Battle of Myeongnyang

Restored to command, Yi Sun-sin used the fierce currents of the Uldolmok strait to beat back some 130 Japanese ships with his remaining 13.

After the disaster at Chilcheollyang, Yi Sun-sin, who had been serving as a common soldier, was reappointed Naval Commander of the Three Provinces in the eighth month of 1597. All that remained were the 12 ships Bae Seol had brought out. When the court ordered him to give up the navy and join the army, Yi replied: "Your subject still has twelve warships." With one more ship, he fought with 13.

Knowing he could not win in open water, Yi chose Uldolmok, the narrow strait between Haenam and Jindo with its fierce tidal currents. On the eve of battle he told his captains: "Those who seek death shall live; those who seek life shall die." On the 16th of the ninth month, as the Japanese fleet poured in, his flagship held the line at the front, and 31 enemy ships were destroyed. The Japanese commander Kurushima Michifusa was killed.

The victory revived the Joseon navy and wrecked the Japanese plan to advance north by land and sea together through the Yellow Sea.