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Admiral Yi Soon-shin and the Turtle
Ship
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November 19, 1998 is a historic day marking
the 400th anniversary of the loyal Admiral
Yi Soon-shin's martyrdom in the Battle of
Noryang at the age of 54. Cadets in Naval
Academies around the world are taught historic
naval battles. Among those, the following
four battles are recognized to be the greatest
battles fought in history.
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The Salamis Naval Battle of Greek Admiral
Themistocles in B.C. 480 - The Calais Naval
Battle of England's Admiral Howard in 1588
- The Hansan battle of where Admiral Yi Soon-shin
in 1592 achieved a continuous triumph with
the Turtle Ship - The Trafalgar Battle of
England's Admiral Nelson in 1805 .
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Among
these, Admiral Yi Soon-shin's victory is evaluated
to be the most valuable. It is said that Admiral
Yamato, who overwhelmed the world when he
defeated Russia's mighty Far Eastern Fleet
in 1905, replied the following when he was
praised to be as great as Admiral Yi Soon-shin:
"I am willing to accept comparison with England's
Admiral Nelson, however I fall short to the
great achievements of Admiral Yi Soon-shin."
Admiral Yi Soon-shin is recognized as a great
figure who saved his country during crisis,
and the Turtle Ship which has led each battle
to a great victory is displayed in various
museums including the War Memorial Museum
in Washington, the Maritime Museum in England
and other historic museums in China, Germany,
France and Canada.
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The History of Naval Forces
| Korea's
naval forces have developed over a long period
of time. For instance, the three kingdom (Kokuryo,
Paekche and Shilla) competitively extended their
influence to sea trade routes in A.D. 372. By
the mid 9C, they installed a trade center in
china, while sweeping the pirates in South East
Asia. |
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1011, spear ships that prevented enemy ships
from approaching were in use and warships equipped
with gun powder and firearms appeared by the
year 1150. In 1377, they operated a special
bureau manufacturing cannons and gun powder
and produced eighteen types of firearms. Along
with the invention of fire arrows (arrows tied
with gun powder bag) fire battle tactics were
completed by the year 1383. In 1555, a new type
of warship covered with wooden boards was developed
to protect the oarsmen during battle. |
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Turtle
Ship - Tank of the Sea
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Korea's
shipbuilding technology has greatly developed
over time. Moreover, iron rods strengthened
the structure of the ships while charging
tactics became quite common during battles.
The Turtle Ship is a newly created sea tank
originated from spear ships and firearms and
wood board covered warship. The main measurements
and combat strength of the Turtle ship as
the right table.
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Dragon
head
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Length
of Dragon head |
1.3m |
| Width |
0.9m |
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Body
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Length of body |
21.5m |
| Height |
6.2m |
| Width |
7.4m |
| Width
of upper deck |
9.2m |
| Length
of lower deck |
15.3m |
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Combat
Strength
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Passengers |
Combat
soldiers |
45 |
| Oarsmen |
80 |
| Number
of oars |
16 |
| Gunports |
36~72 |
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The
traditional naval battles have been mainly
fought by jumping onto and capturing enemy
ships, however since the Turtle Ship is
entirely covered with planks and sharp
spears, the opposing enemy could not jump
aboard. The Turtle Ship is built by sturdy
red pine trees with a thickness of 12
cm.
The specific gravity of the red pine trees
is 0.73 which is greater than the average
lumber (0.41-0.47) commonly used in ship
building. Moreover, the ship has been
constructed with water swelling wooden
pegs permitting stronger structure in
water. With these advantages the Turtle
Ship is able to use charging tactics to
crash and sink enemy warships.
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Mobility-The oars are located in the inner
side of the upper deck (figure).If the
oars are located outside of the side-wall,
they are likely to be damaged during crash
into an opposing ship, However since the
oars are located inside, the oarsmen can
continue rowing regardless of crashes
during battles. |
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There
are eight oars on each side with a total of
sixteen; and 80 oarsmen are in charge of the
rowing. One leader and four oarsmen are assigned
to each oar. Normally two men would take turns
in rowing whereas all four would row vigorously
during battle. The leader would give timely
instructions throughout the battle, and the
Turtle Ship is capable of various maneuvering
such as advancement and retreat, circle and
halt, acceleration and deceleration.
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Extensive
Fire Power- There are 45 combat soldiers
in the Turtle Ship including the gun officer
who is in charge of transmitting gun powder
and cannons, the artillerist, and the
archer who shoots fire arrows. The combatants
used fire arrows as well as firearms during
battle (figure).
Thus they were able to attack continuously
with cannons and fire arrows. The combatants
shot through many gunports which are located
around the ship. Thus the Turtle Ship
was able to shoot cannons and fire arrows
from any given direction. |
Admiral
Yi Soon-shin explained the arrangement of
the thirty-six gunports in his reports to
the king. The Turtle Ship is equipped with
long ranging cannons such as Chon(Heaven),
Ji(Earth), Hyun(Black), Hwang(Brown), Seung(Victory)
etc. (figure) Chon fires a round iron cannon
ball with a 11.7 cm diameter that ranges up
to 600m. Ji is slightly smaller in size and
ranges over 350m. Using Chon and Ji, the Turtle
Ship was able to attack ships in locations
beyond enemy's firing range.
Hyun and Hwang shot big fire arrows and are
estimated to have a shooting range of 300m.
Seung shoots fire arrows dipped in gun powder
and was used to attack nearby ships. Seung
is light in weight and ranges up to 200m.
Enemy ships that have been attacked by these
cannons were badly damaged or burnt and sunk
during naval battles.
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| “The
front part of the ship is designed as
a dragon head, where the mouth serves
as a gunport. There are two additional
gunports on the top and bottom of the
head. The rear is shaped as a tail where
the gunport is placed underneath. There
are six gunports on both sides of the
back plate and ten cannon ports on both
sides of the shield." |
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