Washington Steel Corporation was a highly successful post-war

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's r ...

production company, located in

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...

. Washington Steel was the first U.S. company to use a Sendzimir Mill, invented by Polish inventor

Tadeusz Sendzimir Tadeusz Sendzimir (originally Sędzimir; July 15, 1894 in Lwów – September 1, 1989 in Jupiter, Florida) of Ostoja coat of arms was a Polish engineer and inventor of international renown with 120 patents in mining and metallurgy, 73 of which were ...

to cold-roll stainless steel. Washington Steel was founded in 1945 by

T. S. Fitch Tecumseh Sherman Fitch (21 March 1908 – 7 October 1969) was the founder and CEO of Washington Steel Corporation. He was the great-grandson of Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman. He graduated from Yale University in 1931, when he joined ...

who was a member of the U.S.

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Su ...

from 1942 to 1944. As a member of the Board's Steel Division, he saw a Sendzimir Cold Rolling Mill in operation, and began to appreciate its potential value for rolling stainless steel into thin, high-accuracy sheets. Washington Steel began production in 1947, with a 39-inch Z-mill much wider than any previously produced (it cost $278,000, installed). It operated two Sendzimir mills, which were equipped with Pratt and Whitney flying micrometers, capable of rolling 36-inch and 48-inch wide stainless sheet. The light-gauge stainless steel had exceptional dimensional accuracy and surface quality, and in its first year of operation the company posted net income of $237,000. Sales in 1948 were $4.6 million, and by 1954, more than quadrupled to $19 million. The company's ability to achieve dimensional precision in strong, light-gauge steel quickly won favor in the aerospace industry, and was used in the

Atlas missile The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Di ...

, which served as the launch vehicle for NASA's

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

. This sent

John Glenn John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was an American Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling ...

, the first American into earth orbit in 1962. Washington Steel supplied Atlas missile with AISI grade 301, a special cold-rolled sustenitic steel. The company was listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...

under the symbol WSS on Feb 7, 1968, and remained there until its purchase by Blount, Inc. in 1979. Washington Steel was purchased by Lukens Steel Company in April 1992 for $274 million. In 1998, Bethlehem Steel Corp. acquired Lukens Steel and this included Washington Steel. In 1999, Bethlehem Steel, the owner of Lukens Steel at the time, declared bankruptcy and sold off the

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

and

Massillon Jean-Baptiste Massillon, Oratory of Jesus, CO (24 June 1663, Hyères – 28 September 1742, Beauregard-l'Évêque), was a French Catholic prelate and famous preacher who served as Bishop of Clermont from 1717 until his death. Biography Early y ...

mills to Allegheny Teledyne. The remaining mills from the Washington Steel acquisition were closed, citing strong competition in the stainless steel market as the cause. Allegheny used the assets of the Washington steel Division to improve its finishing capacity for sheet and strip.

References

{{Authority control Steel companies of the United States Manufacturing companies established in 1945 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1992 1945 establishments in Pennsylvania Defunct manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania