Forgotten military bases, aircraft graveyards, vehicles and other objects present some of the most compelling and historically intriguing abandonments. And due to conflict throughout the 20th Century and beyond, virtually every continent on Earth offers a rich repository of military relics and modern ruins. In remote corners of the world where shipwrecks abound, aircraft lie where they crash landed decades earlier, weeds sprout from the cracks of long-disused runways, and lonely control towers betray the location of forgotten airbases returned to farmland. In this article, we’ll explore 20 examples of such historic abandonments and more.
(Image: Maks Maydachenco, reproduced with permission)
Simply click the links below to begin exploring!
Abandoned Gun Emplacement, Midway Atoll
Downed F-117 Stealth Fighter, Kosovo War
Maid of Harlech: The Periodically Reappearing P-38
Johnston Atoll: The World’s Most Isolated Military Airbase?
Point du Hoc: Abandoned German Coastal Defences Near Omaha Beach
Deserted Guam Northwest Field in the Marianas
Abandoned Military Runway, Bulgaria
Mothballed Sea Shadow Stealth Ship, Suisun Bay
Abandoned Control Tower, RAF Coleby Grange, UK
Abandoned Radar Dishes, RAF Stenigot, UK
Abandoned Midget Submarines, Aberlady Bay, Scotland
Wrecked Russian Battle Cruiser Murmansk, Norway
Russian Surveillance Ship Wreck, Red Sea
Abandoned Chieftain Tank, Lulworth Firing Range, UK
Crash Landed B-17 Flying Fortress, Papua New Guinea
Derelict Hawker Hunter at Abandoned Airfix Factory, Hull
Dismantling Vulcan XM652 at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire
Crashed Harrier GR3, Goose Green, Falkland Islands
Russian Aircraft Graveyard, Moscow
Downed F-4 Phantom Fighter, Hanoi