative-100 degrees Fahrenheit (negative-73.3 degrees Celsius)."
keithbvadu2
(36,360 posts)But it was not 'stupid' for the Navy to pay her company for such testing not done?
Princess Turandot
(4,784 posts)Here's the DOJ announcement from June of last year.
Bradken Inc. pays $10.8 million to settle False Claims Act allegations and enters into deferred prosecution agreement. Former lab director charged criminally for falsifying test results--Tacoma foundry provided substandard steel components for naval submarines for 30 years
LunaSea
(2,892 posts)(your Highness)
EYESORE 9001
(25,811 posts)but the material is over engineered for very good reasons. Specifications are not written with the most extreme conditions likely to be encountered in mind. The requirements are often 2-3 times more stringent than that.
PSPS
(13,512 posts)JACK GODELL (Jack Lemon): Did you sign for these X rays?
D. B. ROYCE (Paul Larson): That's my signature. What about it?
JACK GODELL: You signed the same one over and over.
D. B. ROYCE: All the welds are fine.
JACK GODELL: How do you know if you didn't check?
D. B. ROYCE: Every weld I checked was fine.
JACK GODELL: How many didn't you check?
D. B. ROYCE: I said all the welds were fine.
JACK GODELL: How can you say all the welds are fine? The plant may not be safe.
D. B. ROYCE: That plant is perfectly safe.
JACK GODELL: We may have a serious problem. I don't have time to go through every X ray. I get a straight answer or else. Now, how many and which ones?
D. B. ROYCE: I don't remember.
---- ROYCE THROWS THE XRAYS IN A DRUM WHERE A FIRE IS BURNING
JACK GODELL: There's more where those came from. You know the procedures.
D. B. ROYCE: There's no problem. Don't make a problem. Those welds have held for six years. They'll hold for 6,000 more.
JACK GODELL: I'm goin' to the N.R.C.
---- GODELL WALKS QUICKLY TOWARD HIS CAR
D. B. ROYCE: Wait a minute.
---- ROYCE FOLLOWS GODELL AND TRIES TO GRAB HIS ARM
JACK GODELL: Get off me.
D. B. ROYCE: Think it over! You're talkin' about a billion-dollar lawsuit. It'll send them into receivership. Will you wait a minute? Slow down! Goddamn it!
---- ROYCE TRIES AGAIN TO GRAB GODELL'S ARM. GODELL GETS INTO HIS CAR.
JACK GODELL: Get your hands off me!
---- GODELL SPEEDS AWAY WHILE ROYCE YELLS AFTER HIM
D. B. ROYCE: You're not dealing with some pissant public utility company. This is Foster-Sullivan, one of the world's biggest construction companies. They've got their own security men. Do you hear what I'm saying? I hope I don't have to spell it out for you. You gotta think that over! Wait! They have their own security men!
krispos42
(49,445 posts)I watched it for the first time a few weeks ago
CanonRay
(14,036 posts)Get out of jail free card?
Backseat Driver
(4,333 posts)Last edited Tue Nov 9, 2021, 01:50 AM - Edit history (1)
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/bradken-inc-pays-108-million-settle-false-claims-act-allegations-and-enters-deferredFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 15, 2020
[snip] Bradken is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Kansas City, Missouri, operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Bradken Ltd. of Newcastle, Australia, which is a subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery. [snip]
LOL - I didn't explore any bios, if any. Wanna go to bed, hehehe - Go for it, explorers!
https://www.bradken.com/about-us/corporate-governance/
CanonRay
(14,036 posts)People go to jail.
niyad
(112,426 posts)calimary
(80,693 posts)If anything happens, SHES directly to blame. And I hope shell have to pay, BIGTIME.
harumph
(1,871 posts)ironflange
(7,781 posts)Backseat Driver
(4,333 posts)Australia Could Push To Acquire Retired US Navy Los Angeles Class Nuclear Submarines
Ex-Prime Minister floats using retired U.S. or U.K. nuclear submarines to bridge the gap until Australian-built ones can enter service.
