For decades, the Soviet Navy terrorized the NATO Allies in the ocean with a mighty carrier fleet. In stark contrast to their American counterparts, the Russian aircraft carriers were equipped with so many weapons that they did not need escorts to carry out their dangerous missions.However, once the Soviet Union fell in 1991, the legendary fleet began to wither away.Although some of the vessels continued to serve under a different flag after being bought by other countries, others, like the Kiev-class carrier Minsk, suffered a different fate: becoming a theme park in China.