One of the earliest recorded encounters between Portuguese sailors and Koreans, involving a naval skirmish off the Korean coast.
Key Facts
- Year of voyage
- 1577
- Vessel type
- Portuguese junk
- Cause of diversion
- Typhoon blew vessel off course
- Weapons used by Portuguese
- Firearms
- Related 1578 voyage commander
- Domingos Monteiro
- Route of 1578 voyage
- Macau to Nagasaki
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A private Portuguese junk sailing toward Japan was struck by a typhoon that drove it off course toward the Korean coast. The storm damaged the vessel, forcing the crew to attempt repairs in unfamiliar and hostile waters along the Korean shoreline.
Korean boats surrounded the distressed Portuguese junk. The Koreans attacked the vessel's sampan and killed its crew members. The Portuguese responded by deploying firearms to repel the attackers, then attempted to repair the junk and depart the Korean coast.
The Portuguese managed to drive off the Korean attackers and escape. The encounter became one of the earliest recorded armed contacts between Europeans and Koreans, and later accounts from 1578 debated whether Domingos Monteiro's related voyage constituted the first documented European presence off Korea.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Unknown Portuguese commander.
Side B
1 belligerent