How did China's first aircraft carrier come from?

Almost all people in China know about the Chinese carrier Liaoning, but few people know that China bought its first aircraft carrier from Australia, a staunch ally of the United States. Its name is Melbourne, and it is from this aircraft carrier that China opened the door to aircraft carrier design.

Melbourne

The aircraft carrier Melbourne originally belonged to the Royal Navy. 1943 launched with a displacement of 20,000 tons. 1949, Australia purchased the aircraft carrier from Britain, and then carried out three large-scale modernization modifications. However, after the Falklands War, the Australian Navy thought that the aircraft carrier was vulnerable to modern missiles, so it decided to develop submarines with stronger survivability and decided to retire the Melbourne, 65438+. After the Melbourne arrived in China, the United States and other countries paid close attention to it, fearing that China would transform it into active service, because China was negotiating with Britain to buy Harrier fighters.