Sunday, October 12, 2008

Soviet aircraft carrier Minsk

''Minsk'' is an aircraft carrier that served the Soviet Navy, and later the Russian Navy, from 1978 to 1994. She was the second -class vessel to be built.

History


''Minsk'' was laid down in 1972, launched on 30 September 1975, completed on 27 September 1978, and decommissioned on 30 June 1993.

Minsk operated in the Pacific Fleet. She had to be retired as a result of a major accident which could only be repaired at Chernomorksi's 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 Co. Ltd.'', a company. Until 2006, when the company went bankrupt, ''Minsk'' was part of a military theme park in Shatoujiao 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 No bids at the starting price of 128 million were received, so the carrier was withdrawn from sale.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, the current operator.

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