Turtle Ship (Civ5)

Turtle Ship
Naval Melee unit of the Renaissance Era
Introduced in Civilization and Scenario Pack: Korea
Unique to
Civilization	Korean
Civilization	Korean
Replaces	Caravel
Replaces	Caravel
Cost
Production	120
Production	120
Stats
Combat strength	36
Combat strength	36
Moves	4
Moves	4
Required
Technology	Astronomy
Upgrades to
Ironclad
Ironclad
Notes
Cannot enter deep ocean

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Game Info

Unique naval unit of the Korean civilization. Replaces the Caravel.

• Special abilities:
  • Cannot Enter Deep Ocean
  • No Extra Sight (1)
  • No Withdraw Before Melee (Unit may NOT withdraw when faced with melee attack)
• Special traits:
  • Extra strength (36 vs. 20)

Strategy

The Turtle Ship is an early incarnation of the Ironclad for tactical purposes, and is best used to defend coastlines. Thanks to its high Combat Strength, it can easily fight off enemy Caravels and even Frigates. Its main drawback is that, unlike the Caravel that it replaces, it can't roam around the oceans, which means that the Koreans have to wait until they get Frigates to start exploring other continents.

Civilopedia entry

These large, armored warships of the Choson dynasty played a crucial role in the defense of Korea during the Japanese invasions of the 16th century. Typically crewed by an equal compliment of soldiers and oarsmen, the Turtle Ship provided an aggressive close-assault ship for the Korean navy. Designed to strike fear in the enemy, each Turtle Ship featured a carved dragon figurehead on its bow, said to have emitted a cloud of sulfurous fumes to disguise the vessel's approach. Unlike the familiar designs used by sailing ships of the period, the Turtle Ship had no upper deck. The top level of the ship was covered in iron spikes to prevent boarding, with the oarsmen and soldiers segregated onto separate decks below. Armed with up to two dozen cannons and other small projectile weapons, the Turtle Ship was a dangerous foe for the unprepared navies of Korea's enemies.

Trivia

• The Japanese gave these ships names like mekurabune (盲船, "blind ship"), and a popular Japanese play of the later Edo period called them bokkaisen (沐海潛, "sea-bathing diver"), describing them as demonic ships which General Katou Kiyomasa (general of the contemporary invasion force) has to defeat.
• The first time these ships were used was in the Battle of Sacheon against the Japanese in the Imjin War, led by Admiral Yi Sun-sin.

Gallery

Turtle Ship in game

Related achievements

Turtle Power As Korea, sink an Ironclad with a Turtle Ship. Taken from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film franchise. This is a difficult achievement in 'normal' play as the Ironclad is only available for a short time and requires the player to have both Iron and Coal, therefore the AI doesn't build many Ironclads. Also, the achievement is not available in multi player mode. One recommended 'shortcut' is to build an Ironclad yourself and 'gift' it to a City State and then declare war on that City State.