INTRODUCTION

Welcome back to the three-part blog series about the Korean historical war movie Hansan: Rising Dragon (한산: 용의 출현), which I saw through the Korean Cultural Centre of Canada’s KCinema program!

Before we go further, I just wanted to remind everyone that while I do think this film did a great job of capturing history, it is still a dramatization of events. Therefore, I took what I thought was interesting from the movie and studied what they were based on. So yes, there are of course still references to the movie, but I really tried my best to make the rest accurate.

Part 1 covered the construction and armament of Admiral Yi Sun-sin’s secret weapon against the Japanese during the Imjin War: 거북선 (geobukseon). The appropriately-named “Turtle Ship”, however, was not the only ship instrumental in the Koreans’ underdog win at Hansan.

JOSEON VS JAPANESE WARSHIPS & WEAPONRY

PART II: 판옥선 & 安宅船

Enter 판옥선 (Panokseon), the main class of battleship used by the Joseon Navy through the 16th Century.

Due to a large tidal range, shallow tidal planes, and rough waters around the coastline of the Korean peninsula, panokseon were built with a U-shaped hull (same as geobukseon) and a flat keel. This was the traditional structure because it allowed even large ships to maneuver well, no matter the water depth or sudden changes in tides, plus it made them easy to use on shallower channels throughout the country. The first iteration of this tall, 100-foot-long ship class was recorded in the year 1555.

A key defining feature of this warship was three decks stacked atop one another, with a smaller tower in the middle of the uppermost deck. This raised, roofed platform was a place where commanders could observe both their own and the enemy’s fleet, while the multiple levels gave the upper deck soldiers a better vantage point for cannon and arrow fire. 

Since the rowers were located between decks, they were better shielded from taking damage, which in turn allowed the Admirals to keep tight control of the ship’s positioning even under heavy fire. Much like its sister ship geobukseon, panokseon was able to turn on its own radius. As shown in the movie (and apparently happened for real too), this ability provides a huge tactical advantage, since Yi Sun-sin uses it in tandem with 학익진 (hakikjin), the Crane Wing Formation, to stop the Japanese naval advance.

To ensure consistent performance, a dual mast system was used; one mast equipped with square sails for downwind travel, and one with lateen sails for going against the wind.

For added speed— since U-shaped hulls don’t cut through water all that efficiently —panokseon had 8-10 oars per side, requiring around 60 rowers on board (these were some seriously big oars that needed at least two men on each).

In Hansan: Rising Dragon, three 판옥선 are sent into the channel as bait and narrowly escape being destroyed by much faster Japanese ships by sailing over a patch of rocks in shallow water, where the V-shaped hulls get stuck.

As mentioned above, water around the coast of Korea does not play nice, so the Joseon prioritized durability over swiftness. Primarily constructed from pine, panokseon used oak pegs, or carved interlocking teeth to hold the thick-cut boards together, rather than nails which would eventually rust and cause the ship to become fragile.

They needed to be so strong because of the number of cannons they carried – generally at least fifty per ship!

In Part 1 of the blog I covered the main four types of Korean cannons, or 총통 (chongtong), so I won’t go over it again. However, I will say the main cannons on panokseon were 천자총통 (cheonja-chongtong), the biggest and heaviest model weighing in around 650 pounds.

When I first started my research about 16th century naval warfare, I never thought I’d come across the term “rocket launcher”, and yet, on top of all the cannons, Joseon armed these big battleships with 화차 (hwacha). While the literal translation is “fire cart”, hwacha were basically a precursor to modern MRLS that shot two hundred arrows at a time, instead of an explosive payload.

With so much weaponry needing both operation and reloading, panokseon required a complement of around 125 combat marines. Not too difficult to see why these boats needed to be so tough and sturdy now, right?

Hansan: Rising Dragon also features 安宅船 (Atakebune), the panokseon’s equivalent large class Japanese warship.

Traditionally, Japanese ships were built with only a single mast capable of sailing in favorable wind. Even though 安宅船 had two masts, they both had the same kind of square sails restricted to relying on the wind’s ever-changing direction.

Built with light wood— like cedar and fir —to get a better topspeed, atakebune had sharp V-shaped bows to maximize efficiency for long-distance travel. And efficient they were, however, the depth of the draft made for quite the lengthy process to change directions (and a much bigger turning radius).

The increased speed also meant decreased structural strength. Better trained in hand-to-hand fighting, much of their strategy relied on the ability to ambush enemy ships, grapple them with hooks, and get on deck to engage melee-style. This tactic resulted in “sturdiness” at the bottom of the list.

In fact, 安宅船 were so fragile they couldn’t even withstand the recoil of their own cannonfire; the biggest model in this class was only capable of carrying four standard-size cannons.

There’s a few great moments in the movie that take place on board the Japanese flagship, but something particularly intriguing was how the lead atakebune had cannons suspended with ropes hanging from their command platform. It wasn’t until I was reading up on the ships’ construction that I realized this reduces the impact of the recoil.

I just have to say that although all the actors were spectacular, Byun Yo-han delivered a particularly impressive performance as main antagonist 脇坂 安治 (Wakisaka Yasuharu). His acting talents were demonstrated by the evolution of Wakisaka’s demeanor throughout the course of the film; ruthlessness and desperation to destroy his nemesis 이순신 (Yi Sun-sin) consuming him as he approaches the edge of madness.

There is one other remarkable trait about the main 安宅船 leading the charge in the final battle scene, and that is its armor. Previously, in Part 1, I said it was likely that 거북선 (geobukseon) was the first armored ship in the world, and while that is true, the Japanese were also developing their own protection from cannonfire and explosives (especially since their ships were so fragile). In Hansan: Rising Dragon, when Wakisaka summons reinforcements, one of the commanders 九鬼 嘉隆 (Kuki Yoshitaka) brings with him a huge reinforced battleship covered in iron plates.

While its full origin isn’t covered in the movie, I learned that in real life, Kuki Yoshitaka had been a commander under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was the creator of the armored atakebune. There is recorded evidence from European missionaries to confirm this, as one journal contained the passage, “Their structure above the surface [of the water] is fully covered by iron, and there is a tower on the deck. Bridges are covered by iron, and no wood is exposed.”

In conclusion, both the 판옥선 and the 安宅船 were deadly warships; they simply relied on different tactics and construction to achieve varying goals. 

Obviously, in Hansan: Rising Dragon, the panokseon are victorious thanks to Yi Sun-sin’s famous Crane Wing Formation and their superior firepower at a distance. However, the atakebune still posed a powerful threat, and outnumbered the Korean ships by a wide margin. While I also personally think the panokseon are cooler, the atakebune is absolutely still worth further studying.

In the third (and final) part of this blog series, I’ll be going over historical hand-held weaponry present in the movie, how gunpowder came to Korea, and a few closing facts about the Imjin War. You can read part 1 here!

You can find the original post here