The Destruction Of Kublai Khan’s Fleet
Wikimedia CommonsAn illustration of Japanese samurai boarding Yuan ships after a failed invasion in 1281.
Shipwrecks are usually seen as tragedies. But for the Japanese in the 13th century, the destruction of Kublai Khan’s fleet was nothing short of a miracle.
Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, first attempted to invade Japan in 1274. Though the Mongol leader gathered a fleet of 300 ships and 500 smaller boats, the Japanese were able to hold them off. What’s more, a typhoon destroyed a third of Khan’s fleet as it lurked near Japan’s coast.
The Mongol leader was discouraged but not defeated. Seven years later, he attempted to invade Japan again — and this time, Khan was determined to succeed. In 1281, he gathered a force of 4,400 ships carrying 40,000 soldiers and ordered them to conquer the Japanese islands.
But — once again — a typhoon emerged and destroyed Khan’s fleet. Some 80 percent of his ships were destroyed. According to CNN, the destruction was so severe that one marine archeologist noted that “a person could walk across from one point of land to another on a mass of wreckage.”
University of the Ryukyus/Matsuura City/Archaeology MagazineOne shipwreck believed to have belonged to Kublai Khan’s fleet, found off the coast of Takashima Island in 2014.
To the Japanese, this was more than good luck. They believed that divine winds, or Kamikaze winds, had spared them from Khan’s armies.
As time went on, the story of the Kamikaze winds and the destruction of Kublai Khan’s fleet was repeated so many times that it became a legend. But while some doubted that a fortuitous typhoon really destroyed Khan’s army, evidence suggests that this legend may have been based on a true story.
According to The Guardian, marine archeologists have found evidence of a great flood in the area. What’s more, remains of shipwrecks discovered at the site suggest that Khan’s ships were poorly constructed.
Maybe divine winds caused this famous shipwreck. Or maybe it happened because a poorly constructed fleet sailed into a storm.
