There are recorded incidents of

armour Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

having been employed in

naval warfare Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...

in Europe and in East Asia prior to the introduction of the

ironclad warship An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. T ...

. Contemporary or later reports describe the use of metal plates on hulls or the superstructure of a limited number of wooden

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

s, some of which were equipped with

naval artillery Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for naval gunfire support, shore bombardment and anti-aircraft roles. The term generally refers to tube-launched projectile-firi ...

. However, in every single case of both European and Far Eastern vessels the evidence for this is either unclear, ambiguous or disputed.

Evidence in Europe

Ship armour is to be distinguished from the practice of hull sheathing for preservational reasons, namely the protection against marine wood-boring worms.

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

merchantmen were fitted with

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

sheets for that purpose by the 5th century BC. A notable

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

example were the excavated

Nemi Ships The Nemi ships were two ships, one larger than the other, built under the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula in the 1st century CE on Lake Nemi. Although the purpose of the ships is only speculated upon, the larger ship was an elaborate floa ...

with an underwater hull covered by a thin layer of lead. The practice was resumed by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

in the

Age of Exploration The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafari ...

, while the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

began to copper their war ships in the 1760s. The huge ''

Syracusia ''Syracusia'' ( el, Συρακουσία, ''syrakousía'', literally "of Syracuse") was an ancient Greek ship sometimes claimed to be the largest transport ship of antiquity. She was reportedly too big for any port in Sicily, and thus only saile ...

'', built by the

tyrant

Hiero II of Syracuse Hiero II ( el, Ἱέρων Β΄; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhus of Epirus an ...

around 240 BC, featured

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

-clad mast-tops for marines and an iron palisade on its fighting deck against enemy boarding attempts. Its hull was sheathed with lead plates fixed with bronze nails. Roman naval cataphract warships were protected on their sides by a layer of tarred and lead sheathing. Although this does not provide much protection from ramming, it does provide protection from damage while at sea for lengthy periods of time. A few Norse

longship Longships were a type of specialised Scandinavian warships that have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by the Nors ...

s were reinforced with iron armour along the waterline as early as the 11th Century, such as the ''Iron Beard'' of Eric Hakonsson of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Peter IV of Aragon Peter IV, ; an, Pero, ; es, Pedro, . In Catalan, he may also be nicknamed ''el del punyalet'': "he of the little dagger". (Catalan: ''Pere IV''; 5 September 1319 – 6 January 1387), called the Ceremonious (Catalan: ''el Cerimoniós''), w ...

(1336–87) protected his ships with screens of hides against missile fire, as the

Roman navy The naval forces of the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman state ( la, Classis, lit=fleet) were instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Basin, but it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions. Throughout their history, the Romans re ...

had done earlier. A ship with iron plating on the ribs was commissioned in 1505 by Juan Lope de Lazcano, a

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

admiral of the Spanish Fleet. The ''

Santa Anna Santa Anna may refer to: * Santa Anna, Texas, a town in Coleman County in Central Texas, United States * Santa Anna, Starr County, Texas * Santa Anna Township, DeWitt County, Illinois, one of townships in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. ...

'', a lead-sheathed

carrack A carrack (; ; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal. Evolved from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for European trade fr ...

of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

, is viewed by some authors as an early form of armoured ship. From 1522 to 1540, the warship successfully operated in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

against the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...

. The ''Galleon of Venice'', the Venetian flagship which did serious damage to the Ottoman fleet at the

Battle of Preveza (1538) The Battle of Preveza was a naval battle that took place on 28 September 1538 near Preveza in Ionian Sea in northwestern Greece between an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman fleet and that of a Holy League (1538), Holy League assembled by Pope Paul III. ...

, was sheathed with plate. During the siege of Antwerp in 1585, the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

defenders partially protected their

man-of-war The man-of-war (also man-o'-war, or simply man) was a Royal Navy expression for a powerful warship or frigate from the 16th to the 19th century. Although the term never acquired a specific meaning, it was usually reserved for a ship armed wi ...

'' Finis Bellis'' with iron plates. In 1782, Chevalier d'Arçon attacked Gibraltar with

floating batteries A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

featuring a 1.8 meter thick armour out of wooden planks, iron bars and leather, but met little success.

