Kiev Aircraft Carrier Tianjin

4 Kiev class Aircraft Carrier/cruisers were built by the former Soviet Union in the 1970's. They are the Kiev, Minsk, Novorossiysk and Baku. Each ship had warship armaments including missiles with nuclear capability at the front, and at the side and back was the flight deck for fighter aircraft and helicopters. These ships saw active service during the 70's and 80's, finally coming to end in the early 90's. Two ships the Kiev and Minsk were bought by the Chinese, the Novorossiysk was scrapped and the Baku (renamed the Vikramaditya ) was sold to the Indian navy. Both the Kiev and Minsk have been converted into Theme parks in the city ports of Tianjin and Shenzhen.

Visiting the Kiev Aircraft Carrier is an eye-opening experience. It isn't often that one can view a real aircraft carrier close up. Personally I don't feel there is anything unusual in having a restored aircraft carrier as a theme park / museum. In the UK there is Nelson HMS Victory ship at Portsmouth, or HMS Belfast on the River Thames in London that people can visit.

Having the opportunity to view both the 'Kiev' aircraft carrier in Tianjin, and the 'Minsk' aircraft carrier *(another theme park) located in Shenzhen; I prefer the Kiev for 2 reasons. One - it is less touristy and two - there is more of the ship to see e.g. the missile room at the bow of the ship and the missile control centre.

To see the carrier it is best to catch a train from Tianjin to Tanggu and then by taxi travel north to Binhai military theme park.

By David Goorney

Видео Kiev Aircraft Carrier Tianjin канала Goorney