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Panokseon

An old painting of a panokseon.

Korean name

Hangul 판옥선

Hanja 板屋船

Revised Romanization Panokseon

McCune–Reischauer P'anoksŏn

Panokseon ("board roofed" or "superstructured" ship) was an oar- and sail-propelled ship that was

the main class of warship used by the Korean Joseon Dynasty during the late 16th century. The first

ship of this class was constructed in 1555.[1] It was a ship made of sturdy pine wood, and was

instrumental in the victories over the numerically superior Japanese Navy during the Imjin

War beginning in 1592. Admiral Yi Sunsin (1545–98) of the Joseon navy employed them

alongside turtle ships during the war with great success.

A key feature of a panokseon was its multiple decks. The first deck had non-combatant personnel,

such as the rowers, who were positioned between the main deck and the upper deck, away from

enemy fire. The combatant personnel were stationed on the upper deck, which allowed them to

attack the enemy from a higher vantage point. Also, on the deck of the panokseon, there was a

raised, roofed observation platform where the commander stood.

Contents

  [hide] 

1 Characteristics

2 Construction

3 Weapons

4 Comparison to Japanese Warships

5 Notes

6 See also

Characteristics[edit]

In line with the traditional structure of Korean ships, the panokseon had a flat keel. This feature was

due to the nature of the Korean coastal waters, which have a large tidal range and flat, expansive

tidal plains. A flat keel enables a ship to sit comfortably on the tideland when the tide was out, after

coming ashore or inside a wharf at high water. It also ensured greater mobility and a shallow draft

and in particular allowed a ship to make sharp changes of direction at short notice. This panokseon

was one of the main reasons why Admiral Yi was able to employ the Crane Wing formation at

the Battle of Hansando with great success.

A model of Panokseon centering on the commander deck.

Panokseons were propelled by both sails and oars. Of the two basic types of sail, square and lateen,

the square gives a strong performance downwind but struggles windward, whereas the fore-and-

aft lateen sailexcels against the wind, though requiring a large crew to handle it. In the West, square

sails were used in the galleys of Ancient Greece and the Viking longships, and the fore-and-aft

variety as early as the Mediterranean dromon ships of the Middle Ages. When the Age of

Exploration began in the fifteenth century, multiple-masted ships equipped with both types of sails

eventually appeared. In Korea fore-and-aft sail equipped ships had been in use since the eighth

century. Korea’s panokseon and Kobukson therefore had two masts by default, and their position

and angle could easily be managed so that the sails could be used in all winds, whether adverse or

favorable.

The ships had two to three levels stacked up on top of each other. By having multiple levels the

rowers at the bottom were relatively safe, and marines at the top would have a height advantage

over the enemy, firing down upon them and avoiding boarding of the ship. The upper deck had a

tower in the middle of the ship that is used for command and observation. The deck of the

panokseon was broad and flat, making it ideal for the installation of cannons.

Panokseons came in different sizes, from a medium, 70-foot-long (21 m) version to a large, 100-to-

120-foot-long (30 to 37 m) vessel. The ship usually had 8 to 10 oars on each side, 50 to 60 oarsman

and sailors and another 125 marines (i.e. fighting men).

Construction[edit]

Because of the rough waters around Korea's coast, as well as the sudden changes in tides and

currents, Korean boats throughout history had to be strong. Korean ship building tradition created

simple, but very structurally sound vessels. Throughout Korea's naval history, strength and power

was emphasized rather than speed.

Two types of woods were used to construct panokseon: pine for the hull and oak for the pegs and

masts. Oak is a strong but heavy wood, so its use on ships was limited to the frame. Pine was also

strong, but much lighter. Pine was usually allowed to season incompletely so that it would bend

easily and not become too stiff. Despite its advantages pine had many knots and had to be cut

thickly, thus the panokseon were built using thicker timbers. Instead of iron nails panokseons were

held together by means of bamboo pegs, matching indentations, and interlocking teeth. This meant

that as its boards absorbed water and expanded the fasteners did not rust, thus accounting for

greater integrity of the hull.

Weapons[edit]

Main articles: Chongtong and Korean cannon

Panokseons had on board several varieties of cannon, such as those named Heaven, Earth, Black

and Yellow. Heaven was the largest cannon with the greatest range and the most common cannon

on the ships. Earth was a smaller cannon and Black and Yellow were smaller still. The Heaven

cannon fireddaejeon (a long, thick arrow in the shape of a rocket) with a range of 500 m (1,650 ft), as

well as cheolhwan (cannon shot) which could travel up to a distance of 1 km (3300 ft). Wangu, a kind

of mortar, which fired stones or shells with a radius of 20cm (7.8 in), was also used by the Korean

navy. Hwachaswere also used on panokseons.

