| Soviet aircraft carrier Minsk | |
|---|---|
 Minsk in 1983 | |
| Career (Soviet Union ⁄ Russia) |   |
| Name: | Minsk |
| Namesake: | City of Minsk |
| Builder: | Chernomorskiy yard, Mykolayiv |
| Laid down: | December 28, 1972 [1] |
| Launched: | September 30, 1975 [1] |
| Commissioned: | September 27, 1978 [1] |
| Decommissioned: | 30 June 1993 |
| Fate: | Sold to China for use as museum, 1995 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: |
30,535 tons (standard) [1] 41,380 tons (loaded) [1] |
| Length: | 273 m overall[1] |
| Beam: |
49.2 m (161 ft) o/a 31 m (102 ft) w/l [1] |
| Draught: | 8.94 m[1] |
| Propulsion: | 4 shaft geared steam turbines, 140,000 shp |
| Speed: | 32 knots (59 km/h) |
| Endurance: | 13,500 nautical miles (25,000 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Armament: | 4 × twin SS-N-12 Sandbox SSM launchers (8 missiles), 2 × twin SA-N-3 Shtorm SAM launchers (72 missiles), 2 × twin SA-N-4 Gecko SAM launchers (40 missiles), 2 × twin 76 mm guns, 8 × AK-630 30 mm CIWS, 10 × 533 mm torpedo tubes, 1 × twin SUW-N-1 ASW rocket launcher (16 nuclear-tipped rockets), 2 × RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers |
| Aircraft carried: |
12 Yak-38M fighter aircraft 20 Kamov Ka-25 or Kamov Ka-27 helicopters |
Minsk is an aircraft carrier that served the Soviet Navy, and later the Russian Navy, from 1978 to 1994. She was the second Kiev-class vessel to be built.
History[]
Named after the capital city of Belarus, the Minsk was laid down in 1972, launched on 30 September 1975, completed on 27 September 1978, and decommissioned on 30 June 1993.
The Minsk operated with the Pacific Fleet. She was retired as a result of a major accident (details not known) which required the facilities at the Chernomorskiy yard, in Mykolayiv, located in the newly independent Ukraine (the reasons for not attempting a repair are not known). In 1995 she was sold to a South Korean businessman, and later resold to Shenzhen Minsk Aircraft Carrier Industry Company Limited, a Chinese company. Until 2006, when the company went bankrupt, Minsk was part of a military theme park in Yantian district, Shatoujiao (沙头角) sub-district, Shenzhen called Minsk World. The aircraft carrier was put up for auction on 22 March 2006. No bids at the starting price of 128 million RMB were received, so the carrier was withdrawn from sale. On 31 May 2006, the Soviet aircraft carrier was finally auctioned off in Shenzhen for 128 million RMB to CITIC Shenzhen,[2] the current operator. The panorama below shows the Aircraft Carrier at the CITIC Minsk World in Shenzhen, its current location. The park is open to the public.
See also[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minsk (ship, 1975). |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Project 1143". http://russian-ships.info/eng/warships/project_1143.htm. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
- ↑ Former Soviet aircraft carrier sold in China for $16mln
External links[]
- Official website
- "Bids fall short for ex-Soviet aircraft carrier"
- MaritimeQuest Minsk pages
- Satellite Photo of Minsk in the military theme park in Shenzhen from Google Maps
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Coordinates: 22°33′13″N 114°14′12″E / 22.55361°N 114.23667°E
The original article can be found at Soviet aircraft carrier Minsk and the edit history here.