The Korean admiral Yi Sun-sin is credited with designing and building the craft known today. His turtle ships were equipped with at least five different types of cannons during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592-1598). Yi Sun-sin's turtle ships had deck shielding, in the form of thin iron plates or spikes. He had three to five turtle ships built, while in 1782, there were at least 40 commissioned of them.

 

Dragon's head

The dragon head was placed on the top of the ship at the bow. Several different versions of the dragon head were used 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 sulfur and saltpeter produced in the bowels of the ship. The smoke was designed to obscure vision and interfere with the Japanese ability to maneuver and coordinate properly. Another version of the dragon head had a cannon placed in its mouth so that the ship would appear to be more threatening.

Yi's own diary explains that a cannon could be fitted in the mouth of the dragon to be fired at enemy ships.

 

Iron spikes and armor

The iron spikes used on the turtle ship prevented the Japanese from boarding as it pierced their feet when attempting to board. Admiral Yi often covered the spikes with empty rice sacks to lure the Japanese.

Iron armor and the entire "shell" of the turtle ship itself was used to protect sailors and rowers from both cannon and arquebuses, unlike the panokseon battleships.

 

Cannon

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. The turtle ship, like the standard Panokseon, 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 could also be placed inside the turtle ship's mouth. Because of the gunports located all around the turtle ship, it could fire in any 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 and ranged 200 meters, while the Chon was the heaviest and with a range of 600 meters. The Hyun and Hwang cannons were medium-sized cannons that usually shot fire arrows instead of cannonballs.

 

Mina, did you have the Mongal mark when you were born? my mother said i did.

 

Yi resurrected the turtle ship as a close-assault vessel, intended to ram enemy ships and sink 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 ships 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 as an anti-boarding device, 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 also 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 lightweight due to its very limited plating. Admiral Yi constructed the turtle ship to be fast and agile for the purpose of ramming

 

Admiral Yi = Tarts of the 1590s

 

I don't think it was ever mentioned... I don't know if I did or didn't!