Turtle Ship (Geobukseon)

Timeline

1. 1592Jeolla Left Province naval base · Jeolla ProvinceAfter the Japanese invasion force landed, Yi Sun-sin reorganized the navy in Jeolla Left Province, strengthening the existing turtle-ship design into a boarding-warship type with iron plating, a dragon-headed smoke device, and a spiked roof, and concentrated them for anti-landing operations and fleet decisive battles.
2. 1592Waters off Okpo · Gyeongsang ProvinceThe Battle of Okpo in May 1592 was the turtle ship's first large-scale engagement, in which Yi Sun-sin led the fleet to defeat the Japanese squadron; in July of the same year at the Battle of Hansando, turtle ships and panokseon cooperated, destroying the main Japanese fleet through boarding and fire attacks and reversing control of the sea in the Korea Strait.
3. 1597–1598Myeongnyang Strait · Jeolla ProvinceDuring the second Japanese invasion of 1597, Yi Sun-sin ambushed and crushed the Japanese forces at Myeongnyang Strait with a small number of warships including turtle ships; in the 1598 Battle of Noryang, the Joseon–Ming joint fleet again annihilated the retreating Japanese fleet with turtle ships and other warships, after which the turtle-ship tactical system reached its peak and large-scale construction ceased with the war's end.