Myeongnyang Battlefield (명량 해전)
The battle which transformed Admiral Yi Sun-sin from a great commander into a naval legend took place in this narrow strait on 26 October 1597. Having just been reinstated as commander of the Joseon Navy after running afoul of partisan politics, he returned to find his hitherto undefeated fleet lost by his successor Won Kyun. The 13 surviving Joseon ships and crews were those who’d fled in terror from the disaster at Chilcheollyang. King Sonjo lost all hope and ordered the navy disbanded, its people to join hard-pressed army forces to the north.
But with his tiny, discouraged fleet Admiral Yi disobeyed the royal order, set his defensive line west of the tumultuous Myeongnyang Strait, and defeated an armada of 330 Japanese ships (including 130 warships), sinking 31 while losing none of his own. The remaining Japanese forces retreated to their coastal fortresses, never again to challenge Yi’s dominance of the Korean littoral. This decisive action ended any hope of resupplying the army from the western coast and doomed the Japanese drive for Seoul. Japanese forces would hunker down in their oft-besieged citadels until the end of the war a year later.
The movie “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (or simply “명량” in Korean) is a pretty good depiction of this tide-turning battle in the Imjin War…if you’ll pardon the awful pun.
The cable car terminal on the north side is right beside the memorial hall. Didn’t intend to take the cable across…but it turned out to be well worth it! Highly recommended you pay the extra few bucks for the glass floor. REALLY gives you a sense for the incredible tidal surge in the strait.
Statues to Admiral Yi and the victory are sprinkled throughout the grounds.
Visibility was horrible the day we visited, making it difficult to get good pics. Still, was an absolute thrill to see the actual site. This is a view from the cable car terminal on the north side of the strait, looking east toward where the Japanese fleet approached.
This from the same site but looking west toward where the Joseon fleet took position.
The white, disturbed water below our cable car gives an idea of how fast the tidal race is here—and why Admiral Yi decided to defend this location. I thought the water effects in the movie “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” were exaggerated…they certainly were not! Still photos really don’t do it justice as whirlpools repeatedly formed and disappeared before our eyes. The video below is better, I think, though less dramatic than looking down through the glass floor of our cable car.
Decent map of the battle located in Jindo Tower.
My amateur piecing together of pics shows the entire Myeongnyang Strait. The Japanese entered from the east, off to the right end of the picture. Admiral Yi set his fleet to the west of the strait, but took position himself a little left of the bridge pictured above, well forward of his line of panokseon battleships. Most of the battle took place in the narrows.
Jindo Tower on the south side of the strait. Great views of the entire scene from the many platforms available here. Also, a decent gift shop on the lower floor with a very nice proprietor. Jindo Tower lies just above the southside cable car terminal. It’s reachable by car as well, by highly recommend the cable car trip!
The view east of Myeongnyang Strait. The Japanese fleet generally hugged the mainland coastline where possible and so would have likely approached from the channel visible through the haze to the upper left.
Admiral Yi’s impressive statue on the Jindo (Jin Island) side of the strait as he continues to survey the scene of his greatest—against-the-odds—triumph today. We’ve every intent to return…hopefully when visibility allows for clearer pics! Still…was truly awe-inspiring to visit this one-of-a-kind historical site!
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