World’s First Iron-clad Ship 

The turtle ship is the world’s first iron-clad ship made by the Korean nation.

The construction of the ship began in 1413 and was completed from 1591 to February 1592 by distinguished patriotic general Ri Sun Sin (1545-1598). The ship made a great contribution to the victory of the Imjin Patriotic War (1592-1598) by displaying its might in the naval battles against the Japanese invaders. It was named after its shape of a tortoise with the dragon-like head and tortoise-like body and tail.

It was 35 meter long, 11.8 meter wide and 5.2 meter high. The ship was iron-clad against any gunfire with its thickly spiked on its back to keep the enemies from crawling up and over 70 portholes to give a heavy fire to the enemies from all sides.

It had 26 cabins to accommodate the troops and combat equipment. It had a good sight from the inside, but the enemy was unable to peep into the inside. So it could make it free to break through into enemy’s fleet and hit him from all sides.

It effectively applied various tactics displaying great might in the battle.

It antedated the Spanish and French armored vessels by nearly 200 years.