Joseon Navy is the strongest in the world? What's the basis?

 This article was posted in the Ddanji Ilbo in the past, raising objections to the reporter's claim that the Joseon Navy was the world's strongest when an article about Admiral Yi Sun-sin and the Joseon Navy was posted. This article has been noisy for a while, but Ahn Byung-do's novels also feature scenes of Spanish Galéon and Joseon Navy Pan Ok-seon, and various military webzines have raised questions about the virtual showdown between the European Fleet and Joseon Fleet, so please read it for interest. If the Joseon Navy at the end of the 16th century faces a fleet of England or Spain, it will certainly be a far more burdensome opponent than the Japanese Navy, which boarded a Sekibune, which was mostly smaller than Panokseon, and was armed with poor launchers such as guns and arrows. The shipbuilding fleet is the strongest in the world? What's the basis?   Author: emfor, should I call this nationalism? Because of the fantasy about the turtle ship, there are occasional rumors that the Korean Navy was the world's strongest during the Japanese Invasion of Korea, and there are many naive people who think that's true, but it's useless. The Western Navy has already passed its time against the early 16th century and outpaced the East, far ahead of the East in the field of firearms. You can see from the bulangi and hongipo (all Western cannons made from China, but they were modeled after them because they were surprised by their excellent performance.     Let's have a virtual battle with the Western fleet because it won't feel real even if I say anything about it. Who would be the best partner? Let's catch the Spanish invincible fleet (Armada), which was the strongest in the West at the time, and the British fleet that defeated it. Looking at the battle between the Joseon Navy and the Japanese Navy during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, you can see that the era of the Baekbyeongjeon in the naval battle has gone and the era of artillery warfare based on dominant firepower has arrived. A similar thing happened four years ago, so 1588, in Europe. It was a showdown between the British Royal Navy, which prioritized artillery fire, and Spain's invincible fleet (Armada), which was recognized as Europe's strongest for its long-term white battle. At this time, the British Navy, which led to artillery battles, won a great victory, and the era of the invincible fleet disappeared and the British Navy became the strongest European player in name. (One of the reasons why the invincible fleet was originally poor in mobility due to excessive British invasion. It was a battle with a handicap. Anyway, let's fight between the British Navy, which became the new champion in Europe at the time, and the Joseon Navy under Yi Sun-shin, who is considered the best in the East. First of all, to conclude, I think the Joseon Navy, which fought on the coast and on the ocean, is at a great disadvantage. The European Navy level during this period, especially the British Navy, has a clear qualitative advantage over the East. The Joseon Navy is relatively outstanding because it faced countries such as Japan and China.  Of course, to discuss with a person, there is no commander like Admiral Yi Sun-shin. In terms of tactics, it is comparable to Europe's most advanced England in that it avoids the white-handed battle and plays with guns. However, the overall backwardness cannot be helped. Well, except for ocean navigation capabilities (in the end, assume that the Spanish invincible fleet or the British Royal Navy fleet-level Western fleet invaded Joseon). It's hard to get out of the coast with our ability, but it's impossible to go to the other side of the world) Even if the ship size is similar in terms of length or width, there were large European combat ships at the time that easily exceeded 600-700 tons.On average, it was 400 tons. It will be two or three times as large as the shipbuilding fleet. What I had to do was to carry enough supplies because I had the ocean voyage in mind and also a transport ship. Then, what is the combat power like? A ship equipped with 20 to 40 guns has already appeared.It is designed high on several floors, so the deck with Hampo is 2-3 floors. If you get close, the height of our deck is low, which is a big disadvantage. (The fact that the deck of the Panokseon is high only means that it is so compared to the Japanese ship) The West, where guns (the level of guns so far) were distributed in personal firearms, is far ahead. You can't ignore the ability to fight against white soldiers. A natural result because there are many former pirates.     Even if we look at the durability of the ship, we can't guarantee our victory with a collision tactic. The Japanese can push ahead with it as if they have few neutralizers and the ship itself is weak, but if they want to approach the British ship, they are more likely to be destroyed even before they collide. Furthermore, even with the same wooden ship, the durability of Western ships with ocean navigation in mind cannot be underestimated. In the end, we have to compete in a long-distance artillery battle that was Joseon's specialty. Here again, Joseon comes with it. At that time, Western firearms were classified by the weight of shells, ranging from 15 pounds to 50 pounds, and the standard armament was 24 pounds. The shell is just an iron ball, but the weight of 13-23 kilograms is no joke. The largest range of 50 pounds is 2,000 yards. (One yard is a little short of 1 meter), so it's hard to conclude that we have the upper hand even with a range, right? The system of the neutralizer was also scientifically subdivided to suit our purpose. Since Armada's crushing defeat in 1588, Western naval tactics have changed dramatically. The importance of artillery battles, not white battles, is recognized. (In other words, it is not right to think that the Western naval strategy at the time was to shoot a little gun and go up to the enemy line to fight white battles.) The reason why there were a lot of white-and-white battles even after the artillery battle became the main attack was that it was much more beneficial to take away the enemy ship than to defeat it. As the colony began to be built, many military ships carried tremendous treasures and goods, and if they take away the ship, they can repair it and use it, so they eat pheasant and eat fish roe. Large galeons cost a lot of money to build a ship) In fact, our guns were mostly shot at, so they could have a good effect on killing people, whereas Westerners preferred "big shot" that required a more precise aim (that doesn't mean they didn't use any shot) and the size is bigger than ours. Even if we compete with mobility using oars, we can't help it if it's disadvantageous. At that time, Western ships were able to be controlled in detail without the help of oars thanks to their highly developed structure (a combination of complex sails with different roles on the basis of three masts), which was called a complete sailboat. In the confrontation between the invincible fleet and the British fleet, there were many galleys using paddles, but they fell behind the speed and agility of the British fleet.  (The British Navy built a lot of fast ships recognizing the importance of maneuver) In conclusion, the Joseon Navy's combat power in the late 1500s may have been Asia's strongest, but it is too much to deal with contemporary Europe (UK). However, Admiral Yi Sun-shin's ability deserves to be praised as the best in the world. (It can't be helped that he is inferior even if he competes with the turtle ship, not the Panok ship.) If you're hit by a 50-pound gun or something, of course, even a turtle with an ironclad on its roof will be smashed) So why don't we say that Britain is a tough opponent and fight against the Spanish invincible fleet, which liked the white battle? The decisive reason Spain was broken by Britain at the time was that their preferred tactic was to approach the enemy line like the Japanese during the Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592, shoot guns, cross the ladder, and compete in a close battle. In terms of the ability to fight against soldiers, there were more experienced soldiers than the Japanese. Western swordsmanship during this period was also the most developed in Spain. It's totally Western Japan.      Looking at the composition of their fleet, there were quite a few galleys. The galley gradually disappeared (after being broken by England), not the galley of the Greek and Roman periods, but the appearance of getting closer to the sailing ship of the time. Compared to the Galeon, the deck is relatively low and it is backward to be called a full-fledged sailing ship, but it can speed up because it paddles during battle. After a great victory over the Ottoman Navy in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, 20 years ago, with these galleys and galeas (approximately intermediate form of galleys and sailboats, super-large galleys), I continue to think that the white battle is the best.

