🎁📚Check out my new coffeetable book with a lot of military installations, ships, industrial places and other amazing abandoned places: exploringtheunbeatenpath.myonline.store/ 🎁📚
great job penetrating the Minsk. With the current witch hunt campaign on foreign spies what you did there is crazy. Hope you are out of China already as of now otherwise get out asap before the PSB pick this footage up. Good luck and Godspeed. BTW, since you been to Fukushima i wonder if u still have a geiger counter with you, pull it out and just take a look at it once in a while as u explore China. Chances are there are places where the readings are higher than Fukushima inside some civilian buildings. My allegation is controversial but i would like you to find out for yourself what the media does not know.
Hello, want to ask you is there any late BlackFriday or CyberMonday deal please? I have both 1 & 2 signed copy and want to support you with 3rd book but shipping its really high…
The 🎶 at the end .....i would of returned too....I guess next time you adventures a old ship bring a mask...the lead paint and of those old ships...be safe brother .... im a sailor...so yeah just b3 safe and keep the cool videos comming
😮I am a retired US submarine sonar tech and it was weird seeing many of the weapons systems that I studied and learned about sitting there. It's always fun to see the other side
Definitely a brave mission. The Mig in the ship is a Mig 27, a modified version of the Mig 23. The 23 was a powerful interceptor, while the 27 was a so-called air-to-ground support bomber. During my military service with the NVA in the late 80s, I worked as an aircraft mechanic on the MiG 23.
@@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath Hello I did some research and here is what I got. So the tip of the nose looks like the one that a MiG27M and MiG23BN have but judging from some of the panel placements near the air intake Id say it looks more like a MiG23BN or at least a ground attack version of a MiG23. What makes me really think that its a MiG23BN from at least the look of the plane is the fact that it looks like it has the 23mm GSh-23L cannon if this was a mig27 it would have come with the 30mm GSh-6-30 cannon so the belly of the plane would have looked a bit diffrent if it could house it. So Id say its a Ground attack configuration of a mig23.
You can also tell by the fact that China never had MiG-27s the planes didn't come from the soviets as they're not carrier capable. The Minsk operated with Yak-38Ms. These MiG-23s were actually bought from Egypt and the reason they're found in this 'abandoned' soviet ship is that it was a theme park called Minsk world. The aircraft and weapons were transfered there as an attraction. It was only moved to Zhousan 8 years ago with the theme park becoming unprofitable and the ship changing owners
In 1980 I was on the US Navy ship USS Merrill that trailed the Minsk on a voyage from Vladivostok to Vietnam. During the trip one of their YaK-38 aircraft attempted a straight on take-off from the deck without using it's vertical take-off engine. It went into the water and straight to the bottom. Pilot was lost.
@@andrewdeboer7435 Yak sold their VTOL designs to Lockheed after the collapse of the soviet union. Look at the details like the rotating vectoring nozzle in the back on the yak141/F35. The harrier has a different design. Do you think Lockheed spends hundrets of millions for usless russian crap designs they can't use?
All this talk of Yaks and 35s. Good old British ingenuity was 50 years ahead of the F35 and at least 20 before the Yak and didn't suffer from energy bleed off in high G manoeuvrers.
I love his videos but they make me sad in a different way. I see those giant buildings or this ship filled with weapons and I know I will propably never see that in real life. It hurts my Urbex Heart
It's a pity that she was destroyed by a fire yesterday . I come from Shenzhen , Guangdong Province . Before 2016, the Minsk docked in Shenzhen as a museum . I visited it almost every year when I was a child . I didn't expect that the Minsk was abandoned for many years after being towed to Jiangsu and was destroyed by a fire yesterday . I am very heartbroken . The Minsk is my childhood memory.😢
I've visited Minsk in 2014 when she was a Museums ship in Shenzhen. It's really nice to see the update of her. There were more aircraft on the flight deck back then, at least 2 Mi-24s and 2 MiG-23s, one of them is MiG-23UB. Her sister Kiev is currently in Tianjin as another museum. It is also worth a visit.
It is Mig-27, as it has a targeting device in the nose. Mig23B and especially Mig23UB (учебно-боевой uchebno boevoy - training-fighter) has different cone
I was a US carrier sailor on Enterprise and Truman, wild to see this side of an old soviet carrier. Im glad you tried to see the lower engineering sections but backed out. Thats where I lived, below decks. I recognize all those engineering spaces in comparison to my experience, really neat to see. The last two minutes of the actual tour before you leave, that seemed liked the second deck down, which on our ships and judging by what I saw the Minsk too, is where the majority of the ship lived. thats where the galleys (which we saw the last bits of), stores, offices, medical dental, all that general bulk of living was down there, which was gutted for infastructure, then it seemed you went down one more deck where a lot of our berthings were, and what appeared to me to be gutted berthings, around 49:51. Anyways, good shit, thank you for this. Irecognize all those engineering spaces in comparison to my experience.
The sailors lived from 2 to 5 decks. There is a phrase in the video that there was foreign equipment on board. It is not true. Most likely it got on the ship after its sale. (I served on this cruiser)
@@dmitrymal7380 do you know the reason why the Minsk was retired? The ships' Wiki page simply states it was an "unknown accident" Also the Western equipment in the video at 41:39 looks to be a radio direction finder - I can barely make out the "ADF" (automatic direction finder) tag in the upper left hand corner. Not a bad piece of gear to have on a Soviet ship that may be operating in proximity of western nations where it could be utilized - even if you had to go through Western sources to get it. This ADF looks a lot like JRC equipment of that era which was manufactured in Japan and probably would be easy to obtain.
When her sister ship Kiev first opened as a theme park in 2004 I was only 8. My dad took me to Tianjin to see Kiev as soon as it opened since she was only an hour away from where I lived. I vividly remember that even back then Kiev wasn't in a good shape. Iirc she was saved from the scrap yard by a private buyer, so it was expected for her internals to be a wreck. There weren't tours to the bridge or anything, just some make shift rails and security tapes hanging across some hallways where tourists weren't supposed to walk down. We were able to go into Kiev's bridge tho, and it was likewise a wreck. Navigation panels and screens were all shattered and there were some broken canvas maps, or something like that. There was a Yak-38M parked on the deck and some old Kamov choppers. Good times
There are very few TH-cam videos that I will both focus my entire attention to, and watch to the end. This is definitely one of them. Such a cool job preserving a piece of history.
@@loganstroganoff1284 well you can look at cuniform clay tablets in museums and see magistrates notes discussing property boundary disputes and complex tax disputes. Humans work out how to solve problems. Its nothing new.
"Two is one, and one is none." The fact that you had a second rope wasn't luck; it was proper planning. AWAYS double up on mission-critical gear. Lose a tripod? Meh - carry on. Run out of rope? Mission over. Bravely well done, Sir.
I am a retired Marine Engineer and I spent most of my life in Engine Rooms. Whenever I visit museum ships, my interest is mostly below decks where guys like me kept the lights on and the ship moving, however so many ships have had the engine rooms gutted for scrap - I reckon that is what happened to Minsk too. Joe Public is not interested in cramped machinery spaces , so the new owners can recoup some costs by scrapping them. RMS Queen Mary had (then) revolutionary design Yarrow boilers - all scrapped - and one Engine Room was sold too. Aircraft carrier Enterprise in New York - when I asked about the Engine Room was told "that's too dangerous to allow the public access" -bollocks - I reckon they gutted them for scrap. The man who knows everything about the ship and how she works is not the Captain ( Master) , but the Chief Engineer - despite the fiction of Hollywood, John Wayne and Captain James T Kirk.
If you can, go visit USS Hornet then. I had a hard hat tour with a former engineer on a sistership, and he was glad to answer all my geeky questions about his job on the ship. Boilers and engines are still there. ❤
@@docthorr yes the Hornet's engine room is in fantastic shape. If you are ever in Bremerton visit the Turner Joy which also still has a well kept engine room and she is still functioning on regular old shore power connection.
Great job on getting aboard that ship! As a current Dutch Navy chief petty officer, this was very interesting to see! Thanks for taking such risks to show us these abandoned gems 🔥🔥🔥
wow, interesting. In italy we were about to have a museum ship too, the Huge cruiser Vittorio Veneto (C-550). Sadly l, due to the crisis and the cut to military expenses we didn’t manage to restore it but something like that would have been beautiful, however have you ever seen that ship or also an italian one?
Dang Bob, nerves of steel buddy. I think this was probably top 5 ships you have explored. It really boggles my mind on the amount of security for this hulk, it's like it's still a navel ship in use. Thanks for taking such risks for us to see. Sorry for your loss of your dad, I just lost my wife of 20 years in Oct. Keep safe.
And my respect and admiration you took to swim to get to this abandoned relic. Can only imagine the staging that would have taken place to get there. Awesome!
