Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER
Who was Yi Sun-shin?
SHORT ANSWER The Korean career soldier, the undefeated admiral and the ultimate underdog
LONG ANSWER No list of ‘history’s greatest admirals’ is complete without Yi Sun-shin. Not only did the 16th-century Korean never lose a battle, but he didn’t even lose a ship. Take that, Nelson.
Japan made a habit of invading Korea during the 1590s, landing huge forces to sweep across the country to Seoul with support from hundreds of ships. Yi, an army officer who served with distinction at every post he held but whose march up the ranks had been frustrated by rivals, was appointed a naval commander. He took to the sea like, well, a duck to water. Fastidious with training and preparation, and with a brilliant military mind, Yi won every battle and fought off the invasion. He also designed his own ship, the kobukson , or turtle ship, with a spiked metal roof to prevent boarding and a dragonhead bow capable of firing cannon or smoke.
Still, his best was to come. Japan returned in 1597 and ripped through the Korean navy while Yi was, once again, out of favour. All seemed doomed when he was desperately reinstated as commander of the fleet, which now consisted of just 12 ships – against Japan’s 133, plus 200 supporting vessels.
But Yi won. Big. The Koreans just lost a handful of men while approximately half the
