Concrete battleship

There’s an island fort in Manila Bay that’s shaped just like a battleship – a remnant of the American colonisation of the Philippines.

El Fraile Island used to be just another island sitting outside Manila. Its strategic importance led the American colonial government to build it up into a big concrete fort, complete with turrets and guns. Those weapons, and the general shape of the reformed island, looks a lot like a battleship.

I don’t know if this was deliberate or not. I can imagine the tactical advantage in deceiving an invading force (see also: inflatable tanks), but I cannot imagine that such a deception would last for long. In any case, Fort Drum fell to the Japanese in World War II – in fact, they may have been one of the last parts of the Philippines to surrender. The fort was destroyed by the Americans when they returned in 1945.

• Fort Drum