Admiral Of The Century
When we think of great naval commanders, we immediately think of Horatio Nelson. He fought 13 battles, winning eight.
Admiral Yi Sun-sin fought 23 battles against the Japanese invaders of Korea, and won every one of them without losing a single ship. In 14 of these battles, moreover, not a single Japanese ship survived.
Yet Yi Sun-sin was an amateur: he had no formal naval training of any kind.
Japan’s greatest admiral, Heihachiro Togo, the victor of Tsushima, said: ‘It may be proper to compare me to Nelson, but not to Korea’s Yi Sun-sin. He is too great to be compared to anyone.’
While conducting his campaigns, Admiral Yi got virtually no support from his colleagues or the Korean court. Even worse, he was demoted to the ranks more than once on trumped-up charges due to the intrigues of jealous rivals.
How was he able to accomplish so much, and why was Japan unable to defeat him, even though it won nearly every land battle fought at the same time?
Admiral Yi Sun-sin fought 23 battles against the Japanese invaders of Korea, and won every one of them without losing a single ship. In 14 of these battles, moreover, not a single Japanese ship survived.
Yet Yi Sun-sin was an amateur: he had no formal naval training of any kind.
Japan’s greatest admiral, Heihachiro Togo, the victor of Tsushima, said: ‘It may be proper to compare me to Nelson, but not to Korea’s Yi Sun-sin. He is too great to be compared to anyone.’
While conducting his campaigns, Admiral Yi got virtually no support from his colleagues or the Korean court. Even worse, he was demoted to the ranks more than once on trumped-up charges due to the intrigues of jealous rivals.
How was he able to accomplish so much, and why was Japan unable to defeat him, even though it won nearly every land battle fought at the same time?
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