High Mn austenitic stainless steel

1. An austenitic stainless steel alloy consisting essentially of, in terms of weight percent ranges:

4 to 15 Mn;

8 to 15 Ni;

14 to 16 Cr;

2.4 to 3 Al;

0.4 to 1 total of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Nb and Ta;

0.05 to 0.2 C;

0.01 to 0.02 B;

no more than 0.3 of combined Ti+V;

up to 3 Mo;

up to 3 Co;

up to 1 W;

up to 3 Cu;

up to 1 Si;

up to 0.05 P;

up to 1 total of at least one element selected from the group consisting of Y, La, Ce, Hf, and Zr;

less than 0.05 N; and base Fe,

wherein the weight percent Fe is greater than the weight percent Ni, and wherein said alloy forms an external continuous scale comprising alumina, nanometer scale sized particles distributed throughout the microstructure, said particles comprising at least one composition selected from the group consisting of NbC and TaC, and a stable essentially single phase FCC austenitic matrix microstructure, said austenitic matrix being essentially delta-ferrite-free and essentially BCC-phase-free.

2. An austenitic stainless steel HTUPS alloy in accordance with claim 1 wherein the Mn weight percent range is 5-14.

3. An austenitic stainless steel HTUPS alloy in accordance with claim 2 wherein the Mn weight percent range is 6-14.

4. The austenitic stainless steel alloy of claim 1 , wherein said austenitic stainless steel alloy comprises 0 vol-% BCC-phase.

5. The austenitic stainless steel HTUPS alloy in accordance with claim 4 wherein the Mn weight percent range is 5-14.