 
The Naval Academy Museum is located in the premises of the Naval Academy, located adjacent to the Jinhae
Naval Base. The museum was renamed as the Naval Academy Museum in January 1976, expanding the existing
exhibition center of Admiral Yi Soon-shin's relics. The museum has three separate exhibition rooms and a
souvenir shop. The museum houses over 4,800 relics, including three treasures.
The Admiral Yi room, the main exhibition room of the museum, has many portraits, writings, battle paintings,
and weapons related to Admiral Yi Soon-shin, Korea's most famous naval hero. Another exhibition room is the
Navy and Marine room, related to the history of Korean Navy. It contains replicas of several aircraft, ships,
and weapons, as well as uniforms and flags used by the Korean Navy and Marine Corps to date. The third hall is
the Naval Academy room, where all the historical data of the Academy is kept. Taking pictures is strictly
prohibited without prior permission.
Turtle Ship (Geobukseon)
Korea's shipbuilding technology has greatly developed over time. Iron rods strengthened the structure of ships
while charging tactics became quite common during battles. The Turtle Ship was a newly created sea tank
originated from spear ships and firearms and a wood board covered warship. The front part of the ship was
shaped as a dragon head, where the mouth served as a gun port. Two additional gun ports opened on the top and
bottom of the head. The rear was shaped as a tail with a gun port placed underneath. There were six gun ports
on both sides of the back plate.
Ten cannon ports on both sides of the shield hid specialized long range cannons with names such as Chon
(Heaven), Ji (Earth), Hyeon (Black), Hwang (Brown), Seung (Victory), and others.
Chon fired a round iron cannon ball with a 11.7 cm diameter that ranged up to 600 meters. Ji
was slightly smaller in size and ranged over 350 meters. Using Chon and Ji, the Turtle Ship was
able to attack ships in locations beyond the enemy's firing ranges.
Hyeon and Hwang shot large fire arrows and are estimated to have had a shooting range of 300
meters. Seung shot fire arrows dipped in gun powder and was used to attack nearby ships. Seung
was light in weight with a range of up to 200 meters. Most enemy ships attacked by these cannons were badly
damaged or burnt and sank during naval battles.
Hours: 9:00-16:30 (weekdays), 9:00-11:30 (Saturdays)
Closed: Jan. 1, Lunar New Year and the next 2 days (first 3 days of lunar calendar), Harvest Moon Festival (Chuseok)
Admission: Free
Directions:
By express bus: from Masan Express Bus Terminal, take express bus towards Jinhae; from other express bus terminal, take jwaseok bus #302 or regular bus #33, 30 minutes
By train: exit Masan Station, take take jwaseok bus #302 or regular bus #33 towards Jinhae, 40 minutes |
