Yi Sun-shin of Korea: The Greatest Admiral (2024)

“It may be proper to compare me with Nelson, but not with Korea’s Yi Sun-shin, for he has no equal.” — Admiral Togo

In 1592, the Imjin War began as Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched a Japanese invasion of Joseon Korea. The Koreans, woefully unprepared to fight Japanese soldiers battle-hardened from centuries of civil war, lost the capital of Hanseong (modern-day Seoul) after less than a month of conflict. However, the outcome of this war would be determined by the clashes in Korean waters, not the battles on Korean soil. While the Korean king and his court would flee to the north, Admiral Yi Sun-shin would stay behind to lead the Korean navy and save his nation.

Yi Sun-shin’s story began in Hanseong, where he was born into a noble family in 1545. Roughly 30 years later, he would pass the Korean military examination and be assigned to protect the northern border from Jurchen marauders. While he enjoyed great success during his campaigns in the north, his superiors grew jealous and falsely accused him of desertion; this led to him being stripped of his rank in addition to imprisonment and torture. Once he was released, he had to rejoin the military as an enlisted soldier. However, as a result of his earlier victories, he was quickly promoted to be the commander of the Jeolla Province’s Left Naval District (located in southwestern Korea). This key appointment allowed him to build up the Korean navy, especially with the construction of the mighty turtle ships, which would be vital for the defense of his nation in the years to come.

Once the Japanese invasion force landed at the port cities of Busan and Dadaejin, they began conquering Korea at lightning speed. Although Admiral Yi did not study naval warfare in the military academy and had no experience with naval combat, the Korean navy would have to compensate for the shortcomings of the Korean army. His first naval campaign turned out to be quite successful, as he sunk around 37 Japanese ships in battles at Okpo and Jeokjinpo while losing none of his vessels. In the aftermath of these victories, he was enraged by the brutal Japanese treatment of his fellow countrymen, as he discovered countless burnt remains of villages where men were slaughtered and women were enslaved. His second naval campaign showed similar results, as he would sink another 60 Japanese ships in battles at Sacheon, Dangpo, and Danghangpo, again with no losses of his own. The Japanese navy was unable to sink any of Admiral Yi’s ships because he understood that Japanese naval forces depended on boarding parties and close-quarters combat to win naval battles, whereas Korean ships had superior range and firepower; as a result, he constantly kept his vessels at a distance from enemy warships. Ultimately, this immaculate opening for Admiral Yi’s naval career provided the Korean military with desperately needed victories.

As news of Admiral Yi’s victories reached the Japanese high command, they decided to assemble a fleet to counter the Korean navy. This would lead to Admiral Yi’s third naval campaign and one of his greatest victories in the Battle of Hansan Island. Discovering the Japanese fleet in a strait, Admiral Yi deployed six ships that successfully baited them into open waters around Hansan Island. The Japanese fell into his trap as they were bombarded by the Korean fleet, who had arranged themselves in a semicircular crane-wing formation. While the Japanese navy suffered the loss of around 59 ships, the Korean navy had yet again not lost a single ship. Admiral Yi would carry the momentum of this victory to deal another devastating blow at Angolpo, where the Japanese lost many ships and the Koreans lost none.

In his fourth naval campaign, Admiral Yi led a surprise attack on the Japanese navy in Busan, where the invasion first began. With the destruction of over 100 Japanese ships and 0 Korean vessels, the battle was once again a decisive victory for Admiral Yi. As a result of his incredible feats, he would be promoted to supreme commander of the Korean navy. By this point in the Imjin War, the Japanese had completely lost control of the seas around Korea, isolating their ground forces. As the Korean army, supported by reinforcements from Ming China, began to score their own victories, the Japanese invasion force retreated to Busan. Although peace negotiations would begin and last for around three years, they ultimately failed due to Hideyoshi’s intent on conquering Korea.

