General Dynamics vs. the U.S. Navy
Wikipedia does not police itself.
President Carter signed a defense bill in October 1978 settling a long and contentious dispute between the U.S. Navy and General Dynamics Corporation over excess costs in building SSN-688 Los Angeles-class attack submarines that amounted to $634 million. The settlement was negotiated by Navy Secretary Graham Claytor and Assistant Secretary of the Navy Edward Hildalgo with senior management of General Dynamics Corporation. Graham Claytor served as SECNAV until August 24, 1979. He was succeeded by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Edward Hildalgo who served as SECNAV until January 20, 1981.
An Op-Ed piece in TIME magazine dated December 24, 1984 by Evan Thomas reads “Meanwhile, the Navy settled with General Dynamics, paying $634 million of $843 million in excess costs claimed by the company for construction of the SSN-688 Los Angeles-class attack submarines.”
In 2005, a Wikipedia researcher wrote and included in Secretary Lehman’s biography that “he sided with General Dynamics after it had falsified inspection records to hide welding flaws on submarines and pushed a settlement that paid more 600 million dollars.” The researcher used the TIME magazine article as the source for the statement. The Op-Ed piece in TIME magazine does not say Secretary Lehman participated in the settlement, nor does it say Secretary Lehman sided with General Dynamics in the dispute.
Secretary of the Navy John Lehman was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and took office in February 1981. The settlement was reached in October 1978 when President Jimmy Carter signed the legislation that settled the dispute. The Carter administration, not the Reagan administration, was responsible for the settlement with General Dynamics.
The Wikipedia researcher misused the TIME magazine Op-Ed piece and made a serious charge that is patently wrong. Ironically, Secretary Lehman had numerous disputes with General Dynamics during his tenure, 1981-1987. A partial list of newspaper articles on this subject is listed below.
Sources:
- Patrick Tyler. Running Critical: The Silent War, Rickover, and General Dynamics. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
- Evan Thomas. TIME magazine. “Overrun Silent, Overrun Deep.” TIME magazine. December 24, 1984.
- New York Times. “General Dynamics Draws Penalties on Navy Dealings.” May 22, 1985
- Chicago Tribune. “Navy Scuttles Big Contracts.” May 22, 1985.
- United Press International. “Navy Secretary John Lehman Tuesday Froze Up to $1 billion in payments on new contracts at General Dynamics Corp.” May 22, 1985
- Los Angeles Times. “Navy Freezes Contracts at General Dynamics: Firm fined, accused of Ignoring Public Trust; Rickover Censured for accepting $67,000 in Gifts.” May 22, 1985.
- Government Accounting Office, Washington, DC. “The Navy’s 1978 Shipbuilding Claims Settlement with General Dynamics Corporation.” February 20 1985.