The Great Admiral Yi Sunshin and His Turtle Ship

The Great Admiral Yi Sunshin and His Turtle Ship

A bright little boy grew up in the countryside of Korea in the mid-1500s. His name was Yi Sunshin. Sunshin dreamed of becoming a famous military official. He often said to himself, “ I’m going to be the best military official of my generation. I will dedicate my life to my country. ” It took time for Yi Sunshin to accomplish his dream. When he was 28 years old, he took the military service examination. But during the exam, he fell from his horse and broke his leg.

Determined to succeed, Yi Sunshin took the exam again when he was 32 years old, and this time, he passed. His military career had finally begun. From that moment, Yi Sunshin would live his dream. In 1591, 47-year-old Yi Sunshin became the naval commander in charge of protecting the coast of the Jeolla province of Korea. This assignment was important because the province is close to Japan, and at that time, Japan and Korea were not on good terms.

Japan had a new ruler, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and he wanted to take over Korea. Yi Sunshin knew that Japan might attack Korea at any moment, so he decided to do something about it. He gathered all his soldiers together for a meeting. “ Listen up, everyone . Korea is in danger. Japan might attack us at any moment. We must be prepared. We must begin training, ” Yi Sunshin said. Yi Sunshin trained his soldiers daily, but he knew that this preparation would not be enough.

What more could he do? At night, Yi Sunshin read history books, looking for an answer. Finally, he read about a ship that was built in 1413. “ Yes, yes, that was a good battleship, sturdy and strong—but not good enough, ” Yi Sunshin thought. He scratched his head and thought some more, “ That’s it! I’ll adapt it and make it into a more powerful ship. ” Excited, he pulled out his pen and paper and began to draw his new ship.

Yi Sunshin and his soldiers built many ships before they finally made the perfect new ship. Everyone celebrated when the hard work was finally over. They called the final creation “ the turtle ship. ” The turtle ship was very intimidating. It had a dragon’s head at the front and a turtle’s body. The dragon’s head could spit out smoke to hide the ship from the enemy and to confuse them .