Evidence in Eastern Asia

Early ship armour probably had its origins in applying thin sheets of metal to ship undersides for preservative reasons. In the

Battle of Red Cliff The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in the winter of AD 208–209 at the end of the Han dynasty, about twelve years prior to the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. ...

in 208 AD, warships were covered with wetted hides as defense against incendiary weapons. By 1130, in the

battle of Huangtiandang The Battle of Huangtiandang () was an early battle in the Jin–Song Wars. From 1129, the Jin forces led by Wuzhu marched southward, successively conquering several important cities north of the Yangtze River. Wuzhu sent forces to chase after ...

, Jin sailors built protective bulwarks of an unknown material with oar ports in them, presumably as an adoptive response against its enemies. The introduction of paddle-boats allowed the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

general Qin Shifu to build two new prototype warships. These warships were described to have their sides protected with iron plates. In 1578,

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period. He is regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. Nobunaga was head of the very powerful Oda clan, and launched a war against other ''daimyō'' to unify ...

, the Japanese ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'', had made six

Atakebune or were large Japanese warships of the 16th and 17th century used during the internecine Japanese wars for political control and unity of all Japan. History Japan undertook major naval building efforts in the mid to late 16th century, during t ...

(大安宅船) which were called, according to one source, ''Tekkōsen'' (鉄甲船, 鉄甲船), literally meaning "iron ships". implying that their superstructure may have been reinforced with iron plates against cannon and fire arrows. These vessels, more floating batteries than ships, were armed with multiple cannons and large caliber

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

es, and were described by the Italian

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Organtino as being protected by iron plates two to three inches thick. No iron-covering at all, however, was mentioned in the account of the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary

Luís Fróis Luís Fróis (1532 – 8 July 1597) was a Portuguese missionary who worked in Asia during the second half of the 16th century. While in Japan in 1582, he witnessed the attack on Honnō-ji, a Buddhist temple that ended in the death of Oda Nobuna ...

, who had also seen and described the ships. Nobunaga defeated the navy of his enemy

Mōri Terumoto Mōri Terumoto (毛利輝元, January 22, 1553 – June 2, 1625) was a Japanese ''daimyō''. The son of Mōri Takamoto, and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, he fought against Oda Nobunaga but was eventually overco ...

with these ships at the mouth of the

Kizu River is a river that crosses the prefectures of Kyoto and Mie in Japan, a tributary of the Yodo River. The city of Kizugawa is a city located in southern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is the southernmost city in the prefecture and it is named after ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

in 1578 with a successful naval blockade. TurtleShip1795

A possible usage of iron plates occurs during the 1592–1598

Imjin War The Imjin River ( in South Korea) or Rimjin River ( in North Korea) is the 7th largest river in Korea. It flows from north to south, crossing the Demilitarized Zone and joining the Han River downstream of Seoul, near the Yellow Sea. The river i ...

when a single Japanese source mentions

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

turtle ship A ''Geobukseon'' ( ko, script=Hang, 거북선, ), also known as turtle ship in western descriptions, was a type of large Korean warship that was used intermittently by the Joseon Navy, Royal Korean Navy during the Joseon, Joseon dynasty from the ...

s (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

:거북선, ''Geobukseon'' or ''Kobukson'') to be "covered in iron". A ship type named turtle ship appears as early as 1413 in Korean annals: "While passing by Imjin Island, the king viewed a kobukson and a Japanese ship fighting against each other." However, it seems to have subsequently faded into obscurity until resurrected and refined by Yi Sun-sin. According to Stephen Turnbull, the Japanese responded by ordering supplies of iron plates for the building of warships, so that the turtle ship can be "countered in its own terms". According to Hawley, however, the Japanese phrase does not necessarily mean the vessels were covered with iron plates; it could simply refer to the iron spikes protruding from their roofs. In fact, contemporary Korean sources do not support the claim that the turtle ships were ironclad: Admiral

Yi Sun-sin Admiral Yi Sun-sin (April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598) was a Korean admiral and military general famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty. Over the course of his career, Admiral Yi fough ...

, the purported inventor himself, refers in his memoirs only to "iron spikes on its back to pierce the enemies' feet when they tried to board", but does not mention any iron plating. Likewise Yi Pun, his nephew and war reporter, mentions in his lengthy war memoirs only "iron spikes" on the deck, and the annals of king

Seonjo Seonjo of Joseon (26 November 1552 – 16 March 1608) was the fourteenth king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea from 1567 to 1608. He was known for encouraging Confucianism and renovating state affairs at the beginning of his reign. However, politi ...