However, they should not be identified with the Japanese Navy. It is said to row the same, but it was basically a much better ship, and it is hard to determine the superiority and inferiority compared to the Joseon Panokseon. (We can't help but admit that Galleon is superior to Panokseon) Although Baek Byeong-jeon is the main skill, it is also formidable in terms of firepower. Although it was lagging compared to Britain, they also had a considerable number of artillery and cannot be said to be inferior to that of Joseon in terms of firepower. The reason why the artillery was mounted in large quantities even though they preferred the white battle was because they used a tactic to destroy the mast at close range and then exterminate it by attaching a boat.

If you expect the results of the battle with the same number of ships (e.g., 50 to 50), the invincible fleet will try to compete in the first battle with white troops. The Joseon Panokseon, which looks sloppy compared to the European ship, and even the wide and flat deck, looks perfect for a hundred warship.    The Joseon Navy under Admiral Yi Sun-shin will stop the approach by firing a gun to death. However, it will not be easy to complete the Western ship, which is stronger than the Japanese ship, with a smaller hammer than the Western one. (For fairness, the advantages of home ground (topography) were not considered)

If the Joseon Navy fails to destroy the invincible fleet in the first battle, unless the commander of the invincible fleet is a fool, it will go to artillery battle from the second battle. If you both try to compete with artillery, it'll be hard to determine the superiority and inferiority. The shipbuilding fleet, which can nibble away enemy troops with shotguns, may be advantageous, or the Spanish fleet, which mainly shoots iron balls that are more advantageous in destroying the ship itself and mobility, may be advantageous. Of course, the Joseon Fleet also used large bullets (large arrows = missiles rather than shot bullets), but... Since the range is insufficient compared to Western long-distance guns, there is a problem with the application if you engage at a distance. In terms of the number of artillery, the number of cannons in the entire fleet reached 2,500 in the case of the invincible fleet (130 ships), but no matter how high the firearm operation ratio of the shipbuilding fleet was, this number would not have been achieved.