T-43 Class Russian built Minesweeper
The EL Minya, (also called EL Mina, El Minia, El Miniya or EL Miniaya) began life as a Russian built Soviet era T-43 class minesweeper. This class of minesweeper was built for the Soviet navy in the late 1940’s through to the end of the 1950’s. There were 178 ship of the class built at shipyards at Leningrad, Kerch, in Poland, and modified under license in China. 44 of these ships were exported to various countries over the years, with Egypt receiving 7 of them.
The El Minya came to quite an exciting end in Hurghada Harbour on 6th February 1970 and is now a very popular dive site in the area. Read the full account of her sinking at: http://dive.im/ElMinya
