Most successful military commander.
Korean Seaboy
Active member
Admiral George Alexander Ballard of the Royal Navy considered Yi a great naval commander, and compared him to Lord Nelson of England:
It is always difficult for Englishmen to admit that Nelson ever had an equal in his profession, but if any man is entitled to be so regarded, it should be this great naval commander of Asiatic race who never knew defeat and died in the presence of the enemy; of whose movements a track-chart might be compiled from the wrecks of hundreds of Japanese ships lying with their valiant crews at the bottom of the sea, off the coasts of the Korean peninsula... and it seems, in truth, no exaggeration to assert that from first to last he never made a mistake, for his work was so complete under each variety of circumstances as to defy criticism... His whole career might be summarized by saying that, although he had no lessons from past history to serve as a guide, he waged war on the sea as it should be waged if it is to produce definite results, and ended by making the supreme sacrifice of a defender of his country. (The Influence of the Sea on The Political History of Japan, pp. 66–67.)
Admiral Tetsutaro Sato of the Imperial Japanese Navy mentioned the Korean admiral in his book published in 1908:
Throughout history there have been few generals accomplished at the tactics of frontal attack, sudden attack, concentration and dilation. Napoleon, who mastered the art of conquering the part with the whole, can be held to have been such a general, and among admirals, two further tactical geniuses may be named: in the East, Yi Sun-sin of Korea, and in the West, Horatio Nelson of England. Undoubtedly, Yi is a supreme naval commander even on the basis of the limited literature of the Seven-Year War, and despite the fact that his bravery and brilliance are not known to the West, since he had the misfortune to be born in Joseon Dynasty. Anyone who can be compared to Yi should be better than Michiel de Ruyter from Netherlands. Nelson is far behind Yi in terms of personal character and integrity. Yi was the inventor of the covered warship known as the turtle ship. He was a truly great commander and a master of the naval tactics of three hundred years ago. (A Military History of the Empire (Japanese: 帝國國防史論), p. 399)
Some people here has Nelson or Wellington in their favor, yet here's a man who outranks them. Yi Soon Sin.
He never lost a battle (literally), and most of his battles had him grossly outnumbered. (One battle was 13 vs 333 ships, yet he won with ten casualties and no ships being lost). Despite all odds, he won every battle.
Surely he's the greatest
Some people here has Nelson or Wellington in their favor, yet here's a man who outranks them. Yi Soon Sin.
He never lost a battle (literally), and most of his battles had him grossly outnumbered. (One battle was 13 vs 333 ships, yet he won with ten casualties and no ships being lost). Despite all odds, he won every battle.
Surely he's the greatest
I am a big fan of Blackadder, and I really rated your quote; why else would I have been inspired to sit down and belt out such a lyrical response around it?
Supplied completely free.
Go watch my post again, and take a bow for inspiring it.:wink:
BTW - my 'Wot - no...........' was a famous quote here, WW11.
British equivalent of America's 'Kilroy'. Debatable which came first.
A certain cartoon icon face, Mr Chad, - would appear peeping over a wall like Mr Bean, on posters and commenting, for example, on shortages, dependant upon the latest news. Wot - no coal! or (Del Boy 2011 example) Wot - no global warming! or Wot - No Osama Bin Laden! Hence:-' Wot - Sharpened sticks?'
See wot I did there? I call it artistic licence, others describe it otherwise.
Last edited:
with all my respect to anwar el sadat (i do admire this man as a politian he was a master mind polititian) but i give credit to the yom kippur war planning to Saad el-Shazly as commander sadat made a really stupid move while trying to attack israeli defended positions in the heart of sinia when he knew israel had far better tanks and air superiority so id recommend saladin or omar ibn al kattab or the best islamic commander of all time khalid ibn al walid just google these names