Man you are so wholesome it's almost adorable, risking your life to get this footage, and then thanking the people in the comments? Brilliant work, and brilliant man!
stupidly, honestly soviet ships tend to have 1 centralized damage control center, the problems of which, if not immediately obvious, i'll summarize: what the fuck happens when the damage control center is hit
USAF Cold War Veteran; So glad I found your channel. When the Minsk was accepted into the Soviet Navy I was only 12 years old, but because of my Dad's service in the US Navy back during the Korean War I knew by then what "The Cold War" was. I'm so glad that you made the Journey & Thank the Lord that you made it safely. The knowledge you obtained is wonderful & I;m so curious to see next what you do as a journey
Thank you Bob for being an urban exploler, and thank you for bringing us to all of these amazing places! You are the most inspiring exploler in the world! 🥷🏽🤩 The ship is epic! Such a beauty! Hugs from Hungary🙋🏽♀️
1999年左右明斯克号航母世界在深圳的时候我去参观过。I visited it which was a aircraft’s career theme park when it was in Shenzhen around 1999. Thanks for bringing back my childhood memories.
mwah, the video`s are taken with a drone, lol, high quality, so recorded recently. Solo mission, but working with a team is not really called a solo mission, but who cares, it makes fun content, but don`t believe everything what is on the internet...🤣 Fun fact, as also seen in lots of movies, everything is wet, but look, the most important thing, my camera, wow, complete dry....😂 That the rest is wet, who cares, lol. Also, on the way to the Minsk it was raining and everything went wet.....uh.......he swim to the Minsk.....last time i checked is that water is still wet, haha. Love the content, but such fun mistakes makes a channel fun to watch....
The guards are probably all fired. After this got out and the economic situation in China. It's so bad that they'll problem. Never have a stable job again
Thank you very much for video. As an ex-sailor, it was quite interesting to see. Please ensure you have a buddy with you in such trips, since you may get into a dangerous situation and may need assistance to get back to safe location. The deck was corroded in the engine room area and you might get injured due to rusted parts giving way. Take care. God bless.
Jeetje Bob je hebt jezelf wel weer overtroffen! Het is zo onwerkelijk wat je allemaal doet om deze prachtige beelden te laten zien van een bijna surrealistische wereld voor ons westerlingen. Bedankt!
This was an epic solo exploration and also extremely dangerous but I think it was well worth the risks to see what was there. I wonder if there are any active leaks or water intrusion on the very bottom levels. Thank you for taking us with you to see the inside of this vessel. Stay safe!
Rick, thanks a million for this, really appreciated 😎👊🤩 You should also check my latest upload, a journey to a former secret military underground train workshop😁 Also a real highlight! Cheers Bob
I lived in Naval Base GTMO as a kid and I had this 3 foot black and white poster with silhouettes of Soviet Navy ships and class types. On the reverse side were illustrations of the missile systems, radars, and guns. I had a huge interest and curiousity about all things Russian, etc. To finally see the inside of the Minsk is wild!
Thanks for checking! Did you have the chance to see some US ships? I also have explored Soviet submarines (1 on my channel) and other ships on my channel🤩
I grew up reading the Jane's warship identification guides in my dad's office. That would have been right around the tail end of the USSR. I remember thinking how strange the Soviet ships looked in comparison to the others.
@@wysoft At the base library in GTMO I would nerd out to the Jane's Defense Encyclopedias and read technical comparisons and even the weapons and arms advertisements strewn in between. When we moved to Italy I was given a surplus one (those are expensive ass books) from my summer job at the base air terminal. The unit I was working for was a Navy aviation aircraft repair depot so I got all sorts of cool stuff! With regard to Soviet ships I was amazed at the amount of weapons they had compared to other ships but I hypothesized (as a 6th grader) that if the ships got hit the weapons magazines might cook off and destroy the ship!
Yes, GTMO is a Fleet Training Faciliity so back then I'd see different classes of destroyers, cruisers, frigates and other combatant craft. The USS Nimitz did a port call and several of us residents got to go for a cruise out in the bay where they demoed full on flight operations. I saw the F-14 which had downed a Libyan Su-22. I go to see and do things your average school kid back in the states could only imagine. In one case a bunch of got a "unsanctioned" ride on some Marine tanks heading to the firing range. Was a good 15 minutes loud but unforgettable shenanigans. @@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath
@@rdr8147 That is a major weakness having so many weapon magazines. That is what happened when a Ukrainian Neptune missile hit the Slava class Moskva, it started a fire that caused the Magazine to blow up. This is the official Russian statement: "The Russian Ministry of Defence said a fire caused a munitions explosion, and the ship sank in stormy seas while being towed to port"
First off Bob I'm sorry for your loss 😢 Secondly thanks for risking it and giving us an epic video. I don't think any other youtuber would have gone swimming to explore a ship. I never skipped any ads I hope this helps with some revenue. Keep up the hard work and I'm always looking forward to Sunday's upload. Cheers
Not surprised that there's so much to explore and see. Even old and obsolete aircraft carriers are massive vessels, cities at sea. Always a bit amazed at how much stuff gets left behind
Мне как то грустно смотреть на это... ведь я там был, когда он был еще в строю... Спасибо автору, что дал снова повстречаться со старым Другом и Товарищем
Такая мощь, и титаническая работа конструкторов и производства, чтобы всё это было единым организмом. Видно, что восстановить до рабочего состояния не под силу никому - нет спецов, которые бы понимали что это всё такое. Но наше судостроение на подъёме, строятся новые корабли. Сволочи продали таких красавцев, ещё новых, за копейки. Они должны были бы теперь стоять музеями у нас, а не у китайцев.
@@a.p.2703нет спецов у Китая😂 самая большая страна по судостроению как торговому так и военному, из него сделают снова музей и все, а то что его продали за 5лямов как и другие то да, но смешно про поднятие российского судостроения тоже конечно
Когда я служил, на Минске, в 90-м, уже тогда, если хорошо долбануть по переборке, то можно было пробить ржавый металл.... Но, Основные несущие, понятно, еще 50 лет прослужат.... Только вдумайтесь, он мог принимать самолеты, в шторм до 7 баллов. Подобного судна не было ни у одного государства в мире!!
Эх , профукали мы все практически , и это печально😢, а особенно видеть как разберут этот авианосец , но зато благодаря каналу мы можем увидеть невероятные кадры, которые я считаю самыми уникальными из всех что я видел, спасибо за уникальную возможность в последний раз увидеть этот замечательный корабль, спасибо тебе Боб❤.
The concept of Soviet aircraft carrier cruisers was flawed already at the time of their creation. If the U.S. with its aircraftcarriers groups clearly set the task of bringing democracy to third countries from the sea, then our aircraft carriers really had no tasks at that time - there was simply no concept of their use, they were made on the principle of "like the enemy". If we wanted to bring developed socialism, say, in Central America, then such ships would make sense, and would really be cooler than the USA aircraft carriers, and so even if we imagine that all this very expensive junk would be afloat, it would be unclear why it floats. Especially now, with the advent of Russian hypersonics missiles when quietly and without noise ended the era of American aircraft carriers groups, which were invulnerable to the USSR Armed Forces at that time Концепция авианесущих крейсеров была ущербна уже в момент их создания. Если США с их АУГ чётко ставили задачу нести демократию в третьи страны с моря, то наши авианесущие крейсеры реально не имели задач на тот момент - просто не было концепций их применения, делали их по принципу - "как у врага". Вот если бы мы хотели бы заносить развитой социализм, допустим, в центральной америке, то такие суда имели бы смысл, и реально были бы круче штатовских авианосцев, а так даже если представить, что весь этот очень дорогой хлам был бы на плаву, было бы непонятно зачем он плавает. Тем более сейчас, с появление гиперзвука тихо и без шума закончилась эпоха американских АУГ, которые были неуязвимы тогда для ВС СССР.
@@avetl Can you confidently say that the USA is a democracy? Especially when corporations and billionaires (western variant for oligarch) have alot of political influence ... Also most laws are against democratic opinion
"""""Эх , профукали мы все практически"""""----- что профукали та? Гавно на палке и в банке? Свое строить не хватало мозгов у немцев и американцев все пиздили. Профукали мы в 17 году .
Very cool. One thing to be aware of, with that amount of corrosion ongoing, low oxygen concentration in confined spaces is a real risk. You were wise to avoid strange odours.
@@redf7209 definitely a potential risk, but asbestos is typically more of a danger when demolishing/renovating structures - basically anything that damages/disturbs the asbestos too much. Just sitting still there shouldn't be too many fibres floating around to breathe in. Definitely want to have a decent mask on at all times in any kind of urbex, though, you never know what's in there
OH my! Can you imagine how much asbestos is in that ship - I hope you are okay with being in such a dangerous but fascinating place. I pity the guys who will be dismantling all that mess. Keep safe.
i was commanding the Minsk for severel years. Me and ma Crew had a day out on land and got so wasted ... we lost the ship. Thanks buddy for finding it!