Another noteworthy aspect of Korea’s heavy fire-arms is that they were not all invented to meet the

sudden emergency of war. These weapons in fact made their appearance some 200 years prior

to Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea. Thanks to the efforts of Choe Mu-seon, a general and a chemist,

Korea began manufacturing and developing gunpowder and power-based weapons. Korean cannons

first saw action in 1380 against a large fleet of Japanese pirate ships, and were found to be a great

success.

In the 15th century, under the lead of King Sejong, who was himself a pioneer of scientific research,

the performance of these heavy artillery improved dramatically. Having built a cannon range next to

the Royal Court, and after much experimentation and study, King Sejong finally increased the extent

of the cannons’ firepower from 300 m (980 ft) to 1000 m (3,100 ft). Naval cannons were also

developed at this time and among them, Heaven, Earth, Black and Yellow cannon were later

employed by Yi Sun-sin. The development of artillery steadily continued after King Sejong, and saw

the invention of theBigyeokjincholloe, a timed grenade that flung out hundreds of metal shards upon

explosion, and the Dapoki, a machine capable of firing many arrows at once. One of the types of

cannons were arrows with a pipe filled with gunpowder that went right through as many as 10 ships

making devastating holes.[citation needed]

During Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea, Korea lacked advanced muskets, but had several types of

powerful cannons.

Comparison to Japanese Warships[edit]

The differences between the Panokseon and Japanese ships were significant. Japanese equivalents

were the large Atakebune class and the mediumSekibune class ships. In contrast to the Panokseon,

the hulls of the Japanese vessels had sharp, V-shaped bows. A sharp underside was favorable for

swift or long-distance travel in the open seas because of lower water resistance (thus these ships

had faster cruising speeds). Since this variety of hull had a deep draft (penetrates deeper into the

water), however, the ship’s turning radius was considerably large and changing direction was

therefore a lengthy process. In addition, ships with larger drafts have a more difficult time of

navigating narrow and shallower waters. Japanese ships were thus vastly less maneuverable than

the panokseon in Korea's narrow channel waters.

The medium sized Sekibune ships, smaller craft and most Japanese transport ships had a single

mast and can thus only sail in favorable winds. TheAtakebune was an exception in that it had two

masts, but the main parts of its vessels were square-rigged and their sails were again limited to use

in favorable winds.

It is worthwhile also to compare the hulls of the two nations’ respective warships, and their relative

strength. The panokseon used thick, high density boards, giving an overall sturdiness to the ship’s

structure. Japanese warships were structurally weaker, due to the thin, lower density timber used to

build them, particularly cedar and fir. These were light weight woods and because they didn't have as

many knots as pine, could be cut thinner. The Sekibune in particular, being the standard warship of

the Japanese fleet, was built to be as light as possible, increasing its speed at the expense of

structural integrity. This is consistent with traditional Japanese naval tactics of the time, which

emphasized boarding enemy ships and engaging their crews in hand to hand combat.

Another major difference was the use of iron nails versus the use of wood pegs to hold the ship

together. As previously mentioned, Korean ships were held together by interlocking teeth in the wood

and wood pegs. The Japanese warships, on the other hand, relied on iron nails which, as time

passed and corrosion and rust set in, eventually weakened the hull.

This difference in structural integrity also determined the number of cannons that could be carried on

board. Because the Japanese ships lacked the strength to withstand the recoil of cannon, even the

largest ship class, Atakebune, could carry only three or four at the most. A Sekibune could only carry

one. A panokseon could carry at least 26 cannons, but usually carried more (maybe up to 50). Since

the hulls of Korean warships were strong enough, moreover, they were able to carry a large number

of long-range cannons. These could be installed with ease on the large upper-deck of panokseon

ships, and their angle configured at will to increase the range. Since the Japanese warships only

allowed for a very limited number of cannons, their sailors mainly used muskets, which had a range

of 100–200 m (330–660 ft) and Japanese naval commanders were sure that a volley of musket

bullets would clear the enemy ships and allow for the grapple and board method.

The traditional and main naval strategy employed by the Japanese was that of "grapple-and-board",

whereby sailors would attempt to board an enemy ship and fall to sword fighting on the decks. This

method was mainly used because Japanese soldiers excelled at melee combat and because their

ships were very fast. The Japanese Navy's concept of sea battle was therefore one of a fight

between crews rather than the vessels themselves. This was the most common naval strategy in the

world during this time, and was also used by the Spanish and the home fleets of the Mediterranean

and Indian Ocean of the day. The Korean Navy, however, utilizing superior warships and firepower,

engaged in a more modern, distanced kind of naval warfare. During Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea,

a vast number of Japan's transports and warships were destroyed by Admiral Yi Sun-shin's

leadership and strategies, superior firepower, and knowledge of strategic points on what amounts to

a home field advantage.

Notes