I. Cherevko, Master Student, A. Kononenko, Master Student
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2016.128.1.13
WAR TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF THE TURTLE SHIP
This article is the first attempt written in the Ukrainian language Historiography to reconstruct the surface and technical specifications of the Korean Geobukseon, or "Turtle ship". The article gives information on the parameters of the ship, the number of guns and equipment. The ship was designed to allowed gun firing in all directions, and with the help of its "tortoise shell", which was covered with iron spikes and spears, the crew was practically immune to arrows, bullets, and even protected while boarding the ship. The Geobukseon was the first armored warship of the XVI century, rebuilt and upgraded by talented admiral Yi Sun-Sin. The Turtle-ship played a striking role in Joseon's victory in Imjin War 1592-1598. Archeological finds of this period are limited, so we relied on Asian primary written sources of the XV-XVII centuries which are almost inaccessible for the Ukrainian researchers. The following books were cited: "The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty", The Collected Writings by the Loyal Warrior (Chungmugong Jeonseo) and Ryu Seong-ryong's work "The Book of Corrections" (Jingbirok), who was the First Minister of Joseon. Furthermore, the article organizes basic descriptive data and gives partial translations of original primary sources into the Ukrainian language, and represents varied views of scholars as to whether or not the Geobukseon was the first ironarmored warship in history.
Key words: Geobukseon, "Turtle ship", Joseon, Joseon warships, Yi Sun-sin, Imjin War.
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