Turtle ship
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| Turtle ship (Geobukseon) | |
|---|---|
| Image:Turtle boat.jpg A turtle ship replica at the military museum in Seoul. | |
| Type | battleship |
| Place of origin | Korea |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Korean Navy |
| Wars | Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598) |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Admiral Yi Sun-sin |
| Designed | 1591 |
| Produced | March 27, 1592 |
| Number built | 3 to 5 |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 100 to 120 feet |
| Width | 30 to 40 feet |
| Crew | 80 oarsmen, 50 soldiers |
| Chosŏn'gŭl: | 거북선 |
|s |south |rok |sk | #default = The turtle ship (also known as Geobukseon or Kobukson by its Korean name) was a large warship belonging to panokseon class in Korea under the Joseon Dynasty between the 15th century and 18th century. While many believe popular traditions suggesting them to be the first ironclad battleships, there is are no specific indications as to whether the early turtle ships ever used iron armor. However, it is generally accepted that the turtle ship was the first ironclad warship. The Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin is credited for resurrecting and improving the turtle ship from an older design, resulting in the craft known today.
The turtle ship is famous for its helping Koreans to win sea battles against Japanese ships during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598).
The first references to turtle ships come from 1413 and 1415 records in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. These turtle ships were mentioned as spear-ships or ramming ships and were mainly used to thwart Jurchen and Japanese pirates. Later though, these early turtle ships soon fell out of use because of a long period of peace, during which Korea flourished.
Turtle ships equipped with at least five different types of cannons were in use during Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598). There were at least 40 commissioned turtle ships in 1782.
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[edit] Construction
According to Nanjung Ilgi, one of Yi's personal diaries, he decided to resurrect the turtle ship in 1591 after discussion with his subordinates thinking of possible foreign invasions. With their help, Yi constructed the first modern turtle ship. The admiral's diary, along with a book entitled Hangrok by his nephew Yi Beon, described the details about the structures, construction progress, and use of turtle ships as well as testing of weaponry used in the ships.
After a year of research and construction, Yi had his soldiers complete the first modern turtle ship. It was launched and on March 27, 1592 and the mounted cannons with gunnery-range 300 to 500 meters long were tested on March 12, 1592, one day before the Siege of Busan and Battle of Tadaejin.
[edit] Structure
Several different versions of the turtle ships served during the war, but in general they were about 100 to 120 feet long (30 to 37 meters long), and strongly resembled the panokseon's bottom structure. The turtle ship was technically a hull covered with iron plates that was placed on top of a panokseon and a large anchor held in the front of the ship.
A dragon head was mounted on the bow of the vessel which emitted foggy sulfur gas to effectively disarray the enemy fleet formulation as well as to hide the ship itself among enemy ships. The dragon head was large enough for a cannon to fit inside it too. The dragon head served as an early form of psychological warfare by shocking Japanese soldiers.
In the front of the ship was a large anchor and below the anchor was a painted "face" that served as a ramming tool.
Like the standard panokseon, the turtle ship had two masts and two sails. It also had oars to help speed up the Turtle Ship. Unlike the Japanese ships, the Turtle Ship could turn within its own radius. Another main advantage was that the Turtle Ship did not rely solely on the wind and oar propulsion could be used instead.
The turtle ship had 10 oars and 11 cannon portholes on each side. Usually, there was one cannon porthole in the dragonhead's mouth. There were 2 more cannon portholes on the front and back of the turtle ship. The heavy cannons enabled the turtle ships to unleash a mass volley of cannonballs. Usually, there were about 50 to 60 fighting marines and 70 oarsmen, as well as the commander.
Hexagonal plates with sharp iron spikes protruding from them covered the upper half of the turtle ship. One of the main advantages of the iron plates were that they protected the Korean oarsmen and sailors from arquebus fire and arrows. The spikes meant to discourage Japanese sailors to board the ships because the Japanese used the primary method of grappling an enemy ship with hooks and boarding it to engage in hand to hand combat.
Korean written descriptions all point to a maneuverable ship, capable of sudden bursts of speed. Like the standard panokseon, the turtle ship was a U-shaped bottomed ship which gave it the advantage of a more stable cannon firing platform and the ability to turn within its own radius. The main disadvantage of a U-shaped bottom versus a V-shaped bottom is a somewhat slower cruising speed.
Contrary to popular belief, there were around only three to six turtle ships in the Korean Navy during Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea, while the mainstay of the Korean Navy was the panokseon warship which was roughly the equal size of the turtle ship. This was because of the heavy resources necessary to build turtle ships.
There were only several turtle ships commissioned during the war because the ship was indicated as a three-storied mammoth, large enough in size to be compared to a modern ship, in a painting found in a Japanese castle. Cannons were positioned on the third floor, archers on the second floor, and troops on the first floor. There were also numerous handles that were thought to be used to release water and suppress any fires onboard. Many weapons and functions found in the painting are thought by historians to have been years before their time.
[edit] Notes on iron cladding
The later turtle ships are very noticeable for the iron plating covering the deck of the ship. Turtle ships may be first instance of any type of iron cladding on ships in world history, making them an early predecessor of the ironclad warships.
The armor was hexagonal iron platings with sharp spikes protruding from them. Yi used the iron plates to counter the main Japanese attack method of boarding an enemy (using grappling hooks) and engaging in melee combat, similar to Ancient Rome's naval strategies. During battle Yi had the spikes covered with hay to hide them so that the Japanese soldiers would be injured or killed during their attempts to board the ship.
