Soule Steel Company

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YC 1073 Barge (non-self-propelled) built in 1945 by Soule Steel
Edw. L Soulé Campany's main office on Army street in San Francisco, California in 1923
Edward L Soulé founder of Soulé Steel Company in 1905

Soule Steel Company was a manufacturer of fabricated steel building products. The main office was in San Francisco, California with branch offices in Los Angeles, California, Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. Soule Steel worked on major construction projects like: the reinforcing steel on the footings for the Golden Gate Bridge, California Memorial Stadium at University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco high rises buildings, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Vincent Thomas Bridge, Space Needle and the Grand Coulee Dam.[1][2][3][4] For World War 2 Soule Steel built landing crafts and floating derricks for seaplane moving, a class YSD-11 Class Seaplane Wrecking Derrick in the Terminal Island shipyard. Soule Steel also built steel barges for the war. After the war the shipyard built some tuna fishing ships.[5] Soule Steel was started by Edward Soulé in 1911. Edward Soulé was a civil engineer in San Francisco and saw the damage done by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. So, in 1911 started a steel rebar business, called Edw. L Soulé Campany to help make new buildings stronger. The company name was changed in 1927 to Soule Steel Company. The family-owned business grew and at its peak had nine 9 fabrication shops, a steel mill (1959 in Long Beach, California), a division for building steel buildings, and a steel window and doors division. Edw. L Soulé retired in 1945 and Stanley Soul continued the company, and later Edward Lee Soule Jr. (1917-2003) and his brothers: Howard Stephen Soule (1924-2010), Lee Soule and Peter Soule. Soule Steel and Zamil Steel founded a joint venture in 1930. Soule family was also a family of philanthropy and gave to many charities. Soule Steel closed in 1986. The San Francisco plant and Portland plant are now business centers. The Wilmington Ave Los Angeles plant is now The Plaza Americana. The Seattle plant is now Ferguson Plumbing warehouse. The Phoenix site is now a food court. San Jose site is a vacant lot. Fresno site is now apartments.[6][7][8][9]

Soulé Software[]

Third-generation Soule, Sandy Soule, started Soulé Software based in Valencia, California, which is also run by fourth-generation Soule, Kevin Soule. Soulé Software product is Contract management software, that also supports rebar fabrication and placers.[10]

Built for World War 2[]

Soule Steel produced tons of rebar for the war effort.[11]

LCM(3) and LCM(6)[]

Landing Craft Mechanized in 1943

For the war Soule Steel built LCM(3) and LCM(6), these are Landing Craft Mechanized Mark 3 and Mark 6.[12]

Seaplane Wrecking Derrick[]

Seaplane Wrecking Derrick

Soule Steel San Francisco plant built SD-11 Class Seaplane Wrecking Derrick for the US Navy for World War 2:

  • YSD 60 Worked 17th Naval District for WW2, remove Navy 1 December 1977, transferred to the City of Long Beach, CA, 15 December 1999, abandoned on Terminal Island in 2008.[13]
  • YSD 61 Worked 13th Naval District at Whidbey Island, remove Navy and sold on 27 October 1960 to Western Marine Construction, Inc., Seattle, WA, (ON 284150) in 1961, abandoned on Snohomish River in 2011.[14]
  • YSD 62 Worked Roi, Kwajalein for WW2, move from Kwajalein to Pearl Harbor aboard Whetstone (LSD-27) in 1947. removed by 1967.[15]
  • YSD 63 Worked din Guam and Saipan for WW2, worked Subic Bay, remove from Navy 16 July 1993.[16]
  • YSD 64, became Sandcaster YM-31. Worked Fourteenth Naval District at Pearl Harbor, to Ulithi in 1945, Towed to Kerama Retto, Okinawa by (ARS-16) in 1945, worked Fourteenth Naval District to 1955, worked as Service Craft Unit 1 for diving school at Pearl in 1958, made YM-31 in 1968, rename Sandcaster on 14 December 1968. worked Vietnam, hit Mine on Cua Viet River, Vietnam with 7 Vietnam crew killed on 25 February 1971, remove Navy on 1 September 1972. scrap on 21 February 1973.[17]
  • YSD 65 Worked 13th Naval District at NAS Tongue Point, removed Navy on 15 June 1974, sold 7 April 1975 to WIlliam H. Weber, Long Beach, CA, as Hiawatha (ON 565326) in 1976, out of service in 2005[18]

Steel barges[]

LCM-3 at Battleship Cove

Soule Steel built steel barges for the US Navy for World War 2, a Type B ship.

