Pre-industrial armoured ships

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For the 19th century warships, see Ironclad warship.

Armoured warships were wooden ships or ships of composite construction (wooden planking on iron frames) armoured with thick metal plates. The Europeans made ships with metal ribs as rams and there are also documents about armoured ships, some of them equipped with naval artillery. In East Asia there are records about metal armoured warships combined with naval artillery from the 16th century.

However, it should be pointed out that in every single case of both European and Far Eastern vessels the evidence of ship armour is either unclear, ambiguous or disputed.

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[edit] Evidence in Europe

There are references about armoured warships in Europe, but in case of some it is unknown whether this kind of warship was armoured with metal or other materials such as wood or leather.

Early examples of armoured ships served in the Roman and Byzantine fleets, known as cataphracts[1], though their armour was not proof against heavy missile weapons, such as ballistae[2]. A few Norse longships were reinforced with armour as early as the 11th Century, such as the Iron Beard of Eric Hakonsson of Norway.[3]

A ship with iron plating on the ribs was commissioned in 1505 by Juan Lope de Lazcano, a Basque admiral of the Spanish Fleet.[4]

The lead sheathed war carrack of the Knights Hospitaller Santa Anna is viewed by some authors as an early form of armoured ship. The warship was active between 1522 and 1540 in the Mediterranean Sea against the Turks.

[edit] Evidence in East Asia

Joseph Needham postulates that the first instance of an armoured warship in East Asia may have been the paddle-wheeled "Sea Hawk" designed by general Qin Shifu during the Song Dynasty in 1203. It was described to have its sides(and perhaps the flat roofs also) protected with iron plates.[5] Other histories of Chinese seafaring quoted certain warships where iron sheathing protects the bow, ram, and undersides[6] but this does not comply with the definition of an armoured ship.

Early type of turtle ship (1415)
Early type of turtle ship (1415)

Korean turtle ships (Hangul:거북선, geobukseon or kobukson) are first mentioned in records from 1413 and 1415 in the Annals of Joseon Dynasty, but the usage of protective iron plates is not mentioned and remaining designs indicate the roof was left open. There is also no clear evidence that the 16th century turtle ships of admiral Yi Sun-Sin were ironclad.[7] Admiral Yi Sun-Sin's mention of iron cladding in his memoirs consists of "iron spikes on its back to pierce the enemies' feet when they tried to board". Japanese sources also state that the turtle ships were "covered in iron",[8].

A 16th century Japanese "Atakebune" coastal warship
A 16th century Japanese "Atakebune" coastal warship

In 1578, the Japanese daimyo Oda Nobunaga had made six Atakebune (大安宅船) which were called, according to one source, "Tekkōsen" (鉄甲船), literally meaning "iron ships".[9] According to the historian Turnbull this is not to imply they were of iron like ironclad, but that their superstructure may have been reinforced with iron plates against cannon and fire arrows.[9] These ships were armed with multiple cannons and large caliber arquebuses, and were described by the Italian Jesuit Organtino as being protected by iron plates two to three inches thick.[10] No iron-covering at all, however, was mentioned in the account of the Jesuit missionary Luis Frois, who had also seen and described the ships.[11]


Nobunaga defeated the navy of his enemy Mori Terumoto with these ships at the mouth of the Kizu River, Osaka in 1578 with a successful naval blockade. Despite being regarded as floating fortresses, they were used as warships in the Seven-Year War with Korea.[citation needed] The most notable and largest of these ships was the Nihon Maru, which briefly fought a Korean turtle ship in the battle of Angolp'o harbor in 1592.[citation needed]

Geobukseon
Geobukseon

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ancient Catapults. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
  2. ^ The Roman Navy. Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
  3. ^ Norseman News (Spring 2000). Retrieved on 2007-02-23.
  4. ^ Kurlansky, Mark. 1999. The Basque History of the World. Walker & Company, New York. ISBN 0-8027-1349-1, p. 56
  5. ^ Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 688.
  6. ^ Stephen Turnbull, “Fighting Ships of the Far East (1) China and Southeast Asia 202 BC-AD 1419” (Oxford, 2002), Osprey, ISBN 1-84176-386-1, p.22f.
  7. ^ Stephen Turnbull, “Samurai Invasion. Japan’s Korean War 1592-98” (London, 2002), Cassell & Co, p. 244 ISBN 0-304-35948-3
  8. ^ "Fighting ships of the Far-East (2)", Stephen Turnbull, p18
  9. ^ a b Stephen Turnbull, “Samurai Warfare” (London, 1996), Cassell & Co, p.102 ISBN 1-85409-280-4
  10. ^ Boxer, C.R. (1993). The Christian Century in Japan 1549-1650. Carcanet Press, pg. 122. ISBN 1-85754-035-2. 
  11. ^ Stephen Turnbull, “Samurai Warfare” (London, 1996), Cassell & Co ISBN 1-85409-280-4, p.102f.

[edit] External links