In Gundam anime fiction, the Battle of Loum took place on January 15, Universal Century 0079 and was one of the single-most devestating battles during the One Year War and one of the deadliest in all of mankind's history.

Following the failure of Operation British just days earlier, the Principality of Zeon still believed it could succeed in ending the war with colony drops, so it attempted to hijack and utilize colonies at Side 5, also known as Loum Province. As the nuclear engines were being put into place, the Earth Federation's space fleet arrived and the two forces clashed. During the battle, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons were used indiscriminantly, resulting in massive military and civilian casualties.

Several of Zeon's most famous aces earned their wings in the battle. 'Red Comet' Char Aznable downed five ships, 'Crimson Lightning' Johnny Ridden destroyed three, and 'White Wolf' Shin Matsunaga sank six.

The battle concluded with the capture of Earth Federal Space Forces' General Revil from the flagship Ananke by Zeon's Black Tri-Stars team. In the end, the EFF lost approximately half of its combined fleet. Military casualties numbered in the millions, and that came in addition to the 2.5 billion civilian casualties that resulted from the complete and utter destruction of Side 5. Only the heavily-damaged Texas Colony survived the carnage, and the debris from Side 5's remains formed what became known as the Shoal Zone.