Chinese Junks

"For a while they had a hell of a navy with some amazing expeditions led by Zheng He, a famous eunuch.  Almost ninety years before Columbus set sail in his puny ships Zheng He was cruising in nine-masted ships with four decks, 400 feet long.  Not just a couple of ships either, there were hundreds (mostly smaller), with tens of thousands of men aboard.  As a conquering force they may have been unstoppable, but since that wasn't in their game plan we will never know.  Inscrutable, indeed." - Old Dog

 It is my understanding that Zheng He sailed around so much that he wore out all their ships. The Chinese couldn't build the new ships they needed because all their shipbuilders went bankrupt due to corporate mismanagement, and then squandered their bailout money on executive bonuses. I don't remember the source of that information, maybe it came to me in a dream. One thing I know for sure, Chinese ships are called "junks" even unto this day.