laststandonzombieisland

Sixth Fleet images, some 40 years ago this month.

How about this surreal photo of a 44,000-ton Soviet Kiev class (Project 1143 Krechyet) “heavy aviation cruiser” (CVHG) seen from across the deck of a Sovremenny class destroyer, Mediterranean, August 1986.

And this full-length version, sans Sovremenny:

How the Kiev and the Sovremenny stack up to the rest of the fleet:

The above CVGH is believed to be the Minsk, which was built along the shores of the Black Sea at Chernomorsky Shipyard 444 (now Mykolaiv SY) and entered service in 1978.

After Cold War service, she was laid up in poor condition in 1993 and sold for scrap, then resold to a group of Chinese video-game arcade owners to be turned into a floating entertainment park. That fell through, and she has been all but abandoned and is the subject of urban explorers.