Failed Mongol Armada Wreck Discovered off Japanese Coast

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University of the Ryukyus and the Matsuura City Board of Education

It was the largest armada the world had ever seen, and would only be surpassed 700 years later when the Allies invaded Europe during the Normandy landings. The Mongol leader Kublai Khan sent two massive fleets during the 13th Century – of up to 4,000 ships each – to try to invade Japan. Both attempts were thwarted and destroyed by severe weather, with the ships and the men they carried laid to rest off the coast of Japan.