I never really liked history. To be quite frank, I found it boring. But yesterday, I ran across an article whose teaser read "September 16, 1597: Yi Sun-sin leads 12 ships of the Korean fleet against an invasion by 133 Japanese ships. The Koreans sink 31 enemy ships and force Japanese to retreat." They were fucking outnumbered 11 to 1! I had to read more (and it turns out that the summary contained a typo; he did not defeat 133 ships, but actually 333 ships).

The story reads like an Asian legend, with impossibly idiotic and unjust rulers, incredible feats of heroism, and an unbelievably composed protagonist, despite the trials and tribulations thrown at him. 이순신 (Yi Sunsin) was born on March 8, 1545. When he was 7, his father was falsely accused of a crime and tortured by the government, forcing his family to move from 건천동 (Geoncheon Dong) in Seoul to Ahsan. When he became 31, 이순신 passed the military civil service examination and was posted to the northern border region. When he became 38, 이순신 received news of his father's death.

이순신 led a string of successful campaigns against Jurchen nomads. However, his brilliance, despite his short career, made his superiors jealous, and they falsely accused him of desertion. 이순신 was demoted to the rank of a common soldier and imprisoned. On his release he had to climb through the ranks again. After a short period of time, he was appointed as the Magistrate of a small county, and his efforts there were rewarded in 1591 when the Korean Court assigned 이순신 to command the naval forces in 전라도 (Jeolla).

At the time, in Korea, the government did not support the navy. It was up to the admirals to find the supply he needed for his crew. Admiral 이순신 often wrote in his war diary how concerned he was about the food supply during winters. Admiral 이순신 himself had never been trained as an admiral. Korea, called Joseon at the time, did not have any naval training facility. None of his subordinates, including his own staff, had ever fought at sea before.

이순신 subsequently began to strengthen the nation's navy with a series of unprecedented reforms, including the construction of the now-famous 거북선 (Geobukseon, or "Turtle Ship"), which was the first iron-clad battleship in history.

The 거북선 was so called because it had an armour covering its top, protecting it from gunfire and making it look like a turtle with the head of a dragon. From the mouth of the dragon, fume could be billowed out as a smokescreen. Sharp retractable iron spikes protruded from the top panels, making the primary Japanese tactic of grappling and boarding an opposing ship less effective in battle.

During the "Seven-Year War" of 1592, 豊臣秀吉 (Toyotomi Hideyoshi), who was a 戦国大名 (sengoku daimyo, or "feudal ruler during the period of war"), gave the order to invade Korea to use it as a forward base to conquer China. Having failed to hire two Portugese galleons to help him, 豊臣秀吉 increased the size of his own fleet to 700 vessels and launched the attack. The invasion force landed at Busan without meeting any Korean ships, and so the Japanese force started a lightning march north, reaching Seoul in only 19 days, on May 2, 1592.

거북선 were first deployed at Sachun, where they helped destroy 13 enemy Japanese ships. Subsequently, Admiral 이순신 achieved tremendous victories in every battle he engaged. In the battles at Dangpo & Danghangpo, he sank 20 and 100 Japanese ships respectively and utterly routed the inexperienced Japanese sailors—out of a main Japanese fleet of about 700 vessels. Then on 8 July, in the decisive Battle of Hansan, Admiral 이순신 destroyed the main enemy fleet in Hansan Bay, sinking 59 out of 73 warships.

The Japanese knew that for a successful invasion of Korean, 이순신 must be eliminated. Seeing how the internal court rivalries of the Koreans worked, the Japanese devised a plan. A Japanese soldier named Yoshira was sent to the camp of the Korean general Kim Eung-Su, and convinced the general that he would spy on the Japanese for the Koreans. Yoshira spent a long time acting as a spy and giving the Koreans what appeared to be valuable information. One day he told General Kim that the Japanese General Kato would be coming on a certain date with the great Japanese fleet, and insisted that Admiral 이순신 be sent to lie in wait and sink it. General Kim agreed and requested King Seonjo for permission to send Admiral 이순신. The general was given permission, but when he gave Admiral 이순신 his orders, the admiral declined. 이순신 knew that the location given by the spy was studded with sunken rocks and was very dangerous. When General Kim informed the king of Admiral 이순신's refusal to go, Admiral 이순신's enemies at court insisted on his replacement by Won Kyun and his arrest. As a result, in 1597, at the age of 52, Admiral 이순신 was relieved of command, placed under arrest, taken to Seoul in chains, beaten, tortured, and imprisoned. The king wanted to have Admiral 이순신 killed but the admiral's supporters at court convinced the king to spare him due to his past service record. Spared the death penalty, Admiral 이순신 was demoted to the rank of a common infantry soldier. 이순신 responded to this humiliation as a most obedient subject, going quietly about his work as if his rank and orders were totally appropriate.

