Soviet aircraft carrier Kiev

This article is about the lead ship of the Soviet Kiev-class aircraft carrier. For other Kiev-class aircraft carrier, see Kiev-class aircraft carrier. For the cancelled helicopter carrier, see Soviet helicopter carrier Kiev. For other ships, see Kiev (ship).
Ex-Kiev at the Tianjin Binhai theme park in February 2010.
History
Russia
NameKiev
NamesakeKiev (Kyiv)
BuilderChernomorskiy yard, Nikolayev
Laid down21 July 1970
Launched26 December 1972
Commissioned28 December 1975
Decommissioned30 June 1993
FateSold to a Chinese company in 1996. Theme park in Tianjin since 1 May 2004.
General characteristics
Class and typeKiev-class aircraft cruiser
Displacement
  • 30,530 tons (standard) [1]
  • 41,370 tons (loaded) [1]
Length273.1 m (896 ft) o/a[1]
Beam
  • 49.2 m (161 ft) overall
  • 31 m (102 ft) at the waterline[1]
Draught8.95 m (29.4 ft)[1]
PropulsionFour shaft geared steam turbines, 140,000 shp (100 MW)
Speed32 kn (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Range13,500 nmi (25,000 km; 15,500 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement
  • 1,612 ship's crew
  • 430 air group
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

Kiev (Russian: Киев) is an aircraft carrier (heavy aircraft cruiser in Russian classification)[2] that served the Soviet Navy and the Russian Navy from 1975 to 1993. She was built between 1970 and 1975 at Chernomorski factory in Mykolaiv and was the first Kiev-class vessel to be built. She is currently part of a theme park in China.

  1. ^ a b c d e "Heavy Aircraft-Carrying Cruisers - Project 1143". russian-ships.info. 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  2. ^ Due to restrictions imposed by the Montreux Convention limiting the tonnage of aircraft carriers traveling through the Bosporus, all Soviet and Russian aircraft carriers are named as aircraft carrying cruisers. In the case of Kiev, this accurately reflects the ship's mission and weapons fit.