Now, researchers think that they’ve discovered the wreck of one of the ships, the second to be discovered in four years, and have potentially found three more. All finds date to the two attempted invasions by the Mongols launched in 1274 and 1281, both of which were destroyed by typhoons that the Japanese called “kamikazes,” or divine winds, that saved the country from the foreign army.
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[Kublai Khan’s] ideas of world domination didn’t, however, stop with the mainland. Mobilizing over 140,000 troops, he launched two armadas to capture Japan, both of which ended in disaster. The researchers think that they’ve managed to find wrecks from both of these failed attempts. The first, found in 2011, is resting 200 meters off the coast of Takashima Island, but the latest discovery has been found in a bay close to the city of Matsuura on Kyushu island. It’s thought that the fleet must have anchored in the bay to shelter from the raging typhoon before it sank.
Photo credit: University of the Ryukyus and the Matsuura City Board of Education