The Nikolayev Shipyard, also known as the Black Sea Shipyard, is the fifth largest shipyard and the only aircraft carrier assembly plant in the Soviet Union.
All of the Russian aircraft carriers were built here, from the first and third generations to the third generation where the Varyag is currently located, as well as cruisers, destroyers, frigates and so on.
During the Soviet era, this shipyard was a truly giant enterprise, covering an area of more than 300 hectares and employing more than 26,000 people at its peak.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian economy was in recession, and the Nikolayev Shipyard's business began to decline, getting worse year by year! In order to maintain the survival of the shipyard, it had to be divided into four independent parts: the final assembly plant, the engine plant, the fishing boat plant, and the forging and casting plant.
Wan Feng is not sure whether this shipyard still has orders.
In fact, the city of Nikolayev is not an ideal place to build large warships. The Black Sea is called a sea, but it is just a larger lake. Large ships built here must pass through the Prussian Strait of the Turkic State to sail out.
The Turkic Empire and the Russian Bear have never gotten along in history. I don't know how many fights they have had. It would be strange if they didn't make things difficult for you if you cross their strait.
However, this is the only ice-free port in the Soviet Union, and the distance between the city of Nikolayev and the mouth of the Black Sea is winding, which avoids the impact of strong winds and waves in the Black Sea. The water surface is relatively calm and there are few waves, which is conducive to the construction of large ships in the port.
You see, the only ice-free port of the Russian bear is in a lake and once you go out, you will be surrounded by enemies.
This is also the reason why the Russians expanded frantically back then. They needed an ice-free port in either the Indian Ocean or the Pacific Ocean, but they worked hard for half their lives and still didn't get it.
Before we knew it, the express train arrived at the Nikolayev Shipyard on time at 10 a.m.
The shipyard is not far from the train station.
As soon as we walked out of the train station, there were three large commercial vehicles and several Volga cars waiting there.
After driving for more than ten minutes, they finally arrived at the Nikolayev Shipyard.
From a distance, you can see countless cranes standing alone, as lifeless as the black dead trees in a forest burned by fire.
In these desert-like woods, a huge ship was quietly docked at the slipway, like a seriously ill patient.
The spacious isolation area at the gate of the Nikolayev factory was bare, and countless weeds had grown on the cement surface.
If it weren't for the two armed guards standing at the factory gate opposite the exclusion zone, this place would be thought to be abandoned like Chernobyl.
The guard looked at the ID Asnaev presented carefully, then opened the door and let him in.
Wan Feng thought that the two soldiers were breathing heavily at the factory gate, but after entering the factory gate, he found that this idea was wrong.
Although there is no roar of machines in the factory, there are still many people.
As soon as he entered the factory, Wan Feng saw at least twenty or thirty people.
And these people are not ordinary workers, they are the leadership of the shipyard.
Like the factory director Makarov, political commissar Breshenko, director Brozoko, etc.
Obviously, these people received instructions from their superiors and were here specifically to receive Wan Feng and others.
Although these people wore polite smiles, Wan Feng could sense helplessness and reluctance within their forced smiles. Especially when shaking hands with Dyubarov, Wan Feng could feel his hand trembling slightly.
An aircraft carrier has more than 3,000 cabins of various sizes. Wan Feng and his team only have five or six hours. Even if they send all the people he brought with him, they still cannot see all the cabins in five or six hours. Therefore, their time is very tight.
Before coming, Xu Pin consulted some department to make a list of important cabins to observe.
The list includes the steel characteristics and insulation level of the main deck, the hangar, the elevator system, the arresting cable system, the electronic landing aid system, the power system and the command system within the island.
Of course, the people who observed and inspected these compartments were brought by Xu Pin. The people on Wan Feng's side had almost no understanding of aircraft carriers.
First we passed the tower bridge and entered the front hangar.
The hangar was rusty and empty, almost becoming a bird's nest. The hangar ceiling was also empty, and some of the originally laid optical cables seemed to have been cut and were in disarray.
There were quite a few bird nests of unknown birds on the steel beams, and the ground was covered with bird feathers and droppings. Judging from the thickness, it was obvious that they had not accumulated in a day or two.
There is a foul smell in the air.
Wan Feng sighed softly.
How many people in China are unable to sleep or eat because of an aircraft carrier, but here an aircraft carrier is wasting resources. Who says this world is fair? Wan Feng promises that he will not kill it.
The most important thing in the hangar is the elevator system. Of course, Wan Feng didn't know which one was the elevator, but from the disappointed expressions of the people brought by Xu Pin, it can be seen that the situation is not good.
"The lifting and lowering power source equipment, hydraulic transmission machinery, and control devices have all been dismantled." A man named Lao Jin said to Wan Feng in a heavy tone.
There were only bird feathers all over the hangar, but there was not even a feather in the arresting cable system compartment and the electronic landing aid system. There was nothing except the oil stains that could still be vaguely seen on the ground and a few nuts that had become unrecognizable.
The carrier was 70 percent complete at the time, with a significant amount of equipment already installed. These included heavy anti-ship missiles, air defense missile systems, ship moorings, aircraft trailers, ammunition transporters, aviation fuel tankers, and aircraft elevator systems. These included electronic warfare and sonar countermeasures systems, an underwater sonar countermeasures system, a navigation gyro system, steam generators, and main steam valves. The carrier also featured KGB-4 high-pressure boilers, GT3A-674 steam turbines, propellers, propeller main shafts, anchors, anchor chains, and a desalination system.
This was something that the West proposed to demolish at the time.
With these things removed, it's basically just an empty shell.
But Wan Feng knew that most of the things on the list had been dismantled, with only one set remaining.
It's that power system.
Although many articles introducing this ship in later generations stated with certainty that the ship's power unit was dismantled and sold for money.
Actually, that's bullshit.
The aircraft carrier's power system is installed internally when the ship is launched, with the steam turbines, generators, and other components all located on the last deck. Above that are more than 20 decks, and below is the keel. Removing or installing a new power source would be tantamount to gutting the entire carrier.
If an aircraft carrier is ripped open, there is no need to repair it, so it is better to build a new one.
So those who say that this aircraft carrier arrived as an empty shell are pure nonsense.
Wan Feng didn't plan to visit other places, as it would be useless to do so. He just wanted to go to the power compartment to see the giant boilers.
As long as those guys are here, it's worth spending any amount of money on this boat.
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