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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Former Minsk aircraft carrier now Chinese-owned | |
| 2006-06-02 | |
| The Minsk, a Soviet-built aircraft carrier-turned-theme park, has been sold to a state-owned Chinese company for 128m yuan (£8.6m) and will continue to operate as an amusement venue, the buyers said yesterday. The 43,000-ton Kiev-class carrier was put up for sale after the company that bought it in 1998 and turned it into a floating theme park in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen went bankrupt. The attraction is popular with visitors from nearby Hong Kong, and has now been bought by the CITIC Shenzhen Group, which says it is working out a development plan.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 It's a bit deep for SCUBA, You'll need Helium mix, Navy divers went down wednesday, they said the hulk was clearing rapidly (Silt, I guess) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-06-02 14:46 |
| #8 How soon will Oriskany be opened for scuba diving? |
| Posted by: Hu Jintao 2006-06-02 11:50 |
| #7 "It is said that a navy unit has built a simulated flying deck at its airport in northern China. The design of the Melbourne was taken for reference." There is also supposed to be another in one of the coastal regions. |
| Posted by: Fordesque 2006-06-02 11:12 |
| #6 Parts of the Minsk glow in the dark, I believe. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2006-06-02 11:08 |
| #5 8.6m pounds for a 43kt Minsk class helicopter carrier!!!(?) That's extremely cheap by any standards - wonder what all was wrong with the beast (the Minsk class was considered dogmeat in any significant clash between the US 6th/2nd Fleets and the Soviets during the cold war as I understand). Somebody oughtta' tell Bill Gates he can buy his own combat fleet from Russia. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2006-06-02 10:55 |
| #4 I advise them to stick with the Melbourne class. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-06-02 09:25 |
| #3 So, 4 carriers in all for study... |
| Posted by: john 2006-06-02 07:11 |
| #2 In 1985 China purchased the 17,000-ton former Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne as scrap, and she was finally broken up in Dalian, China. According to some reports stated that as late as 1994 the ship was still in existence at Guangzhou, China, being studied by Chinese naval architects. The hulk had been stripped of all useful equipment prior to sale, but Australian Navy sources reportedly said that the Chinese were particularly interested in the ship's steam catapult - even requesting the operating manuals. It is said that a navy unit has built a simulated flying deck at its airport in northern China. The design of the Melbourne was taken for reference. Reportedly, the airborne troops of the navy have used the deck to carry out numerous flying tests. The improved deck adopted the optical landing system designed and developed by China. n May 2000 the Tianma Shipbreaking Company in Tianjin purchased the Kiev from Russia. While the initial contract required that the ship be scrapped, the contract was renogatiated so that the Kiev would become a tourist attraction at the Beiyang Recreation Harbor. By 2000 it had managed to acquire three soviet carriers: Minsk, Kiev, and Varyag |
| Posted by: john 2006-06-02 07:10 |
| #1 Unless the Commies push back or scale back their "war is inevitable" war docu-plans, and no matter how modernized by the Chicoms, the best way to save these ships in any TAIWAN-PACIFIC shooting war against the US Navy-Allies is to keep 'em in port, to use them by not using them. In any case, China will likely use these as follow-on, second- or third-strike, etc. expendable assets in support of their front-line airborne forces and boomer subs. "Show-the-flag", read - wives kids and tea parties; or in any scenario where the USN-RN-JMSDF is not around to blow 'em to smithereenies. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-06-02 01:26 |