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Round ships and long ships are the two main types of sea-going vessels in early maritime history of the Mediterranean.

The typical cog, with a rear-mounted rudder, was first recorded around 1200.

Design and construction

Estimation of the 15th century turtle ship

Depiction of 1795 ship considered to resemble Yi's 1592 version

There are no details provided regarding the design of the early 15th century turtle ships. For the 16th century ships, there are three contemporary accounts written by first-hand witnesses or those who had opportunity to speak to them:

• the Imjin Changcho, a recollection of the war by Yi
• biography on Yi written by his nephew Yi Pun
• Sonjo sujong sillok, the annals of King Sonjo that were compiled about 50 years after the Imjin War.

In the contemporary sources, the 1590s ships are described as being the same size as a panokseon and shaped like a turtle with a roof covered with iron spikes. The bow had a dragon's head in the bow with ports for cannons. There were also gunports on the sides and in the stern.

Additional details about the 1590s turtle ships were recorded in The Collected Works of Yi Sun-sin published in 1795. These described the vessel as 28 m long, 9 m wide and 6 m high (from keel to the top-most point). It was flat-keeled with two decks and was covered with sloping roof. It probably had a junk rig with one or two masts that could be lowered during battle through a slit in the roof that ran the length of the vessel. For reliable maneuverability in battle, it was equipped with 20 oars (10 per side) that would be rowed by 2-3 men per oar, similar to a galley. Rowers operated the oars from a lower deck while gun crews and archers operated their weapons from the upper deck.

Two illustrations were included in The Collected Works of Yi Sun-sin that depict two types of turtle ships: an estimation of the original 15th century vessel and a depiction of an existing vessel in Yeosu that was considered to resemble Yi's ship from 1592. It's unclear whether the ship that was still afloat in 1795 was of the same design as Yi's ships, but it's quite certain that the upraised dragon's head was of a later design. The 1592 ships were described as being able to fire cannons from the mouth a dragon's head in the bow and this would only have been possible if the head had been mounted at the same level as the gun deck, projecting straight out from the bow. The ship from 1795 was depicted with a dragon's head that was raised at least to the level of the upper planking and would not have been able to support cannon.