Soviet aircraft carrier Minsk

Minsk in 1983
Career (Soviet Union ⁄ Russia)
Name:	Minsk
Builder:	Chernomorskiy yard, Nikolayev
Laid down:	1972
Launched:	30 September 1975
Commissioned:	27 September 1978
Decommissioned:	30 June 1993
Fate:	Sold to China for use as museum, 1995
General characteristics
Displacement:	42,000 tons full load
Length:	273.1 m overall
Beam:	31.0 m
Draught:	8.2 m
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 in the Pacific Fleet. The ship had to be retired as a result of a major accident which could only be repaired at Chernomorski facility, located in the newly-independent Ukraine. 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 No bids at the starting price of 128 million RMB were received, so the carrier was withdrawn from sale.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,^[1] the current operator.

See also

• List of aircraft carriers of Russia and the Soviet Union

References

1. ^ 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

Coordinates: 22°33′13″N 114°14′12″E / 22.55361°N 114.23667°E / 22.55361; 114.23667