Interesting that at 21:33, they also show English language instruments eg. Koden "Radio Direction Finder". The contrast between some areas looking almost serviceable and the degradation on the engine room areas is remarkable. This was SURELY- an Unbeaten path!
This is definitely my favourite explore of all time 😊 The jet at the beginning I believe to be a ground attack Mig 27 as the 23 had a radome not a tapered one for better ground target acquisition. Great video shame the vandals and thieves have had their way.
It is a MiG-23BN. You can tell by the air intakes. The MiG-27 ground attack variant has the shorter intakes. The MiG-23BN ground attack variant used the same engine as the fighter variant MiG-23 hence the same intakes. Do an image search for MiG-23BN and then an image search for MiG-27. It causes confusion but the person filming is 100% correct when he identifies it as a MiG-23. It is a MiG-23BN.
@@Tomteeejay yea my bad I thought the mig 23BN was sold to country's around Europe so I thought is was a mig 27 but China never bought mig 27s (I think so, but i could be wrong)
@@jim4194 No problem. Yes, China acquired various types of aircraft over the years from countries such as Egypt. Several other nations also did the same such as US and UK. Examples were obtained by private buyers and also the military for evaluation.
I had the honor to tour the U.S.S. NEW JERSEY BB62 With my father, who served on her during the Korean war. It was a very proud day, and my first time aboard such a big ship. It was amazing.
Thank you so much for taking the challenge to sneak on board a great ship of the Soviet Navy. Its amazing the Russian made a multi mission ship. Where the US Navy uses other ships the DDGs & Cruiser to do some of the rolls as they surround the US carriers. MAN the manpower it must have taken to fill all these defenses 😊 you ROCK my friend It would have been fun to be an observer on board her in her time, just watching her operate. Some of those spaces must have been for senior officers and Captain quarters 😊😊
Among other things, I am a naval weaponry enthusiast. I study all the Russian warships and submarines. Thank you for sharing your exciting adventure. You're very brave man to venture around inside this rotting monster. It makes me a bit sad to see everything trashed the way it was. It was the pride of Russia and now it's been turned into a floating junkyard. Even so, I enjoyed seeing everything that you filmed. I just can't imagine this thing being used as a theme park. What kind of a weird mind would imagine that that would be profitable?. It should have been preserved as a museum piece not left for trash like this. Anyway thank you again for filming this I look forward to seeing your next exploration and adventure adventure!
Least it got turned into amusement park and not scrapped right away. This way lots of relics got saved, instead scrapped, witch would been the normal way it goes. Also since soviets were bit hap hazard on selling it, lots of nice stuff was forgotten on the ship, where normally navy would gut it them selfs, then sell only the shell of a ship. I'm most curious how much active ordinances there are on that ship, cause if there was guns on board, there out to be some ammo left XD
@@Hellsong89 Why would they not remove the live ammo? While the Russians are probably not concerned about safety, they are concerned about the monetary value of live ammo. They probably sold it on the black market or put it on other warships.
I think we might be the only 2 people in this post who went on the deck of the Minsk. I was working in a shipping company in Nantong that this vessel is based on. Back in 2016 I saw the tug boats bringing it in that place and it was bought by the Citic business corporation and banking company. In 2018 I had the luck to be on board with a group of other people that worked in the near by big shipyards and I was so excited about it but as you can imagine we weren't allowed to go in all those places you did go. There were indeed many ambitious plans about this ship like bringing old retiring Chinese planes on deck and to be like a museum similar as the US Navy has in NY and SF. But then Covid came and many plans were abandoned probably because lack of funding. I also remember that smell of burning chemical all over the ship. One notice though, the plane in the hangar might be a Mig 27 because it was the bomber version without long radar cone that Mig 23 had. This was not just a youtube video but it was like a documentary and I enjoyed it so much, same as your previous ones! Keep up the good work!
Just wow ! Your images are stunning, so are your determination and courage to even embark on such a mission solo. All the pants on the planet would not be enough for me to sht in. Admiration&respect. Greetings from (F) Normandy and condols for your old Man. He must have been proud of you.
Looking thru the comments to see if any ex- sailors of the Minsk commented about the video, but didn't see any yet. I would think it might be tough for anyone that called that ship and the work they did home while aboard. I know that equipment is old, out dated, but what a waste. I think if I had a relationship with a ship I lived and worked on I would rather see it scraped out rite than to see it sit and slowly rot away. Great video, it took big balls to get the images you did.
Actually when the ship completed conversion and towed from Whampoa Shipyard to Shenzhen, a TV station invited a former captain of the Minsk for an on-site interview. He was proud that his ship was back to life.
Hi! I served on this ship. And it was nice to see the place where I've been!!! Yes, I recognized them... including the galley where we ate. (I remember there was a poster hanging there... something like: A sailor remember - an imperialist predator does not sleep.) It's a pity that such a ship could not get repairs. Then it could be made only in the city of Nikolaev, in Ukraine, but it was just disconnected from Russia in 1991, and subsequently the shipyards of Nikolaev fell into disrepair.Yes, it was a great cruiser capable of resisting several ships and submarines at once, having nuclear weapons on board.
What an interesting ship in an unusual location. Who would have guessed that a soviet aircraft carrier would end up in a lake near Shanghai as a museum?
Visited MinskWorld back in 2006 a few times. Actually, the aircraft in the hangar is a Mig-27. It was a bit of a wreck even when it was a tourist attraction. Although this is China, you could just give the guards a couple of hundred RMB and they would have rowed you out there.
Actually it's a MiG-23BN, the immediate predecessor to the MiG-27. It has the MiG-23 style intake ramps and 23mm GSH-23 gunpod, and would have had the same engine as the MiG-23 if it were installed.
@@larrythorn4715 Having looked at the video again, I think you are right. Freebird has it as a Mig-27, but in my notes, I wrote Mig-23UB. As you said, the intake is wrong.
Congratulations on your absolutely riveting film. By far the most interesting video I've yet seen on You tube. I am a retired military guy and oddly, some of the scenes in your film kinda moved me. Why? Who knows? Thanks a million for a fine piece of wotk.
Bro you are very brave and what you just filmed in there is GOLD 🌟 i enjoyed this video a lot and it gave me a lot of knowledge about air craft carriers so Thank you very much ♥️
The kiev class was designed specifically to bring a carrier through the bosporus strait. Aircraft carriers are not allowed to go through the strait. But a heavy cruiser is. So it is limited by the treaty.
Insane risk, great reward. Thanks for this, risked however many years in a Chinese prison if you were caught, very surprised you went back for photos, seemed mental. Glad you're okay though and could share this with us.
He won't in any way as it's at most a small offence. BTW, the ship was truly having no owner when the video was taken. That explains why there was no security guards stationing on it.
I love how at 35:30 it shows mainly all U.S. Military Aircraft in the bar of a Soviet/Russian Navy Warship! Such as the C-17s, KC-10 Air Tanker, F-117 Nighthawk, and the B-2 Spirit to name a few that I saw in case anyone was curious. That totally made me laugh when I saw that. :)
This is so far the best exploration on your channel! I'm amazed by your bravery and determination, and very glad that you returned safely! I was lucky to be on board of Minsk in 2014, when this ship was still in Shenzhen as a museum. I managed to sneak into the upper decks where you didn't explore. It was an exciting experience, like triggering a hidden mission of a game. There I found the radar control room and the main computer for the ship. Sadly most of them were stripped but I still saw the core memory left there (Yes they used core memories back then!) I tried to find the engine room without any success, and I'm glad that you explored it for us. BTW there's also a sister ship 'Kiev' in Tianjin, which is still a museum open to the public. I checked it out early this year, the electronic equipment were in much worse state than Minsk, most of them were stripped. But the engine room is in better shape and some part of it is even available to see. However with your level of exploration on Minsk, I don't think travelling to see Kiev is anything worthwhile to do! Keep safe and keep up exploring!
O nice! Sounds like a fun experience. As far as I know I explored all upper decks. But a lot had been emptied I guess. If I am ever close to the Kiev I probably take a look😄 Thanks for your story
Today there was a large-scale fire on the aircraft carrier Minsk, apparently this is the last video from it, at least in more or less acceptable condition
Thank you for sharing and risk your freedom. This is my history and it's amazing and sad in the same time, coz we are lost this sheep and now it's abandoned somewhere in China..
Amazing journey. Spooky and sobering. Although systems are antiquated by todays standards, the sheer destructive power that was aboard this vessel is mind blowing.
Today we know, that they are not able to operate the destructice power. The heir to the Sowjet Union is loosing it's black sea fleet to a nation without a navy. 😅
Sorry about your father. Stay strong man. In future, be careful on big ships like this. Take an O2 meeter with. They could have CO2 pockets in the low levels of the ship. It's pretty dangerous.
Be very cautious when exploring lower decks or closed of areas - ofter oxygen is being bound with iron in rust, and you can suffocate. Typically in closed off chain spaces.