With Admiral 이순신 stripped of any influence, when negotiations broke down in 1596, 豊臣秀吉 again ordered his army to attack Korea. The invasion came in the first month of 1597 with a Japanese force of 140,000 men transported to Korea in thousands of ships. Had Admiral 이순신 been in command of the Korean Navy at that time, the Japanese would most likely never have landed on any shore again. Instead, the Japanese fleet landed safely at Sosang Harbour.

The spy Yoshira continued to urge General Kim to send the Korean Navy to intercept a fleet of Japanese ships. When ordered to do so, Won Kyun gathered his 80 ships together and reluctantly set sail. This fleet was hardly recognizable as 이순신’s former one. Won Kyun had eliminated all of the rules and regulations set up by 이순신 when he took command as well as purging the ranks of all who had been close to Admiral 이순신. His inept manoeuvres almost destroyed the entire Korean fleet and alienated all his men. Also, through the spy Yoshira, the Japanese fleet had the necessary information about the Korean fleet. Consequently, this battle ended in a complete defeat for the Korean Navy, while 이순신 was being detained as a foot soldier. The Korean fleet scattered in a night storm and the main portion blundered upon the Japanese fleet the next day. On seeing the Japanese fleet, Won Kyun panicked and retreated. He beached his boats and took to the land but the Japanese overtook and beheaded him. The Korean fleet scattered and was mostly destroyed.

With the news of Won Kyun's disastrous defeat, a loyal advisor of the king called for 이순신's reinstatement. Fearing for his country’s security, the king hastily reinstated 이순신 as the naval commander. In spite of his previous unfair treatment, 이순신 immediately set out on foot for his former base at Hansan. As he travelled, he met scattered remnants of his former force. By the time he arrived at Hansan, he had only twelve boats but no lack of men, for the people along the coast had flocked to him when they heard of his reinstatement. 이순신 drew up his fleet of 12 boats in the shadow of a mountain on Chin-Do Island off the Myeongyang straits. On the night of September 16, 1597, his scouts reported the approach of a Japanese fleet. As the moon dropped behind the mountain, the Korean fleet of 12 ships was shrouded in total darkness. When the Japanese fleet of 333 ships sailed by in single file, Admiral 이순신's forces gave a large shout and fired point blank. 이순신 employed one of his tactics, the use of two salvo fire, that resulted in a continuous barrage, causing the Japanese to think that they had run into a vastly superior force. Their fleet scattered in all directions in a total panic. The next day several hundred more Japanese ships appeared and Admiral 이순신, fearless as ever, made straight for them. He was soon surrounded, but sank 31 Japanese boats. The remainder of the Japanese fleet, recognizing the work of the famous Admiral 이순신, turned and fled. Admiral 이순신 gave chase, decimated the enemy, and killed the Japanese commander Kurushima Michifusa. That's right, 이순신's 12 ships beat the Japanese fleet of 333 ships (a ratio of approximately 28 to 1).

In November, the Japanese fleet was lured by 이순신 into a tide-race where the oar-driven turtle ships caused wholesale destruction. The Japanese never recovered from this blow; lacking naval support and a sea-borne supply line, their land armies were unable to advance very far from their base in Busan and the survivors gladly returned home in 1598. On November 19, 1598, Admiral 이순신 was hit by a stray bullet during the final battle of the war when he attacked retreating Japanese remnants at Noryang. He is said to have asked his son to cover up his body with a large shield and keep on fighting. The 거북선 did not go into action again after the Admiral's demise, on the orders of incompetent ministers that neglected the country's interests under the influence of Confucian views discouraging warfare.

이순신 never lost a battle, and reputedly no ship under his command was ever sunk, while his fleet sank thousands of enemy ships.

이순신 kept a careful record of daily events in a diary, and it is from these entries, along with the reports he sent to the throne during the war, that much about the man has been learned. These works have been published in English as "Nanjung Ilgi: War Diary of Admiral Yi Soon Shin", and "Imjin Jangcho: Admiral Yi Soon Shin’s Memorials to Court". His posthumous title, 충무공 (Chungmu-gong, Lord of Loyalty and Chivalry) is used in Korea’s third highest military honor. He was posthumously granted the title of Prince of Deokpoong. 충무로 (Chungmuro)—a street in downtown Seoul—is also named after him. The city Chungmu, later renamed to Tongyeong, on the southern coast of Korea is named in honour of his posthumous title and the site of his headquarters respectively. There is a prominent statue of Admiral 이순신 in the middle of Sejongno in central Seoul. Choi Hong Hi of the International Taekwondo Federation named an advanced form “Choong-Moo” in his honor; the pattern ends with a left-hand punch to symbolize his unfortunate early death. Two motion pictures have been made based on his life, both entitled Seong-ung Yi Soon Shin (“The Saintly Hero Yi Soon Shin”), the first a 1962 black & white movie, and the second, based upon his war diaries, in color in 1971. There is also a documentary airing on Korean television called “Bulmyeolui Yi Soon Shin” (“The Immortal Yi Soon Shin”), which shows the events of his life. It premiered on September 4, 2004 in Korea and has become popular in China and the USA as well.