I do not know enough about the behaviour of steel under the conditions of the pressure of water at the maximum operating depth of those submarines to comment. All I can conjecture is that -100 degrees at zero pressure differential has been mapped to 26 degrees at maximum dive. Elaine Marie Thomas is in my opinion an arrogant know-it-all little bitch.

If the tests were improper because of the temperature requirement then it looks to me like they should have failed. Tests aren't perfect any more than tested material is perfect.
Safely critical tests are meant to cover all the bases. Cutting corners is not allowed.
Again, if the test criteria needed to be changed then the tests should have failed.

I wonder what her motivation was. Was she cutting time/costs for the company?
I know that there can be a fine line between cutting costs and cutting corners but the test criteria seem pretty clear here. Clear enough that they convicted her (she pleaded guilty) of fraud.

@RichCC anything tested to Mil Spec standards commands a Hefty premium price! As always, follow the money!

@AnneWimsey
I read the US has 66 submarines currently. She pleaded guilty to altering test results from 1985 to 2017.
It sounds like they've bounded the problem and are working to control it.

From a different article

The Pentagon took delivery of dozens of submarines between 1985 and 2017, about 40 of which are still in service.

I remember a desktop lab equipment project for Hewlett-Packard as a customer (it was for a tunable laser they wanted to build) where one of their requirements was that it survive a 300G shock.

The device obviously wasn't safety critical and that sounds outrageous until you look closely and realize that it's just a 6 ft drop onto a concrete floor.
It was difficult but not completely out of the question. We failed the first time and redesiged.