For decades, hulking great fortresses both above and below ground, silent airfields and rusting radars have stood as bulwarks against the world’s most urgent threats, built at a time when global tension forced nations to demonstrate their military readiness. From remote Antarctic islands to military bases once pounded by the roar of Cold War jets, these stations were essential, engineered to deter invasion, defend borders and launch strikes if war threatened.
However, as wars were thwarted, these once vital sites were quietly decommissioned, left to crumble and fade into history. Now, with geopolitical tensions once again on the rise, the question arises whether some of these abandoned bases would be needed again in this increasingly uncertain world. Revealed below are some of the world’s most eerie abandoned military bases, stretching from the Philippines to the UK and even as far south as the Antarctic.
The Maunsell Sea Forts, Thames Estuary, UK
Sat in the Thames and Mersey estuaries lie the Maunsell Forts – towers built during World War Two to help defend the UK. They were operated as army and navy forts and named after their designer, Guy Maunsell.
A total of four navy forts were built off the east coast of England, and six army forts were built – three in the Thames estuary and three in the Mersey estuary.
However, they were decommissioned during the late 1950s and later used for other activities, including pirate radio broadcasting.
(Image: Getty)
Prípiat, Ukraine
Pripyat stands as a largely abandoned ghost city in Ukraine, within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Kyiv Oblast, near the border with Belarus. While it was primarily built in 1970 to house workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, it also featured significant military and strategic infrastructure.
Following the 1986 disaster, the city and surrounding area have served as a largely derelict site for abandoned Soviet military equipment and, formerly, a top-secret defence radar. In the aftermath, thousands of military hardware, including helicopters, armoured vehicles and transport trucks, were used in the cleanup and eventually abandoned.
(Image: Getty)
Whalers Bay, Deception Island, Antarctica
Whalers Bay on Deception Island is home to a haunting abandoned landscape of British « Base B », established on February 3, 1944. However, it was destroyed by volcanic eruptions and mudslides in 1967 and 1969.
Today, the site now serves as a registered Antarctic Historic Site, featuring rusted oil tanks, abandoned buildings and a small cemetery.
An earlier whaling station, the Norwegian Hektor, operated from 1912 to 1931, leaving behind large metal boiling tanks and machinery.
(Image: Getty)
Clark Air Base Hospital, Philippines
The abandoned Clark Air Base Hospital in the Philippines, located in the Clark Freeport Zone, was a major US medical facility during the Vietnam War. Built around 1964, it served as a primary medical centre for American casualties.
However, the facility was vacated in 1991 following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, which prompted the US military to evacuate and turn the base over to the Philippines.
As of 2023-2024, the building is undergoing, or has undergone, renovation to become the National Museum of the Philippines Clark.
(Image: Getty)
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