@@Madmaxxxx1984 Rusting is a chemical process, rust is basically iron oxide, and as in the name ;) oxide is bound with iron in the process. In tight, closed spaces on ships often oxygen level is too low for humans, so you will suffocate before you realize what is happening. For that reason usually such spaces are closed off - semi permanently, for example with bolted on covers.
Yes I know this news from rupperty (? ) twitter, sadly this aircraft ended up like this instead, one of china soviet heavy modified aircraft carrier Liao Ning ship luckily to survive and still staying strong.
Same. Disappointed that their resto was so poorly done. Pine and drywall in a naval ship? Was no care in restoring it to its original shape. Great video though, especially the original parts of the ship.
@@krozareq yes brother , mostly private sector of China restore wasnt doing a good job , only if they were government sector or especially the military defenses , they will take it seriously to restore and take good care of their property , not all , but most of them ;)
Thanks! I am sure you’ll like this one too: th-cam.com/video/QbDQdumtR3k/w-d-xo.htmlsi=m_InemHS1DmUMOt_ A former secret military underground train workshop with a steam train and many lathes and other machines☺️
@@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath I will definitely check it out! I would have been crapping my pants when those guys came aboard and you had to hide out! How the ship didn't sink from the weight of your balls is astounding!
Back in the 1980s while serving on submarines in the United States Navy, we may or may not have come across and tracked Minsk somewhere in some ocean, and conducted simulated torpedo attacks on her. :) lol
I remember in the 80s we (the RN) used to harass Soviet ships, including this one. This one, I remember we had a Seaking flying off their bow taking photos of the bridge. The Yak 38s amused us as they were so unstable in the hover. The Soviets must have been in awe of the Harriers we had onboard. Strangely I never saw a 38 take off but we always hung around to see them recovered. I believe they gave up on their attempts to operate a safe VSToL at sea in the end.
Sorry about you dad. I've always loved pushing the limits to discover cool shit. There are several of you guys out there on YT. Keep up great burns on security.
I remember floating past this big son of a gun when I was in the Navy in the 80's, somehwere around the straights of Malaca. I had no idea how primitive this ship and its gear were. Had I known then I would have been a lot less concerned :)
@@ronjeremy5826 Why is that, because I served my country during the cold war? That this ship scared the hell out of me, as its HUGE. Or that our ships were orders of magnitude more advanced? Russia built cheap, with 1950/60's tech. Our ships were built to be cutting edge, fast, and dependable. I had no clue just how wide the gap was at the time, had I known, I would have been less worried. Especially since the Kuznetsov is a sister ship, and is a total piece of crap that either burns, or has to have a tug in formation with it.
@@clemsonbloke It was 1987, deep in the cold war, and I was on a destroyer. While its not a large as a US carrier, it bristled with weapons and is quite a large ship. Also keep in mind I was what 20 at the time. The world was a completely different place back then.
🎁📚Check out my new coffeetable book with a lot of military installations, ships, industrial places and other amazing abandoned places: exploringtheunbeatenpath.myonline.store/ 🎁📚
great job penetrating the Minsk. With the current witch hunt campaign on foreign spies what you did there is crazy. Hope you are out of China already as of now otherwise get out asap before the PSB pick this footage up. Good luck and Godspeed.
BTW, since you been to Fukushima i wonder if u still have a geiger counter with you, pull it out and just take a look at it once in a while as u explore China. Chances are there are places where the readings are higher than Fukushima inside some civilian buildings. My allegation is controversial but i would like you to find out for yourself what the media does not know.
Hello, want to ask you is there any late BlackFriday or CyberMonday deal please? I have both 1 & 2 signed copy and want to support you with 3rd book but shipping its really high…
YES 😊❤😊 I definitely will buy your books. Thank you so much again for what you RISK to show us all😊❤😊
It was built in Soviet Ukraine, not Soviet Russia.
The 🎶 at the end .....i would of returned too....I guess next time you adventures a old ship bring a mask...the lead paint and of those old ships...be safe brother .... im a sailor...so yeah just b3 safe and keep the cool videos comming
😮I am a retired US submarine sonar tech and it was weird seeing many of the weapons systems that I studied and learned about sitting there. It's always fun to see the other side
My dad was also a sub sonar tech thanks for your service 👍
Wow.. must have been such an amazing time but also tough in such small spaces😍😍😍 thanks for checking out!
check out andrei martyanov! :) he is a former soviet mariner living in the US. quite outspoken, but very much respects the US navy.
I am a radio technician from such a ship; I have always dreamed of seeing radio equipment on American aircraft carriers. UT8EZ
😎THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERViCE MY BROTHER 1984~1988 MR (MACHiNERY REPAiRMAN ) THiRD CLASS PETTY OFFiCER, PEARL HARBOR SUBMARiNE BASE HONOLULU HAWAii...
Definitely a brave mission. The Mig in the ship is a Mig 27, a modified version of the Mig 23. The 23 was a powerful interceptor, while the 27 was a so-called air-to-ground support bomber. During my military service with the NVA in the late 80s, I worked as an aircraft mechanic on the MiG 23.
Thanks for checking 🙏☺️ Some “experts” said it’s a MiG 23-BN
@@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath Hello I did some research and here is what I got. So the tip of the nose looks like the one that a MiG27M and MiG23BN have but judging from some of the panel placements near the air intake Id say it looks more like a MiG23BN or at least a ground attack version of a MiG23. What makes me really think that its a MiG23BN from at least the look of the plane is the fact that it looks like it has the 23mm GSh-23L cannon if this was a mig27 it would have come with the 30mm GSh-6-30 cannon so the belly of the plane would have looked a bit diffrent if it could house it. So Id say its a Ground attack configuration of a mig23.
Yes, you can tell by the big air intake splitter plates, it is a MiG-23.@@arthuroldsocks
You can also tell by the fact that China never had MiG-27s the planes didn't come from the soviets as they're not carrier capable. The Minsk operated with Yak-38Ms. These MiG-23s were actually bought from Egypt and the reason they're found in this 'abandoned' soviet ship is that it was a theme park called Minsk world. The aircraft and weapons were transfered there as an attraction. It was only moved to Zhousan 8 years ago with the theme park becoming unprofitable and the ship changing owners
noticed the same...
Just got word that the Minsk ended up burning. This is now uniquely valuable media because she is likely headed for the breaker's yard.
It is.. sad !
In 1980 I was on the US Navy ship USS Merrill that trailed the Minsk on a voyage from Vladivostok to Vietnam. During the trip one of their YaK-38 aircraft attempted a straight on take-off from the deck without using it's vertical take-off engine. It went into the water and straight to the bottom. Pilot was lost.
Yak 38 forfader of the Yak 141 which was a father of F 35
@@altergreenhorn The Harrier was the daddy of the F-35. Yak-38 and -141 were the Harrier’s stoopid cousins.
@@andrewdeboer7435 dude they literally had factually the same specs who are you insulting lol
@@andrewdeboer7435 Yak sold their VTOL designs to Lockheed after the collapse of the soviet union. Look at the details like the rotating vectoring nozzle in the back on the yak141/F35. The harrier has a different design. Do you think Lockheed spends hundrets of millions for usless russian crap designs they can't use?
All this talk of Yaks and 35s. Good old British ingenuity was 50 years ahead of the F35 and at least 20 before the Yak and didn't suffer from energy bleed off in high G manoeuvrers.
Damn, dude ... this like an urbex holy grail. While I'm extremly jealous, I am so glad you uploaded this. Thank you!
I love his videos but they make me sad in a different way. I see those giant buildings or this ship filled with weapons and I know I will propably never see that in real life.
It hurts my Urbex Heart
On par with Bald and Bankrupt's mission to the abandoned Soviet Space Shuttles.
@@strangersoundbob was before bald, check it out
Thanks! Yes, guess we inspired him to go😅 wish I had better film equipment though!
FALLOUT VIDEOGAMES MADE REAL!!!
It's a pity that she was destroyed by a fire yesterday . I come from Shenzhen , Guangdong Province . Before 2016, the Minsk docked in Shenzhen as a museum . I visited it almost every year when I was a child . I didn't expect that the Minsk was abandoned for many years after being towed to Jiangsu and was destroyed by a fire yesterday . I am very heartbroken . The Minsk is my childhood memory.😢
She burned because people like the maker of this video kept trespassing and being negligent
@@gluesniffingdude Five bucks says it was too expensive to repair (as it was in for refit) so this is an insurance related fire.
Construction works were going on.. nothing to see in there anymore. 😂
@@gluesniffingdudeno they actually were refurbishing it when it happened
@@gluesniffingdude Way to be arrogant. Did the maker of the video start a fire? No.
Bob and friends, you have BALLS OF STEEL for trying this one ... Chinese police don't mess around ... Absolutely outstanding!!!!
nah, they make u think of a unwanted junk is being surrounded by police so to get view from shills
BIG balls of steel!!