Besides protecting the turtle ship from boarding attacks, the iron plates could deflect arrows and bullets. The plates gave only some protection to cannonballs, however Japanese warships rarely used them. The turtle ships could survived many battles without sinking or receiving major damage, though notably all were sunk in the Battle of Chilchonryang, August 1597, and did not return until the final naval battle of the war, the Battle of Noryang Point, December 1598.
There has been some debate as to whether or not even the later turtle ships had iron cladding. Korean tradition suggests iron cladding and Japanese written documents describe these final turtle ships as "covered in iron". Furthermore, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had a written request sent to Tokugawa Ieyasu for iron plating to help "counter" the Korean navy. Some interpret this to be evidence of iron cladding on the turtle ships [citation needed], but it may simply be a reference to the need for more Japanese ironclad vessels, which were relatively common at the time.
The turtle ships were crucial in securing victory in several sea battles such as the Battle of Sacheon and the Battle of Noryang Point. The turtle ships inflicted heavy losses upon the Japanese fleet and eventually destabilized supplies arriving by sea.
[edit] Weapons
[edit] Dragon's head
The position of the dragon head was placed on the top of the ship in the front. There were several different versions of the dragon head on the turtle ships. The dragon head was first placed as an early form of psychological warfare to shock Japanese soldiers. One version carried a tube which could release a dense toxic smoke that was generated from a mixture of sulphur and saltpetre produced in the bowels of the ship. The smoke was designed to obscure the vision and interfere with the Japanese ability to function properly.<ref>Google Book Search. [1]</ref> Another version had a cannon placed in its mouth so that the ship would appear to be more threatening.
Admiral Yi's own diary explains that a cannon could be fitted in the mouth of the dragon to be fired at enemy ships.<ref>Google Book Search. [2]</ref>
[edit] Cannon
The turtle ship, like the standard panokson, could hold around 30 cannons. Usually, there were 11 gunports on each side and 2 gunports on the front and back. Several different versions of the turtle ship included about 24 to 36 cannons. A cannon was also placed inside the turtle ship's mouth. Because of the gunports located all around the turtle ship, it could fire in any given direction.
The turtle ship was equipped with Chon(Heaven), Ji(Earth), Hyun(Black), Hwang(Brown), and Seung(Victory) cannons. The Seung cannon was the lightest that ranged 200 meters while the Chon was the strongest with a range of 600 meters. The Hyun and Hwang cannons were medium sized cannons that usually shot fire arrows instead of cannonballs.
The cannons were the main advantage of the turtle ships over the Japanese ships since cannons enabled the turtle ship to destroy an enemy ship at a distance.
[edit] Tactical use
Yi resurrected the turtle ship as a close assault vessel, intended to ram enemy ships and sinking them, similar to their use in past centuries. It was rowed directly into enemy ship formations to disrupt their lines. After ramming, the Turtle Ship would unleash a broadside cannonball attack. Because of this tactic, the Japanese called the Turtle Ship the mekurabune (目蔵船), or "blind ships," because they would get close and seemingly blast and ram into enemy ships. This kind of attack was used during the Dangpo Battle, Battle of Okpo, and Battle of Sacheon (1592).
The turtle ship's main use of the plating was to be a great anti-boarding vessel, due to the top plating of the turtle ship and its protruded spikes. Grappling hooks could not gain direct hold on the plating, and jumping to the turtle ship often meant being impaled. The iron plating made it more difficult for Japanese ships to destroy because it allowed the turtle ship to survive damage from enemy cannons coming from above, as well as deflecting raining arquebuse bullets and arrows.
Later, the turtle ship was used for other purposes such as spearheading attacks or ambushing Japanese ships in tight areas such as in the Battle of Noryang.
Despite popular depiction, the turtle ship was not an extremely slow ship. The turtle ship had oar propulsion as well as sails, and was relatively light weight due to its very limited plating. Yi constructed the turtle ship to be fast and agile for the purpose of ramming.
[edit] Turtle ships today
Turtle ships have been reconstructed recently for commercial and academic purposes. Keobukseon Research Center (거북선연구원)<ref>Keobukseon Research Center (거북선연구원). HOME</ref>, which is a private commercial company, has done much research on the original design of the Turtle Ship; and made several real-size reconstructions of them for commercial use. These were deployed in a Korean drama, The Immortal Yi Soon Shin (불멸의 이순신)<ref>KBS Drama homepage: The Immortal Yi Soon Shin. Drama homepage</ref>. Several museums host turtle ships on display, and people can visit and go inside a 1:1 scale Turtle Ship that is anchored at Yeosu. Models of the Turtle Ship are popular as decorations or gifts<ref>우리살림. 거북선 모형 조립키트(1:100)</ref><ref>거북선</ref>.
[edit] Notes
↑ The first account is in the Annals of King Taejong, Year 13, early in the 5th lunar month. ↑ Admiral Yi Soon-shin and the Turtle Ship. Retrieved on 2006-01-11.
[edit] References
<references/>
[edit] See also
- Battle of Noryang
- Battle of Okpo
- Battle of Hansando
- Battle of Haengju
- Ship replica (including a list of ship replicas)
- List of Korea-related topics
- Military history of Korea
- History of Korea
- Singijeon
- Hwacha
- Toyotomi Hideyoshi
[edit] External links
- Historical Facts and Faulty Myth About Kobukson
- Admiral Yi Soon-shin and the Turtle Ship
- New Book Sparks Controversy Over 'Turtle Ship'
- Japanese Invasions of Korea (includes details of geobukson use)de:Schildkrötenschiff
es:Barco Tortuga ko:거북선 ru:Корабль-черепаха fi:Kilpikonnalaiva uk:Кобуксон zh:龟船