, a comprehensive collection of official documents of the period, are silent, too, about any ironcladding. Korean Prime Minister

Ryu Seong-ryong Ryu Seong-ryong (November 1542 – May 1607), was a scholar-official of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He held many responsibilities including the Chief State Councillor position in 1592. He was a member of the "Eastern faction", and a follower o ...

described the turtle ship explicitly as "covered by wooden planks on top".

References

{{reflist, 30em, refs= D.J. Blackman: "Further Early Evidence of Hull Sheathing", ''The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology'', Vol. 1, No. 1 (1972), pp.117-119 Lionel Casson: ''Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World'', The Johns Hopkins University Press 1995, {{ISBN, 0-8018-5130-0, p.210, 214-216, 460 Rudolph Rittmeyer: "Seekriege und Seekriegswesen in ihrer weltgeschichtlichen Entwicklung", E. S. Mittler, Berlin 1907 Brian Lavery: ''The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War 1600-1815'', Conway Maritime Press Ltd 1999, {{ISBN, 978-0-85177-451-0, p.62-65

Jean MacIntosh Turfa Jean MacIntosh Turfa (born 1947 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American archaeologist and authority on the Etruscan civilization. Jean MacIntosh graduated from Abington High School in Philadelphia and then earned her bachelor's degree at Gw ...

, Alwin Steinmayer Jr: "The Syracusia as a Giant Cargo Vessel", ''The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology'', Vol. 28, No. 2 (1999), pp. 105-125 (107-109) Workman-Davies, Bradley : "Corvus: A Review of the Design and Use of the Roman Boarding Bridge During the First Punic War 264 -241 B.C", pp. 85 {{ cite web , title = Norseman News , url = http://www.vikingship.org/files/nlet0105.htm , date = Spring 2000 , access-date = 2007-02-23 Meyers Konversationslexikon, 4th edition, 1888–1890, entry: Panzerschiff
/ref> R. H. Dolley: "The Warships of the Later Roman Empire", ''The Journal of Roman Studies'', Vol. 38, Parts 1 and 2 (1948), pp. 47-53 (50) Mark Kurlansky: ''The Basque History of the World'', Walker & Company, New York 1999, {{ISBN, 0-8027-1349-1, p. 56 Jochen Brennecke: ''Geschichte der Schiffahrt'', Künzelsau 1986 (2nd. ed.), p.138 Brockhaus online: Malta
/ref> H.J.A. Sire: "The Knights of Malta", Yale University Press 1996, {{ISBN, 978-0-300-06885-6, p.88 Ernle Dusgate Selby Bradford: "The Sultan's Admiral: The Life of Barbarossa", Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968, p.177 J. Rudlov: "Die Einführung der Panzerung im Kriegschiffbau und die Entwicklung der ersten Panzerflotten", ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der Technik und Industrie'', Vol. 2, No. 1 (1910) "Fighting ships of the Far-East (1)", Stephen Turnbull, p22 Turnbull, Stephen: ''Fighting Ships of the Far East (1): China and Southeast Asia 202 BC-AD 1419'' Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 688. Stephen Turnbull, "Samurai Warfare" (London, 1996), Cassell & Co, p.102 {{ISBN, 1-85409-280-4 {{ cite book , last = Boxer , first = C.R. , title = The Christian Century in Japan 1549-1650 , publisher = Carcanet Press , year = 1993 , pages = 122 , isbn = 1-85754-035-2 Stephen Turnbull, "Samurai Warfare" (London, 1996), Cassell & Co {{ISBN, 1-85409-280-4, p.102f. Hawley, Samuel: ''The Imjin War. Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China'', The Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, Seoul 2005, {{ISBN, 89-954424-2-5, p.198 Kim, Zae-Geun: ''An Outline of Korean Shipbuilding History'', ''Korea Journal'', Vol. 29, No. 10 (Oct. 1989), pp. 4–17 (10) "Fighting ships of the Far-East (2)", Stephen Turnbull, p18 Hawley, Samuel 2005, p. 192f. (+ fn. 12)) "Fighting ships of the Far-East (2)", Stephen Turnbull, p20 Hawley, Samuel: ''The Imjin War. Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China'', The Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, Seoul 2005, {{ISBN, 89-954424-2-5, p.602 Hawley, Samuel: ''The Imjin War. Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China'', The Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, Seoul 2005, {{ISBN, 89-954424-2-5, p.195f. Roh, Young-koo: "Yi Sun-shin, an Admiral Who Became a Myth", ''The Review of Korean Studies'', Vol. 7, No. 3 (2004), p.13 Ship types Naval armour

Evidence in Europe

Evidence in Eastern Asia

See also

References