@charlescouncill bulky and heavy. A leathery sack, smells like English leather cologne. Shaved and shiny. Buttery smooth. Smooth as eggs.
@loganstroganoff1284 Sounds like your fantasy.
Not a bad fantasy though... who wouldn't love to be the owner-operator of a calfskin designer handbag between his legs 😂 @@Joe-mz6dc
I've visited Minsk in 2014 when she was a Museums ship in Shenzhen. It's really nice to see the update of her. There were more aircraft on the flight deck back then, at least 2 Mi-24s and 2 MiG-23s, one of them is MiG-23UB. Her sister Kiev is currently in Tianjin as another museum. It is also worth a visit.
It is Mig-27, as it has a targeting device in the nose. Mig23B and especially Mig23UB (учебно-боевой uchebno boevoy - training-fighter) has different cone
@@artstep9661Wrong, it’s a MiG-23BN. It has variable intake ramps.
I was a US carrier sailor on Enterprise and Truman, wild to see this side of an old soviet carrier. Im glad you tried to see the lower engineering sections but backed out. Thats where I lived, below decks. I recognize all those engineering spaces in comparison to my experience, really neat to see. The last two minutes of the actual tour before you leave, that seemed liked the second deck down, which on our ships and judging by what I saw the Minsk too, is where the majority of the ship lived. thats where the galleys (which we saw the last bits of), stores, offices, medical dental, all that general bulk of living was down there, which was gutted for infastructure, then it seemed you went down one more deck where a lot of our berthings were, and what appeared to me to be gutted berthings, around 49:51. Anyways, good shit, thank you for this. Irecognize all those engineering spaces in comparison to my experience.
The sailors lived from 2 to 5 decks. There is a phrase in the video that there was foreign equipment on board. It is not true. Most likely it got on the ship after its sale. (I served on this cruiser)
@@dmitrymal7380 do you know the reason why the Minsk was retired? The ships' Wiki page simply states it was an "unknown accident"
Also the Western equipment in the video at 41:39 looks to be a radio direction finder - I can barely make out the "ADF" (automatic direction finder) tag in the upper left hand corner. Not a bad piece of gear to have on a Soviet ship that may be operating in proximity of western nations where it could be utilized - even if you had to go through Western sources to get it.
This ADF looks a lot like JRC equipment of that era which was manufactured in Japan and probably would be easy to obtain.
My dad landed on the Enterprise a few times
When her sister ship Kiev first opened as a theme park in 2004 I was only 8. My dad took me to Tianjin to see Kiev as soon as it opened since she was only an hour away from where I lived. I vividly remember that even back then Kiev wasn't in a good shape. Iirc she was saved from the scrap yard by a private buyer, so it was expected for her internals to be a wreck. There weren't tours to the bridge or anything, just some make shift rails and security tapes hanging across some hallways where tourists weren't supposed to walk down. We were able to go into Kiev's bridge tho, and it was likewise a wreck. Navigation panels and screens were all shattered and there were some broken canvas maps, or something like that. There was a Yak-38M parked on the deck and some old Kamov choppers.
Good times
Cool stories to hear!! 😍epic that it was possible
The handrails are homemade, because when they were sold, most likely, they were cut down (since they were made of copper and brass).
There are very few TH-cam videos that I will both focus my entire attention to, and watch to the end. This is definitely one of them. Such a cool job preserving a piece of history.
The thing that gets me about these ships is all the wiring and plumbing the engineers had to figure out and route all throughout the ship, amazing!
And they did it all without computers! All designed with slide rules! 🤯
You realise that its basicly something humans have been improving for 10,000 years.
@@olivere5497wiring is like a little over a century old and modern plumbing is about the same. Lame comment dooder.
Yeah they had to figure out what to with all those turds and peepee from the sailors.
@@loganstroganoff1284 well you can look at cuniform clay tablets in museums and see magistrates notes discussing property boundary disputes and complex tax disputes.
Humans work out how to solve problems. Its nothing new.
"Two is one, and one is none."
The fact that you had a second rope wasn't luck; it was proper planning.
AWAYS double up on mission-critical gear. Lose a tripod? Meh - carry on. Run out of rope? Mission over.
Bravely well done, Sir.
I am a retired Marine Engineer and I spent most of my life in Engine Rooms. Whenever I visit museum ships, my interest is mostly below decks where guys like me kept the lights on and the ship moving, however so many ships have had the engine rooms gutted for scrap - I reckon that is what happened to Minsk too. Joe Public is not interested in cramped machinery spaces , so the new owners can recoup some costs by scrapping them. RMS Queen Mary had (then) revolutionary design Yarrow boilers - all scrapped - and one Engine Room was sold too. Aircraft carrier Enterprise in New York - when I asked about the Engine Room was told "that's too dangerous to allow the public access" -bollocks - I reckon they gutted them for scrap. The man who knows everything about the ship and how she works is not the Captain ( Master) , but the Chief Engineer - despite the fiction of Hollywood, John Wayne and Captain James T Kirk.
Hey, at least Kirk knew the reliants pre-fix access code😂. Kahn didn’t even know that. Give a captain some credit😂
If you can, go visit USS Hornet then. I had a hard hat tour with a former engineer on a sistership, and he was glad to answer all my geeky questions about his job on the ship. Boilers and engines are still there. ❤
@@docthorr yes the Hornet's engine room is in fantastic shape. If you are ever in Bremerton visit the Turner Joy which also still has a well kept engine room and she is still functioning on regular old shore power connection.
Boop!
@@wysoftI'm from France, but noted for a future trip 😉
Great job on getting aboard that ship! As a current Dutch Navy chief petty officer, this was very interesting to see! Thanks for taking such risks to show us these abandoned gems 🔥🔥🔥
Thanks for checking, it was a cool mission. I can tell only you that you can find even some more interesting ones in my new book ;)
As a current US Navy Chief Petty Officer I find this interesting as well 😃
wow, interesting. In italy we were about to have a museum ship too, the Huge cruiser Vittorio Veneto (C-550). Sadly l, due to the crisis and the cut to military expenses we didn’t manage to restore it but something like that would have been beautiful, however have you ever seen that ship or also an italian one?
I wanted to explore one, but first I explored a naval bunker in La Spezia and got in serious troubles afterwards. So I never went back for the ships😅
@@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath however i saw you in the journals at the time, now i am connecting everything😂
Dang Bob, nerves of steel buddy. I think this was probably top 5 ships you have explored. It really boggles my mind on the amount of security for this hulk, it's like it's still a navel ship in use. Thanks for taking such risks for us to see. Sorry for your loss of your dad, I just lost my wife of 20 years in Oct. Keep safe.
Sorry for your loss. It gets easier as time goes on, but, the pain will never go away. Hang in there.
Sorry for your loss amigo.
Damn dude that's rough
Sorry for your loss man, take care.
Wow. So sorry for your loss man. I hope you are well, and I hope you are able to find peace. Bless you.
Thanks for video!! Thrilling experience to say the least!! It was stunning to see pictures of F15 and SR71 hanging in an old Soviet carrier.
Thank you Bob. Also. Our condolences on your father's passing.
Thanks 🙏 😇
Absolutely fascinating stuff. Its hard to imagine the colossal amount of equipment installed in these huge carriers.
And my respect and admiration you took to swim to get to this abandoned relic. Can only imagine the staging that would have taken place to get there. Awesome!
Man you are so wholesome it's almost adorable, risking your life to get this footage, and then thanking the people in the comments? Brilliant work, and brilliant man!
Haha! I am grateful for the comments☺️ Thanks Michella! Next up is a former secret military underground train workshop (hopefully tomorrow)
I really wonder how those soviet systems worked, so many stations and old electronic hardware. Soviet hardware is pretty fascinating
Well, we know how one bit worked -the Japanese-made radio direction finder shown at 21:33
Room after room filled with old electromechanical systems. All this was build before the digital age.
stupidly, honestly
soviet ships tend to have 1 centralized damage control center, the problems of which, if not immediately obvious, i'll summarize:
what the fuck happens when the damage control center is hit
@@EE-dj7et
You're fucked. That's what happens.
@@EE-dj7etпомоему он в самом менее уязвимом месте, так что если ракета добралась туда - кораблю конец, и экипаж эвакуируется на корабли сопровождения
USAF Cold War Veteran; So glad I found your channel. When the Minsk was accepted into the Soviet Navy I was only 12 years old, but because of my Dad's service in the US Navy back during the Korean War I knew by then what "The Cold War" was. I'm so glad that you made the Journey & Thank the Lord that you made it safely. The knowledge you obtained is wonderful & I;m so curious to see next what you do as a journey
Outstanding! Really pushing the boundaries - thankfully you returned safely. Top man!
Thank you Bob for being an urban exploler, and thank you for bringing us to all of these amazing places! You are the most inspiring exploler in the world! 🥷🏽🤩 The ship is epic! Such a beauty! Hugs from Hungary🙋🏽♀️
Haha soon an urban explorer again with somebody from Hungary hopefully😌Thanks a lot Andrea!