The U.S. Navy has experience turning Los Angeles-class submarines into floating schoolhouses. This past summer, the ex-USS San Francisco completed its conversion from a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) to a moored training ship, MTS-711, now operating in Charleston, South Carolina. There it joined the converted former USS La Jolla, which began its new life in this training role last year. And while Abbott clearly is calling for a deployable vessel, not an MTS, if two subs were obtained, a moored training ship might be a valuable teaching tool to add.[snip] More...
More re HMS sub-building plans: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42418/uk-starts-work-on-a-new-nuclear-submarine-right-after-australia-says-its-looking-to-buy
Backseat Driver
(4,333 posts)Australia Could Push To Acquire Retired US Navy Los Angeles Class Nuclear Submarines
Ex-Prime Minister floats using retired U.S. or U.K. nuclear submarines to bridge the gap until Australian-built ones can enter service.
The U.S. Navy has experience turning Los Angeles-class submarines into floating schoolhouses. This past summer, the ex-USS San Francisco completed its conversion from a nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) to a moored training ship, MTS-711, now operating in Charleston, South Carolina. There it joined the converted former USS La Jolla, which began its new life in this training role last year. And while Abbott clearly is calling for a deployable vessel, not an MTS, if two subs were obtained, a moored training ship might be a valuable teaching tool to add.[snip] More...
More re HMS sub-building plans: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42418/uk-starts-work-on-a-new-nuclear-submarine-right-after-australia-says-its-looking-to-buy
NH Ethylene
(30,793 posts)It's too bad she didn't find that as abhorrent as the rest of us do.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)The Navy has not found that any of the steel is indeed weaker.
My question is, why would the Navy need testing at that temp?
Well, in August 2010 East Antarctica hit -135.8 degrees Fahrenheit. This year, 2021, it reached -135.3 degrees.
NutmegYankee
(16,177 posts)It proves the crystal structure is of a ductile form that wont crack or propagate cracks from a defect.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)NutmegYankee
(16,177 posts)The coldest temps are seen over land. The requirement is about ductility.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)I'm not trying to be oppositional, I'm trying to figure out the point I'm obviously missing.
My understanding:
In the Antarctic, the water can be 28.8 degrees Fahrenheit / minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.
When surfaced, the above water parts of the sub are subjected to temps as low as -89 deg Celsius (although that's mitigated somewhat by heat from inside and heat from the parts underwater).
When steel is cold, it can get brittle. Somewhere around -30 to -100 degrees Celsius, from what I understand, based on alloy, etc..
Ductility is the opposite of brittleness.
NutmegYankee
(16,177 posts)Steel that can perform well at -100 demonstrates that the heat treatment (tempering) was properly performed and has produced very high quality steel. It demonstrates steel that is resistant to cracking from fatigue cycling while maintaining high strength. Steel with poor heat treatment might pass a 0 degree test, but itll flunk a -100 every time.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)I think I finally get it. The "operating temps not the reason" was what I needed (along with the rest).
hunter
(38,264 posts)Nothing in writing, nothing explicitly said, but it was obvious they were looking for someone who demonstrated that kind of cost cutting "initiative."
Of course her employers knew. That's what they were paying her for.
It will be an injustice if she's the only one prosecuted.
Unfortunately with the decline of manufacturing in the United States this may be the only U.S. company that makes those sorts of steel components. The Navy may not have another U.S. supplier so they won't want to damage their relationship with this company.
Firestorm49
(4,002 posts)Slammer
(714 posts)"She suggested that in some cases she changed the tests to passing grades because she thought it was stupid that the Navy required the tests to be conducted at negative-100 degrees Fahrenheit".
FYI the bottom of the ocean ranges from 31 to 37 degrees.
So could it be argued that it was "stupid" that the tests be conducted at minus 100?
Sure...if you ignore that surface temps are much more harsh than underwater temps and a functional sub can't stay submerged forever.
But she was hired to do a job, not to personally figure out how stupid that job was and then secretly not do it.
Throw the book at her. Ten years and a million dollars isn't enough punishment, IMO.
Jimbo S
(2,952 posts)Signed the certs...or else...
I've worked in several foundries. I've witnessed one-step shy of what I described above.