With additional Japanese forces landing in Korea to start the second phase of the Imjin War, the Japanese would rely on a different type of strategy to deal with Admiral Yi. A Japanese double agent pretended to give intel on the location of a Japanese fleet to Korean high command, who then ordered Admiral Yi to set up an ambush. However, he refused the orders, as he understood that he would be leading his ships into a trap. The Korean king, playing right into the hands of the Japanese, was infuriated. He relieved Admiral Yi of command, who was then tortured to the point of death. He was spared the death penalty but was yet again demoted to the rank of a common infantry soldier. Unfortunately for the Korean naval forces, Admiral Yi’s replacement, Won Gyun, was not as competent. Won Gyun would lead the entire Korean navy, built up by Admiral Yi over many successful years, into a Japanese ambush at the disastrous battle of Chilcheollyang. The Korean navy, which numbered around 200 ships, was nearly annihilated, with only 13 warships surviving the Japanese onslaught. When news of this defeat reached the Korean king and his court, they quickly reinstated Admiral Yi to lead what was left of the Korean navy, setting the stage for his greatest battle and one of the most incredible victories in the history of warfare: the Battle of Myeongnyang.

As the Japanese army marched again towards the Korean capital of Hanseong, their navy consisting of hundreds of warships (estimated to be over 300) pivoted to support them. All that stood in their way were Admiral Yi, 13 warships (none of which were turtle ships), and severely demoralized sailors. To prepare for his last stand, he studied the geography of numerous potential battlefields and ultimately decided on luring the Japanese to the narrow Myeongnyang strait. Emboldened by their previous victory, the Japanese navy took the bait and sailed right into Admiral Yi’s trap. At the beginning of the battle, Admiral Yi’s flagship engaged in combat alone as the other Korean sailors were frightened by the numbers of the Japanese fleet and the earlier disaster at Chilcheollyang. Yet due to the narrowness of the Myeongnyang strait, the Japanese navy had to divide into smaller groups to sail through, essentially neutralizing their numerical superiority. In addition, while Korean warships were safely positioned by Admiral Yi in calmer waters north of the strait, the Japanese vessels racing through encountered strong and unpredictable currents that caused them to collide with each other, making them easy targets for Korean cannons. As the rest of the Korean navy watched their admiral’s flagship singlehandedly hold off the Japanese vanguard, they regained their confidence and joined the fight. With the tide turning against the Japanese both metaphorically and literally, they ended up losing around 30 ships whereas the Korean navy was able to keep all 13 of its ships intact. In Korea’s darkest hour, Admiral Yi had his finest moment.

While the second phase of the Imjin War raged in Korea, Hideyoshi unexpectedly died, motivating Japanese leadership to end the invasion and withdraw their forces. The final battle of the Imjin War, the Battle of Noryang, saw a combined fleet of Korean and Ming Chinese forces destroy over 200 Japanese ships. During this battle, Admiral Yi suffered a fatal wound from a stray enemy bullet; his last words were orders to continue beating the war drum and to not announce his death. His nephew would put on his armor and lead the Korean fleet to one last victory, expelling the Japanese from the Korean peninsula and ending the Imjin War. While the Korean people would begin to enjoy peace, the people of Japan would suffer through yet another civil war as the ruling Toyotomi clan invested too many resources into its failed invasion, resulting in the rise of the isolationist Tokugawa shogunate.

Today, Admiral Yi is revered as the greatest general in Korean history and, according to a 2019 Gallup poll, is the most respected person among South Koreans. A 17-meter-tall (56 feet) statue of Yi Sun-shin is placed in the heart of Seoul to honor his service, and a film trilogy was created to depict his greatest battles (The Admiral: Roaring Currents, Hansan: Rising Dragon, and Noryang: Deadly Sea). His autobiographical records of the Imjin War, known as the Nanjung Ilgi, are part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World initiative. If you still remain unconvinced that he is the greatest admiral in the history of naval warfare, then this is your take-home message: despite being constantly outgunned, outmanned, and backstabbed by his own king, he has a perfect record of 23 battles won and 0 battles lost, destroying hundreds of enemy warships while losing zero warships of his own.

Written by Brian Kim, Edited by Koushik Chennakesavan