@@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath 2024 will be an exciting year😉
1999年左右明斯克号航母世界在深圳的时候我去参观过。I visited it which was a aircraft’s career theme park when it was in Shenzhen around 1999. Thanks for bringing back my childhood memories.
Wow must have been so impressive to see as a kid😁😁and sad to see it in this state
thank you for not playing too much background noise. it made it more realistic. enjoyable, thank you.
Man, you're brave! No way I could do that alone! No way! Thanks for this incredible experience!
Amazing Solo Mission! Wow! =)
One thing I do wonder is: there ins't room in the budget for a propper dry bag?
I was thinking the same thing. I think he could have done better job of keeping vital things dry when he had to swim. @@IrLosin
mwah, the video`s are taken with a drone, lol, high quality, so recorded recently.
Solo mission, but working with a team is not really called a solo mission, but who cares, it makes fun content, but don`t believe everything what is on the internet...🤣
Fun fact, as also seen in lots of movies, everything is wet, but look, the most important thing, my camera, wow, complete dry....😂
That the rest is wet, who cares, lol. Also, on the way to the Minsk it was raining and everything went wet.....uh.......he swim to the Minsk.....last time i checked is that water is still wet, haha.
Love the content, but such fun mistakes makes a channel fun to watch....
Yeah... Full of asbestos fresh air into a communist scrap-feast military ship!!! Kinda cool!!!
The guards are probably all fired. After this got out and the economic situation in China. It's so bad that they'll problem. Never have a stable job again
Thank you very much for video. As an ex-sailor, it was quite interesting to see. Please ensure you have a buddy with you in such trips, since you may get into a dangerous situation and may need assistance to get back to safe location. The deck was corroded in the engine room area and you might get injured due to rusted parts giving way. Take care. God bless.
Jeetje Bob je hebt jezelf wel weer overtroffen! Het is zo onwerkelijk wat je allemaal doet om deze prachtige beelden te laten zien van een bijna surrealistische wereld voor ons westerlingen. Bedankt!
Dank je wel Martijn, er komen nog enkele gave avonturen online😊
This was an epic solo exploration and also extremely dangerous but I think it was well worth the risks to see what was there. I wonder if there are any active leaks or water intrusion on the very bottom levels. Thank you for taking us with you to see the inside of this vessel. Stay safe!
Thanks!
Rick, thanks a million for this, really appreciated 😎👊🤩 You should also check my latest upload, a journey to a former secret military underground train workshop😁 Also a real highlight! Cheers Bob
I lived in Naval Base GTMO as a kid and I had this 3 foot black and white poster with silhouettes of Soviet Navy ships and class types. On the reverse side were illustrations of the missile systems, radars, and guns. I had a huge interest and curiousity about all things Russian, etc. To finally see the inside of the Minsk is wild!
Thanks for checking! Did you have the chance to see some US ships? I also have explored Soviet submarines (1 on my channel) and other ships on my channel🤩
I grew up reading the Jane's warship identification guides in my dad's office. That would have been right around the tail end of the USSR. I remember thinking how strange the Soviet ships looked in comparison to the others.
@@wysoft At the base library in GTMO I would nerd out to the Jane's Defense Encyclopedias and read technical comparisons and even the weapons and arms advertisements strewn in between. When we moved to Italy I was given a surplus one (those are expensive ass books) from my summer job at the base air terminal. The unit I was working for was a Navy aviation aircraft repair depot so I got all sorts of cool stuff! With regard to Soviet ships I was amazed at the amount of weapons they had compared to other ships but I hypothesized (as a 6th grader) that if the ships got hit the weapons magazines might cook off and destroy the ship!
Yes, GTMO is a Fleet Training Faciliity so back then I'd see different classes of destroyers, cruisers, frigates and other combatant craft. The USS Nimitz did a port call and several of us residents got to go for a cruise out in the bay where they demoed full on flight operations. I saw the F-14 which had downed a Libyan Su-22. I go to see and do things your average school kid back in the states could only imagine. In one case a bunch of got a "unsanctioned" ride on some Marine tanks heading to the firing range. Was a good 15 minutes loud but unforgettable shenanigans. @@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath
@@rdr8147 That is a major weakness having so many weapon magazines. That is what happened when a Ukrainian Neptune missile hit the Slava class Moskva, it started a fire that caused the Magazine to blow up. This is the official Russian statement: "The Russian Ministry of Defence said a fire caused a munitions explosion, and the ship sank in stormy seas while being towed to port"
First off Bob I'm sorry for your loss 😢
Secondly thanks for risking it and giving us an epic video.
I don't think any other youtuber would have gone swimming to explore a ship.
I never skipped any ads I hope this helps with some revenue.
Keep up the hard work and I'm always looking forward to Sunday's upload. Cheers
What loss?
@@madmanmechanic8847his book is in memory of his father.
@@madmanmechanic8847the loss of his father.
@@HippyRoss. I saw that in the later comments bummer thanks for the reply . I bet his Dad was proud of his Son
he didnt risk anything, theres no guards its all just acting bro how dont u realise it u fcking npc
Not surprised that there's so much to explore and see. Even old and obsolete aircraft carriers are massive vessels, cities at sea. Always a bit amazed at how much stuff gets left behind
Мне как то грустно смотреть на это... ведь я там был, когда он был еще в строю... Спасибо автору, что дал снова повстречаться со старым Другом и Товарищем
Такая мощь, и титаническая работа конструкторов и производства, чтобы всё это было единым организмом. Видно, что восстановить до рабочего состояния не под силу никому - нет спецов, которые бы понимали что это всё такое. Но наше судостроение на подъёме, строятся новые корабли. Сволочи продали таких красавцев, ещё новых, за копейки. Они должны были бы теперь стоять музеями у нас, а не у китайцев.
@@a.p.2703, я бы с радостью, но тут это никому не интересно. Может Китай вдохните в него новую жизнь, но я сомневаюсь.
@@a.p.2703нет спецов у Китая😂 самая большая страна по судостроению как торговому так и военному, из него сделают снова музей и все, а то что его продали за 5лямов как и другие то да, но смешно про поднятие российского судостроения тоже конечно
Когда я служил, на Минске, в 90-м, уже тогда, если хорошо долбануть по переборке, то можно было пробить ржавый металл.... Но, Основные несущие, понятно, еще 50 лет прослужат.... Только вдумайтесь, он мог принимать самолеты, в шторм до 7 баллов. Подобного судна не было ни у одного государства в мире!!
Terima kasih kepada semua yang berkhidmat kepada negara anda
RIP to the security guys after this video was uploaded
They died of natural causes a few days later
Yeah this stupid TH-camr has endangered their lifes and their families with his sensationalism. Sad 😔
TH-cam is blocked in China :)
@@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath😂中国可以用VPN😂😂😂
@@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath Word on the street was he was executed at the command of Xi
Эх , профукали мы все практически , и это печально😢, а особенно видеть как разберут этот авианосец , но зато благодаря каналу мы можем увидеть невероятные кадры, которые я считаю самыми уникальными из всех что я видел, спасибо за уникальную возможность в последний раз увидеть этот замечательный корабль, спасибо тебе Боб❤.
Glad you enjoyed it 🙏 😀 It was an amazing ship
The concept of Soviet aircraft carrier cruisers was flawed already at the time of their creation. If the U.S. with its aircraftcarriers groups clearly set the task of bringing democracy to third countries from the sea, then our aircraft carriers really had no tasks at that time - there was simply no concept of their use, they were made on the principle of "like the enemy". If we wanted to bring developed socialism, say, in Central America, then such ships would make sense, and would really be cooler than the USA aircraft carriers, and so even if we imagine that all this very expensive junk would be afloat, it would be unclear why it floats. Especially now, with the advent of Russian hypersonics missiles when quietly and without noise ended the era of American aircraft carriers groups, which were invulnerable to the USSR Armed Forces at that time
Концепция авианесущих крейсеров была ущербна уже в момент их создания. Если США с их АУГ чётко ставили задачу нести демократию в третьи страны с моря, то наши авианесущие крейсеры реально не имели задач на тот момент - просто не было концепций их применения, делали их по принципу - "как у врага". Вот если бы мы хотели бы заносить развитой социализм, допустим, в центральной америке, то такие суда имели бы смысл, и реально были бы круче штатовских авианосцев, а так даже если представить, что весь этот очень дорогой хлам был бы на плаву, было бы непонятно зачем он плавает. Тем более сейчас, с появление гиперзвука тихо и без шума закончилась эпоха американских АУГ, которые были неуязвимы тогда для ВС СССР.
@@avetl Can you confidently say that the USA is a democracy? Especially when corporations and billionaires (western variant for oligarch) have alot of political influence ... Also most laws are against democratic opinion
"""""Эх , профукали мы все практически"""""----- что профукали та? Гавно на палке и в банке? Свое строить не хватало мозгов у немцев и американцев все пиздили. Профукали мы в 17 году .
