“Turtle ship” is the very first iron-clad battleship designed by a distinguished patriotic general Ri Sun Sin after being appointed admiral of Left Jolla Province in 1591.
According to the historical book “Richungmugongjonso”, the structure, building method and performance of turtle ships are roughly as follows.
A turtle ship was 35 metres long, 11.8 metres wide and 5.2 metres high, with 10 oars at each side and about 70 muzzles. The sails could be either raised or lowered if necessary.
The front part of the ship looked like the head of a turtle, where sulphur and nitre were burnt to produce smoke which was supposed to be emitted through the mouth to prevent enemy from noticing it.
It had two muzzles at the top of the turtle head and one muzzle on each side of the door. There were 12 muzzles on the right and left siding walls respectively on which some colours were fixed.
The roof of the ship was made up of large planks to look like a turtleback. There was a narrow way for our warriors only on the turtleback the rest part of which sharp objects like spears and daggers were fixed all over to keep enemies away. In the centre of the ship were 26 chambers, two of which were filled with ironware, five of which stored weapons like guns, arrows and bows, dynamite, swords, etc. and 19 of which were used as bedrooms for warriors. One of the remaining 2 chambers was captain’s cabin and the other one was a bedroom for commanding officers.
As warriors and combat equipment were protected inside the ship and they could look out from inside but nobody could look in from outside, it was possible for warriors in the ship to fire guns on all sides at hundreds of enemy ships at the same time. Some parts of the ship were iron-clad and the rest parts were covered with thick planks. Therefore, contemporary gun fire could never break it down nor burn it down.
Stout and stable in structure and incredible in speed, turtle ships equipped with various kinds of weapons and guns (12 at the right and left, 2 at the front, total 14) and loaded with as many warriors as 160 was an incomparably powerful warship in those days that was capable of destroying any enemy ship. In addition, the reasonable size and shape of the ship ensured good navigability.
Turtle ship, built in an original way by the Korean people, who had exploited and defended the sea from the early times, made a great contribution to defending the country by inflicting disastrous defeat on the Japanese invaders in several sea battles including the battle on the sea off Sachon during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592.
Outside Korea, it was not until the Crimean War (1853~1856), which broke out 440 years after the turtle ship, that three iron-clad ships were built. However, they were hardly used because they were too slow and cumbersome.
In conclusion, the first ever iron-clad ship turtle ship is a priceless national heritage that demonstrates the resourcefulness and creative talents of the Korean nation and at the same time it is a common asset of mankind that holds a prominent position in the world history of armament.
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