An unusual case of sabotage in the supply of steel for the production of submarines is being investigated in the United States. According to Popular Mechanics magazine, it turned out that the director of the foundry had been faking the results of steel strength tests for decades.
Elaine Marie Thomas, 67, of Auburn, Washington, is accused of falsifying the results of strength and toughness tests of at least 240 types of steel between 1985 and 2017. This is about half of the steel produced by the foundry for the Navy.
Submarine USS Vermont
Image source: apnews.com
"Elaine Marie Thomas never intended to violate the integrity of any material and is pleased that government tests do not indicate that the structural integrity of any submarine was actually violated. This crime is unique in that it was not motivated by greed or the desire for personal enrichment," said lawyer John Carpenter.
According to the accused, she faked the test results because she considered them "stupid". In particular, the Navy required that tests be conducted at a negative temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (-73.3 degrees Celsius).
According to Popular Mechanics, the accused considered this requirement unrealistic and simply ignored such tests. At the same time, there is a theoretical possibility that submarines can be subjected to similar temperatures — for example, surfacing in the ice of Antarctica, where the temperature can drop below -77 degrees Fahrenheit. However, officially American submarines are not used in this region.