War doesn't last forever. These ten buildings seem to.
10.) Fort Ord, USA
If you feel bad for all those abandoned Olympic facilities from the last four decades that cost millions but did not serve the public after the games, how about Fort Ord, one of the largest US military bases that was closed in 1992 and happens to be very close to Laguna Seca? TheCrudMan:
Fort Ord, California has some really cool stuff like this abandoned Olympic size swimming pool. Also rows and rows of abandoned barracks and larger buildings. All with an ocean view.
The coolest thing about this place, and what makes it so impressive, is that it is an example of beautiful decay....placed in the middle of the natural beauty of the California central coast, off of HWY 1. It is such a weird place and yet somehow it works so nicely where it is. I hope they never tear it down.
Suggested By: TheCrudMan, Photo Credit: TheCrudMan
9.) Duga-3, Ukraine
Nicknamed the Russian Woodpecker, this massive antenna was part of the Soviet's extremely powerful over-the-horizon radar (OTH) system. It also happened to generate a sound that could be heard on the shortwave radio bands worldwide between July 1976 and December 1989. The repetitive tapping noise at 10 Hz gave it the Woodpecker name, but NATO referred to it as the "Steel Yard".
Since it's located next to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, it's also radioactive since 1986.
Suggested By: shieldsdb, Photo Credit: erikOTN
8.) Hethel Air Base, England
While Hethel was just one of the RAF's many air bases, it also happens to be the place where Lotuses are born. The world's best handling cars are tuned on Hethel's historic tarmac.
When it comes to repurposed air bases, Silverstone, Sebring or the Dunsfold Aerodrome are not bad either.
Suggested By: bobrayner, Photo Credit: exfordy
7.) Saint Nazaire Submarine Base, France
The Nazis built quite a few of these massive submarine bases in France with Keroman being another fine example, but ChrisB knows more about Saint Nazaire:
Saint Nazaire was completely carpeted by allied bombers, only the base survived. My grandmother had to emigrate several kilometers inside the land, ad could only get back long after the war was over. It was also home of the Operation Chariot, one great piece of badassery from those brits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation…
Since demolishing it was somewhere between too difficult and damn expensive, it has since been reconverted as a cultural site, with museums (including a former French submarine) and bars inside it. The former Flak platform offers quite a nice view of the docks.
Suggested By: Jonee, Photo Credit: dalbera
6.) Johnston Atoll, USA
The Johnston Atoll might belong to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service today, but before that, it was the Army's playground for 70 years.
It was covered in radioactive debris for a while thanks to test launch failures in 1962, and this is where they stored all the Agent Orange and mustard gas after the Vietnam War.
It's a nicer place today.
Suggested By: Arch Duke Maxyenko, The Great!, Photo Credit: USFWS Pacific
5.) Flak Towers, Austria and Germany
The Nazis built eight of these massive above-ground, anti-aircraft gun blockhouse towers in Hamburg, Berlin and Vienna.
Good luck trying to demolish these babies. Repurposing them is rather difficult.
Suggested By: JoeBryant, Photo Credit: AP Images
4.) Greenbrier Bunker, USA
It's always those damn journalists! Shmalworthington:
It was originally called project Green Island and was designed as a full scale bunker complex located under the luxury hotel the Greenbrier.
The bunker was a secret and remained full serviced and operational from 1959-1992 when a Washington Post reporter exposed it. The bunker was large enough to hold all of Congress, both houses and staff for over a year or more.
Suggested By: Shmalworthington, Photo Credit: Greenbier Resort
3.) The Maginot Line, France
The French remembered the First World War, so before the Second started, they build a line of fortified bunkers along the Belgian and German border.
If your boots hit some concrete or steel in the middle of a French field, you found one of them.
Suggested By: Brian, The Life of, Photo Credit: Morten Jensen
2.) Zeljava Underground Airbase, Croatia
Started in 1948 and finished twenty years later, this underground base was one of the largest and most expensive military construction projects in Europe.
Problem is, thanks to the Yugoslav Wars in the early nineties, the area is still full of mines and bombs , so you can't really go there to be amazed. But check it out here in its heyday!
Suggested By: Vander, Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
1.) Maunsell Sea Forts, North Sea
Build during the Second World War at the Thames and Mersey estuaries during the Second World War to help defend the United Kingdom from the Nazi submarines, this remains the best abandoned military base in the universe.
Bonus point for the Principality of Sealand! They had their own money and stamps for a while.
Suggested By: TwinCharged, Photo Credit: stevecadman
Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Top Photo Credit: stevecadman