Hull type Name Type Tons Length Delivered Notes
YC 1073 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1074 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1075 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1076 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1077 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1078 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1079 Open Lighter 138 110 1945 Later renamed YRB 22, YR 92, sold 2005
YC 1080 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1081 Open Lighter 138 110 1945 Scuttled off Oahu 2019[19]
YC 1082 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1083 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1084 Open Lighter 138 110 1945 Later renamed YFNX 46, active[20]
YC 1085 Open Lighter 138 110 1945 [21]
YC 1086 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1087 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1088 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1107 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1108 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YC 1109 Open Lighter 138 110 1945
YF 436 Covered Lighter 80 95 1943 Later renamed YCK 16, disposed of 1946
YF 437 Covered Lighter 75 80 1943 Later renamed YCK 17
YF 438 Covered Lighter 75 80 1943 Later renamed YCK 18, disposed of 1946
YF 439 Covered Lighter 75 80 1943 Later renamed YCK 19, disposed of 1946
YF 440 Covered Lighter 75 80 1943 Later renamed YCK 20, Later renamed YD 173
YF 441 Covered Lighter 75 80 1943 Later renamed YCK 21, disposed of 1948
YF 442 Covered Lighter 75 80 1943 Later renamed YCK 22, disposed of 1948
YCK 29 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 30 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 31 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 32 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 33 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 34 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 35 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 36 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 37 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Lost 1945
YCK 38 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 39 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Lost 1945
YCK 49 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 50 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YCK 51 Open Lighter 75 80 1943 Disposed of 1947
YFN 808 Covered Lighter 170 110 1943
YFN 809 Covered Lighter 170 110 1943
YFN 810 Covered Lighter 170 110 1943
YFN 811 Covered Lighter 170 110 1943
YFN 812 Covered Lighter 170 110 1943
YFN 813 Covered Lighter 170 110 1943 To MARAD 1946

See also[]

  • California during World War II
  • Maritime history of California

References[]

  1. ^ Soule Steel Company News letter 1968
  2. ^ "SOULE', Edward Lee Jr". Sfgate.com. 2003-09-03. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  3. ^ Soule Steel Company Products
  4. ^ Soulé Steel Company : building the West, by John L Van Landingham, book [2002
  5. ^ Pacific marine review 1945, Page 53
  6. ^ Soulé salute; published printed for Soulé Steel War Workers
  7. ^ Howard Stephen Soule, September 2, 2011
  8. ^ Stanley Eldon Soule. "Stanley Soule Obituary (2003) - Los Angeles, CA - Los Angeles Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  9. ^ "Other Wartime Pacific Coast Boatbuilders". Shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  10. ^ "Soule Software Inc. - We offer a Complete Software Suite for Rebar Fabricators and Placers". Soulesoftware.com. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  11. ^ Inland Steel page 198
  12. ^ Small Landing Craft - LCM
  13. ^ YSD 60 navsource
  14. ^ YSD 61 navsource
  15. ^ YSD 62 navsource
  16. ^ YSD 63 navsource
  17. ^ YSD 64 navsource
  18. ^ YSD 65 navsource
  19. ^ "Naval Vessel Register - NO NAME (YC 1081)". Nvr.navy.mil. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  20. ^ "Naval Vessel Register - NO NAME (YFNX 46)". Nvr.navy.mil. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  21. ^ "Naval Vessel Register - NO NAME (YC 1075)". Nvr.navy.mil. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
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