@@avetlThe US is a plutocracy, not a democracy.
Very cool. One thing to be aware of, with that amount of corrosion ongoing, low oxygen concentration in confined spaces is a real risk. You were wise to avoid strange odours.
I was thinking possibly high levels of asbestos dust
@@redf7209 definitely a potential risk, but asbestos is typically more of a danger when demolishing/renovating structures - basically anything that damages/disturbs the asbestos too much. Just sitting still there shouldn't be too many fibres floating around to breathe in.
Definitely want to have a decent mask on at all times in any kind of urbex, though, you never know what's in there
A homage to your dad for creating the best explorer out there.
Haha good one! Appreciated🤩😎
His mother: 🌝
Condolences for dad, fantastic exploration, a more unique than rare case of finding an abandoned aircraft carrier
It is quite amazing, the things our Fathers teach us. From one Bob to another, we must celebrate their lives everyday!
Yes! It can change in a heartbeat😢
Thanks for the video. My stepfather served on this ship in the early 80s. Hopefully it will be available one day
Machtig mooi, Bob! En veel sterkte met het verlies van je vader 🍀
Really appreciate he did research into the layout of the ship and all the equipment a lot of explorers have no idea what they are looking at
OH my! Can you imagine how much asbestos is in that ship - I hope you are okay with being in such a dangerous but fascinating place. I pity the guys who will be dismantling all that mess. Keep safe.
Sorry for your loss Bob, this video was epic. I've seen a few videos abouth this ship but nothing like yours. Keep up the great work.
It's good you turned back instead of exploring further; if left unattended for a long time, some ships can build up toxic gasses in certain rooms.
i was commanding the Minsk for severel years. Me and ma Crew had a day out on land and got so wasted ... we lost the ship. Thanks buddy for finding it!
Wow ! tell us more about this BS please 🤗🤗🤗
@@synhet84 This is what's called a joke.
You are crazy Bob! Your subscribers appreciate all the dangers you put yourself through 😁
Thanks Sarah! Unfortunately I cannot post all adventures 😁But this was a nice mission
Interesting that at 21:33, they also show English language instruments eg. Koden "Radio Direction Finder". The contrast between some areas looking almost serviceable and the degradation on the engine room areas is remarkable. This was SURELY- an Unbeaten path!
I noticed that as well. I guess it was part of the conversion to tourist attraction process.
Thank you for the tour ! Glad you enjoyed and survived the death trap.
This is definitely my favourite explore of all time 😊
The jet at the beginning I believe to be a ground attack Mig 27 as the 23 had a radome not a tapered one for better ground target acquisition.
Great video shame the vandals and thieves have had their way.
It is a MiG-23BN. You can tell by the air intakes. The MiG-27 ground attack variant has the shorter intakes. The MiG-23BN ground attack variant used the same engine as the fighter variant MiG-23 hence the same intakes. Do an image search for MiG-23BN and then an image search for MiG-27. It causes confusion but the person filming is 100% correct when he identifies it as a MiG-23. It is a MiG-23BN.
@@Tomteeejaynever mind China did purchase mig 23BN. terribly sorry about that
@@jim4194 No problem. Thanks for the reply!
@@Tomteeejay yea my bad I thought the mig 23BN was sold to country's around Europe so I thought is was a mig 27 but China never bought mig 27s (I think so, but i could be wrong)
@@jim4194 No problem. Yes, China acquired various types of aircraft over the years from countries such as Egypt. Several other nations also did the same such as US and UK. Examples were obtained by private buyers and also the military for evaluation.
Your exploring skills are second to none. Insane adventure.
Bob, this is the best crazy video I have seen in a long time, you are a real explorer, thank you for sharing!
No ski jump ramp on kiev class, it was design for yak38 VTOL aircraft.
At night especially, a perfect example of the saying "You're not afraid of being alone in the dark. You're afraid of *not* being alone in the dark."
I had the honor to tour the U.S.S. NEW JERSEY BB62 With my father, who served on her during the Korean war. It was a very proud day, and my first time aboard such a big ship. It was amazing.
Thank you so much for taking the challenge to sneak on board a great ship of the Soviet Navy. Its amazing the Russian made a multi mission ship. Where the US Navy uses other ships the DDGs & Cruiser to do some of the rolls as they surround the US carriers. MAN the manpower it must have taken to fill all these defenses 😊 you ROCK my friend
It would have been fun to be an observer on board her in her time, just watching her operate. Some of those spaces must have been for senior officers and Captain quarters 😊😊
Tip when near or on water while trying to be sneaky: be much quieter than you think you need to be. It will carry sound far.
😐
Stealing outboards?
Among other things, I am a naval weaponry enthusiast. I study all the Russian warships and submarines. Thank you for sharing your exciting adventure. You're very brave man to venture around inside this rotting monster. It makes me a bit sad to see everything trashed the way it was. It was the pride of Russia and now it's been turned into a floating junkyard. Even so, I enjoyed seeing everything that you filmed. I just can't imagine this thing being used as a theme park. What kind of a weird mind would imagine that that would be profitable?. It should have been preserved as a museum piece not left for trash like this. Anyway thank you again for filming this I look forward to seeing your next exploration and adventure adventure!
Least it got turned into amusement park and not scrapped right away. This way lots of relics got saved, instead scrapped, witch would been the normal way it goes. Also since soviets were bit hap hazard on selling it, lots of nice stuff was forgotten on the ship, where normally navy would gut it them selfs, then sell only the shell of a ship. I'm most curious how much active ordinances there are on that ship, cause if there was guns on board, there out to be some ammo left XD
@@Hellsong89 Why would they not remove the live ammo? While the Russians are probably not concerned about safety, they are concerned about the monetary value of live ammo. They probably sold it on the black market or put it on other warships.
I think we might be the only 2 people in this post who went on the deck of the Minsk. I was working in a shipping company in Nantong that this vessel is based on. Back in 2016 I saw the tug boats bringing it in that place and it was bought by the Citic business corporation and banking company. In 2018 I had the luck to be on board with a group of other people that worked in the near by big shipyards and I was so excited about it but as you can imagine we weren't allowed to go in all those places you did go. There were indeed many ambitious plans about this ship like bringing old retiring Chinese planes on deck and to be like a museum similar as the US Navy has in NY and SF. But then Covid came and many plans were abandoned probably because lack of funding. I also remember that smell of burning chemical all over the ship. One notice though, the plane in the hangar might be a Mig 27 because it was the bomber version without long radar cone that Mig 23 had. This was not just a youtube video but it was like a documentary and I enjoyed it so much, same as your previous ones! Keep up the good work!
I'm the third. I served on this heavy missile cruiser, as a sailor!!! The ship is grandiose... 273 meters in length!!!
@@dmitrymal7380 Wow ! Do you have any stories or pictures?
Amazing you had the oppertunity in 2018! It was already at the same spot where it is now. I guess this was before the fire? PS They say it's Mig23-CB
Sorry for the loss of your Father. Great video God Bless.
This is by far the most interesting video on this channel. Well done, Bob!
Just wow ! Your images are stunning, so are your determination and courage to even embark on such a mission solo. All the pants on the planet would not be enough for me to sht in. Admiration&respect. Greetings from (F) Normandy and condols for your old Man. He must have been proud of you.
Thanks a lot! You can find some amazing French naval ships on my channel too!
@15:45-19:20, this is an obscure amount of unique Soviet tech. Just incredible.
Imagine seing all this lit up.
Thats awesome that you got to actually gain access let alone the amazing footage you've captured. A+
Great video!
I'm so jealous about your braveness to go on such a mission alone.
Greetings
Looking thru the comments to see if any ex- sailors of the Minsk commented about the video, but didn't see any yet. I would think it might be tough for anyone that called that ship and the work they did home while aboard. I know that equipment is old, out dated, but what a waste. I think if I had a relationship with a ship I lived and worked on I would rather see it scraped out rite than to see it sit and slowly rot away. Great video, it took big balls to get the images you did.
Actually when the ship completed conversion and towed from Whampoa Shipyard to Shenzhen, a TV station invited a former captain of the Minsk for an on-site interview. He was proud that his ship was back to life.
Hi! I served on this ship. And it was nice to see the place where I've been!!! Yes, I recognized them... including the galley where we ate. (I remember there was a poster hanging there... something like: A sailor remember - an imperialist predator does not sleep.) It's a pity that such a ship could not get repairs. Then it could be made only in the city of Nikolaev, in Ukraine, but it was just disconnected from Russia in 1991, and subsequently the shipyards of Nikolaev fell into disrepair.Yes, it was a great cruiser capable of resisting several ships and submarines at once, having nuclear weapons on board.
What an interesting ship in an unusual location. Who would have guessed that a soviet aircraft carrier would end up in a lake near Shanghai as a museum?
