③ The World's Three Great Naval Battles — and Why Admiral Yi Belongs Above Them

People often name the Battle of Salamis, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and the Battle of Trafalgar as history's "three great naval battles." This is, naturally, a Eurocentric view of history. Weighed by scale or by consequence, it's a real shame that Admiral Yi Sun-sin's victories at Hansan Island, Myeongnyang, or Noryang, across the seven years of the Imjin and Jeongyu Wars, get left off that list — which is probably why Koreans tend to speak instead of the "four great naval battles," adding Hansan Island to the other three.

Honestly, whether people call it three great battles or four, I have a question I'd like to put to them instead:

"But do you know who the greatest naval commander in history actually was?"

I don't think that's a difficult thing to prove.

So let me first lay out what people usually mean by the world's three great naval battles, and then explain why I believe Admiral Yi was the greatest naval commander history has known.

Map of the world's three great naval battles

1. The Battle of Salamis (480 BC) — The Clash That Decided the Fate of East and West

In September of 480 BC, the great fleet of the Persian Empire under Xerxes I met the allied Greek navy, commanded by Themistocles, in the Strait of Salamis — the largest naval battle of the ancient world. Sparta's King Leonidas and his 300 warriors had already been wiped out on land at Thermopylae; Athens had fallen and been burned, and Greece stood at the edge of ruin. The fate of Greece hung entirely on the fleet that remained at sea.

Persia's fleet numbered some 600 to 800 ships, a massive force, while the Greek alliance had only about 300 to 400 triremes — a stark numerical disadvantage.

Themistocles, the Athenian commander, judged that fighting in open water offered no chance of victory, and chose instead the narrow, fast-flowing Strait of Salamis as his battlefield. He then sent the Persian king a secret, false message claiming the Greek alliance was terrified and about to flee, and that an immediate attack would wipe them out. Xerxes I took the bait, and forced his great fleet into the narrow strait.

On the day of the battle, Persia's large ships, crowded into the narrow strait, collided and tangled with one another, losing all maneuverability. The Greek triremes, familiar with the local waters, struck in disciplined formation at the Persian ships' flanks. The Greek navy's main tactic was ramming — using the bronze ram mounted on the ship's bow to strike and sink enemy vessels amidships. Unable to use its numbers in the cramped space, the Persian fleet suffered a crushing defeat, losing more than 200 ships, and was forced to withdraw. This battle became the decisive moment that preserved Greek democracy and culture, the roots of Western civilization.

2. The Defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588) — The Fall of an Empire and the Rise of England

In the late sixteenth century, Spain, drawing on the vast wealth flowing in from the Americas, had built an empire on which the sun never set — and at its heart stood the mightiest navy of the age, the Grande Armada. England, meanwhile, was locked in religious conflict with Catholic Spain, and tensions between the two nations reached a boiling point as English privateers plundered Spanish treasure ships. To depose England's Elizabeth I, Spain's Philip II sent out a massive fleet of some 130 ships.

Spain's Armada relied on its traditional tactic of grappling and boarding: massive ships packed with soldiers, closing with the enemy and sending troops swarming aboard for hand-to-hand combat. England's navy, under Lord Charles Howard and Francis Drake, sailed smaller, more agile ships, heavily armed with long-range, powerful cannon.

When the Spanish fleet anchored off Calais, France, the English navy sent eight fireships — packed with oil and gunpowder and set ablaze — drifting into the Spanish lines under cover of night. As the burning ships bore down on them, the terrified Spanish fleet broke formation and scattered in every direction. The English navy moved swiftly against the now-disordered Spanish ships, pounding them with devastating cannon fire. Badly damaged, the Spanish fleet was then caught in a violent storm during its retreat and lost most of its ships. This battle ushered in the modern era of cannon-based naval warfare, and became the foundation on which England would rise as the British Empire.

3. The Battle of Trafalgar (1805) — Admiral Nelson Saves England from Napoleon

In the early nineteenth century, Napoleon Bonaparte, having conquered continental Europe, planned to invade England, his last remaining rival, to finally choke it into submission. He sought to seize control of the seas with a combined French and Spanish fleet. Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson, carrying the fate of the continent on his shoulders, blocked the combined fleet off Cape Trafalgar, in southwestern Spain, on October 21, 1805.

The standard naval tactic of the day was the line of battle: both fleets forming parallel lines and exchanging broadsides. But the combined French and Spanish fleet, with 33 ships, outnumbered the British fleet's 27, putting Britain at a disadvantage under conventional tactics. Nelson broke with convention, splitting his fleet into two columns and driving them straight through the enemy's line — a maneuver now known as the "Nelson touch."

Led by Nelson's flagship Victory, the British fleet split the enemy formation in two. The battlefield descended into chaos, and the combined fleet's ships were destroyed one after another under Britain's overwhelming rate of fire and tactical superiority. As victory grew certain, Nelson was struck by a sniper's bullet, and died with the words, "Thank God, I have done my duty." Britain won a total victory without losing a single ship, and Napoleon abandoned his invasion of England for good.

👉 Next post: ④ Why Admiral Yi Is History's Greatest Naval Commander

— Momcheolhak