Volume 63, Number 2 (2010) Spring

A model from the Naval War College Museum collection of a Korean “turtle ship,” such as those that helped repulse the sixteenth-century Japanese invasion of that country—a campaign vital to the spirit of the modern Republic of Korea Navy, as noted by Yoji Koda (Vice Admiral, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, Retired) in this issue’s lead article.

The model, just over twenty-six inches long and almost nineteen tall, was donated to the Naval War College in 1993 by Rear Admiral Ha Jong-keun, president of the Royal Korean Naval War College. The original ship was 113 feet long, thirty-four feet in beam; it displaced 150 tons, mounted fourteen guns, and carried a complement of 130. The spikes on the “turtleback” deterred boarding; the iron plates, which were bolted to wood sheathing up to a foot thick, made the turtle ship the world’s first ironclad. The Mandarin Chinese character on the model’s flag signifies “Turtle.”