Editing General Dynamics Electric Boat (section)

=== 1980s structural welding defect cover up ===
In the early 1980s, structural welding defects had been covered up by falsified inspection records, and this led to significant delays and expenses in the delivery of several submarines being built at Electric Boat's shipyard. In some cases, the repairs resulted in practically dismantling and then rebuilding what had been a nearly completed submarine. The yard tried to pass the vast cost overruns directly on to the Navy, while Admiral [[Hyman G. Rickover]] demanded from Electric Boat's general manager P. Takis Veliotis that the yard make good on its "shoddy" workmanship.{{citation_needed|date=August 2019}}

The Navy eventually settled with General Dynamics in 1981, paying out $634 million of $843 million in ''Los Angeles''-class submarines cost-overrun and reconstruction claims. As it happened, the Navy was also the yard's insurer, liable to compensate the company for losses and other mishaps. The concept of reimbursing General Dynamics under these conditions was initially considered "preposterous," in the words of Secretary of the Navy [[John Lehman]], but the eventual legal basis of General Dynamics' reimbursement claims to the Navy for the company's poor workmanship included insurance compensation.<ref name=TimeDec84>{{Cite magazine | issn = 0040-781X | last = Van Voorst | first = Bruce |author2=Thomas Evans | title = Overrun Silent, Overrun Deep | magazine = Time | access-date = 19 March 2009 | date = 24 December 1984 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951382,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050113073258/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951382,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 13 January 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine | issn = 0040-781X | last = Alexander | first = Charles P. |author2=Christopher Redman |author3=John E. Yang |author-link3=John Yang (journalist) | title = General Dynamics Under Fire | magazine = Time | access-date = 20 March 2009 | date = 8 April 1985 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965505-4,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080423234106/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965505-4,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 23 April 2008 }}</ref> Veliotis was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury under racketeering and fraud charges in 1983 for demanding $1.3 million in [[Kickback (bribery)|kickback]]s from a subcontractor. He escaped into exile and a life of luxury in his native Greece, where he remained a fugitive from justice.<ref>{{Cite magazine | issn = 0040-781X | title = The Fugitive Accuser | magazine = Time | access-date = 20 March 2009 | date = 8 April 1985 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965528,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080423234111/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,965528,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 23 April 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Defense Contracts – News – Times Topics – The New York Times – Narrowed by 'VELIOTIS, P TAKIS' | access-date = 20 March 2009 | url = http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/defense_contracts/index.html?query=VELIOTIS,%20P%20TAKIS&field=per&match=exact | first=Wayne | last=Biddle| work = The New York Times }}</ref><!--[http://www.nationarchive.com/Summaries/v239i0020_06.htm] dead link-->