From the Department of Random Coolness comes a nifty photo gallery of abandoned World War II-vintage sea-forts constructed in the Thames Estuary to defend Britain from Nazi attacks. There were three such forts in the Estuary, all consisting of off-shore platforms similar to modern-day oil rigs, bristling with guns and arrayed around a central control tower. One of these forts has collapsed in the 60 years since the end of the war, but the others are still standing out there in the water, slowly decaying memorials to a time most of us Internet users can’t even imagine. I especially like this photo, in which the towers look like Martian war machines straight out of H.G. Wells.

And there’s more, too: At one point in the ’60s, one of these abandoned forts was home to a pirate radio station. Photos from that time period are here, along with the sad news that the British government wants to demolish these fascinating old relics…

If you’ve got nothing else going on right now, check ’em out!