20 years ago, in Shenzhen, I boarded this warship that turned into a theme park. The remnants of the Red Navy.
Visited MinskWorld back in 2006 a few times. Actually, the aircraft in the hangar is a Mig-27. It was a bit of a wreck even when it was a tourist attraction. Although this is China, you could just give the guards a couple of hundred RMB and they would have rowed you out there.
Not as a foreigner unfortunately 😊😁
Actually it's a MiG-23BN, the immediate predecessor to the MiG-27. It has the MiG-23 style intake ramps and 23mm GSH-23 gunpod, and would have had the same engine as the MiG-23 if it were installed.
@@larrythorn4715 Having looked at the video again, I think you are right. Freebird has it as a Mig-27, but in my notes, I wrote Mig-23UB. As you said, the intake is wrong.
@@darrellbrown2551 I think the 23BN and 27 probably get constantly confused.
Congratulations on your absolutely riveting film. By far the most interesting video I've yet seen on You tube. I am a retired military guy and oddly, some of the scenes in your film kinda moved me. Why? Who knows? Thanks a million for a fine piece of wotk.
Bro you are very brave and what you just filmed in there is GOLD 🌟 i enjoyed this video a lot and it gave me a lot of knowledge about air craft carriers so Thank you very much ♥️
The kiev class was designed specifically to bring a carrier through the bosporus strait.
Aircraft carriers are not allowed to go through the strait. But a heavy cruiser is. So it is limited by the treaty.
This is also the reason Kuznetsov has anti ship ballistic missiles and is classified as a heavy aircraft cruiser.
Insane risk, great reward. Thanks for this, risked however many years in a Chinese prison if you were caught, very surprised you went back for photos, seemed mental. Glad you're okay though and could share this with us.
Thanks! Just had to see this.. and yes.. no pictures without a tripod haha😌
I doubt he risked much more than deportation and a visa ban. It is not a military installation...
He won't in any way as it's at most a small offence.
BTW, the ship was truly having no owner when the video was taken. That explains why there was no security guards stationing on it.
I love how at 35:30 it shows mainly all U.S. Military Aircraft in the bar of a Soviet/Russian Navy Warship! Such as the C-17s, KC-10 Air Tanker, F-117 Nighthawk, and the B-2 Spirit to name a few that I saw in case anyone was curious. That totally made me laugh when I saw that. :)
That caught me off guard too Lol
AFAIK it is supposed to be a soft learning method, so the crew will memorize the silhouettes better
This is so far the best exploration on your channel! I'm amazed by your bravery and determination, and very glad that you returned safely!
I was lucky to be on board of Minsk in 2014, when this ship was still in Shenzhen as a museum. I managed to sneak into the upper decks where you didn't explore. It was an exciting experience, like triggering a hidden mission of a game. There I found the radar control room and the main computer for the ship. Sadly most of them were stripped but I still saw the core memory left there (Yes they used core memories back then!) I tried to find the engine room without any success, and I'm glad that you explored it for us.
BTW there's also a sister ship 'Kiev' in Tianjin, which is still a museum open to the public. I checked it out early this year, the electronic equipment were in much worse state than Minsk, most of them were stripped. But the engine room is in better shape and some part of it is even available to see. However with your level of exploration on Minsk, I don't think travelling to see Kiev is anything worthwhile to do!
Keep safe and keep up exploring!
O nice! Sounds like a fun experience. As far as I know I explored all upper decks. But a lot had been emptied I guess. If I am ever close to the Kiev I probably take a look😄 Thanks for your story
a wild bd4 appeared! lol love ur retro stuff
Today there was a large-scale fire on the aircraft carrier Minsk, apparently this is the last video from it, at least in more or less acceptable condition
There is a youtube channel that is called HitTheRoad (this is the last video of the outside of the ship)
Very cool. I would probably stay clear of China per awhile though. I bet you're waiting for you to come back
I was thinking the same thing
Thank you for sharing and risk your freedom. This is my history and it's amazing and sad in the same time, coz we are lost this sheep and now it's abandoned somewhere in China..
Чел, sheep это овца, ship - это корабль, но спасибо я угарнул😂, хотя без переводчика я сам бы не понял
What an amazing video. Thank you so much for documenting this before it's too late! Truly incredible!
What an amazing explore, you must have been on alert the whole time. Am sorry for the loss of your dad. Condolences. 😢
I went o it before as a kid (when it's still a theme park), it's very old and broken, but still kinda sad to hear its now abandon
Amazing journey. Spooky and sobering. Although systems are antiquated by todays standards, the sheer destructive power that was aboard this vessel is mind blowing.
Today we know, that they are not able to operate the destructice power. The heir to the Sowjet Union is loosing it's black sea fleet to a nation without a navy. 😅
Sorry about your father. Stay strong man. In future, be careful on big ships like this. Take an O2 meeter with. They could have CO2 pockets in the low levels of the ship. It's pretty dangerous.
Thanks mate! I have a gas and oxygen meter, but not a really expensive one. 😇
Thats my worry too, these ships have HVAC systems under power.
Nice mission man. Thanks for put this video here on youtube. i love your trips.
Be very cautious when exploring lower decks or closed of areas - ofter oxygen is being bound with iron in rust, and you can suffocate. Typically in closed off chain spaces.
Could you explain further please. Thanks
@@Madmaxxxx1984 Rusting is a chemical process, rust is basically iron oxide, and as in the name ;) oxide is bound with iron in the process. In tight, closed spaces on ships often oxygen level is too low for humans, so you will suffocate before you realize what is happening. For that reason usually such spaces are closed off - semi permanently, for example with bolted on covers.
Who is here after it burned today?
Yes I know this news from rupperty (? ) twitter, sadly this aircraft ended up like this instead, one of china soviet heavy modified aircraft carrier Liao Ning ship luckily to survive and still staying strong.
Too bad😭
Same. Disappointed that their resto was so poorly done. Pine and drywall in a naval ship? Was no care in restoring it to its original shape. Great video though, especially the original parts of the ship.
@@krozareq yes brother , mostly private sector of China restore wasnt doing a good job , only if they were government sector or especially the military defenses , they will take it seriously to restore and take good care of their property , not all , but most of them ;)
Never heard of this place until this video
This is mind blowing! The whole video!
MUCH BETTER than I expected!!! WOW!!!
Thanks! I am sure you’ll like this one too:
th-cam.com/video/QbDQdumtR3k/w-d-xo.htmlsi=m_InemHS1DmUMOt_
A former secret military underground train workshop with a steam train and many lathes and other machines☺️
@@ExploringtheUnbeatenPath I will definitely check it out!
I would have been crapping my pants when those guys came aboard and you had to hide out!
How the ship didn't sink from the weight of your balls is astounding!
I like how this video showed up when the aircraft carrier was burning
Ooo, algorithm in full swing!
I would have been scared out of my mind. Those mannequins especially, everywhere you go it looks like there is someone waiting.
Unbelievable, you are a very brave man Bob! Another amazing video.
Thanks a million😄
Back in the 1980s while serving on submarines in the United States Navy, we may or may not have come across and tracked Minsk somewhere in some ocean, and conducted simulated torpedo attacks on her. :) lol
I remember in the 80s we (the RN) used to harass Soviet ships, including this one. This one, I remember we had a Seaking flying off their bow taking photos of the bridge. The Yak 38s amused us as they were so unstable in the hover. The Soviets must have been in awe of the Harriers we had onboard. Strangely I never saw a 38 take off but we always hung around to see them recovered. I believe they gave up on their attempts to operate a safe VSToL at sea in the end.
Вау, респект, классные кадры... Ушедшее время, ушедшая эпоха, одним советским злым железом меньше стало...
Sorry about you dad. I've always loved pushing the limits to discover cool shit. There are several of you guys out there on YT. Keep up great burns on security.
I remember floating past this big son of a gun when I was in the Navy in the 80's, somehwere around the straights of Malaca. I had no idea how primitive this ship and its gear were. Had I known then I would have been a lot less concerned :)
Clown
That is why the Soviets did not want filming and pictures. They did not want the world to know how crude and basic their military equipment was.
@@ronjeremy5826 Why is that, because I served my country during the cold war? That this ship scared the hell out of me, as its HUGE. Or that our ships were orders of magnitude more advanced? Russia built cheap, with 1950/60's tech. Our ships were built to be cutting edge, fast, and dependable. I had no clue just how wide the gap was at the time, had I known, I would have been less worried. Especially since the Kuznetsov is a sister ship, and is a total piece of crap that either burns, or has to have a tug in formation with it.
@@kevint2555 That is a tug boat compared to our carriers in the US! That you think this POS was huge is hilarious, LOL!
@@clemsonbloke It was 1987, deep in the cold war, and I was on a destroyer. While its not a large as a US carrier, it bristled with weapons and is quite a large ship. Also keep in mind I was what 20 at the time. The world was a completely different place back then.