During the Great World War 2, the Paternian Navy inflicted significant losses against Awwami merchant shipping, but were often defeated in decisive battle against the vastly larger Awwami Navy, although inflicting heavy casualties against the Awwami attackers.

Here is one of the two exceptions. The first was in Hawaii, where the Paternian Navy, with support from land-based coastal defenses and the Paternian Air Force, managed to drive back the half-hearted invasion attempt at minimal casualties.

The second exception was at Myeongnyang Strait, where Task Force 18, a joint Paternian-NFK force, led by Admiral Yi-Sung of the Paternian Navy, defeated a vastly superior force through use of geography and positioning.

The Awwami Navy wanted to take the straits, knowing that the adjacent Jindo Island it would be a useful defensive point in Korea. In addition, the powerful and unusual tidal forces in the nearby Myeongnyan Strait would pose a threat to Paternian Navy submarines and small surface raiders. To this end, they sent a fleet of 75 warships to take the straits and crush the remainder of the Paternian and NFK-naval presence in the island.

Paternian High Command had chosen to consolidate forces in Busan as an exclave. They ordered Admiral Yi-Sung to withdraw her forces to defend Busan, given that they were significantly outnumbered, having only 4 warships after a disastrous defeat by her predecessor, Admiral Bruce Walters.

However, Admiral Yi-Sung, a native of Korea who joined the Paternian Navy, saw great significance in the area; her ancestor, Admiral Yi-Sun Sin, had defended this pass in 1597 against the Japanese invaders, with similar odds. Likewise, she studied the straits beforehand.

She proposed to hold the area, taking a position north of the straits, where the currents were at her advantage. She also decided to hide her four remaining ships in the shadows of the hills, so as to conceal their position.

The Awwami commander, Admiral Harounn Al-Saud, decided to engage the vastly outnumbered Paternians. He believed that the sight of overwhelming numbers would cause the Paternians to break and run.

When battle began, the warships broke from concealment and anchored themselves upon the northern end of the straits. Admiral Yi-Sung's flagship, the cruiser Honolulu (CA-17) advanced upon the vanguard of Admiral Al-Saud's fleet, and began the engagement. Only she engaged the force initially, as the other commanders were skeptical of the plan and the overwhelming numbers. After all, facing the PRN Honolulu, the PRN McMurdo (DD-903), Frigate F88, and PRN Tangiers (DD-903), was five cruisers, thirty destroyers, and forty smaller warships.

Admiral Al-Saud's forces, although benefiting from a north-flowing current, was limited in his ability to employ the mass of his warships due to the unpredictable nature of the currents, meaning that the Paternian Navy did not have to fight the whole force at once, as some parts of the straits were only 300 meters wide. In addition, Paternian Navy warships, notably the cruiser Honolulu, had longer-range weapons, allowing them to engage the Awwami ships at distances where it would be immune to their guns. Anti-ship missiles, which the Awwami Navy used to offset the differences in gun range, were largely useless due to the large amount of radar clutter.

In these conditions, the PRN Honolulu was able to hold its own against superior numbers. This emboldened the other ships, PRN Tangiers, the NFK frigate F88, and the PRN McMurdo, to engage as well. In the process, Admiral Al-Saud's flagship, the cruiser Riyadh, was sunk by concentrated gunfire, taking Admiral Al-Saud with her. With no leadership and many of the Awwami officers wounded or dead, the fleet cohesion broke down. They pressed on the attack, but clumsily, and were easily repulsed.

Soon, the rough currents shifted to flow south, and Admiral Yi ordered to press on the attack. The Awwami ships began to collide with each other in the retreat, sinking twelve in the process. Due to the rough currents, many Awwami sailors who abandoned sinking or damaged vessels drowned in the rough waters.

The casualties were as lopsided as the numbers. The Awwami Navy lost 27 warships, including all their crusiers, and thousands of sailors and marines. In contrast, the Paternian Navy lost only five sailors aboard the PRN Honolulu, and six aboard the PRN Tangiers.

This was a huge morale blow to the Awwami forces to have been defeated so decisively, and a huge morale boon for the Paternians and Koreans, who have won such a decisive tactical and strategic victory. The Awwami Navy, although still outnumbering the Paternians and very powerful, would not dare to engage the Paternian Navy beyond where they could be supported by land forces, as in Greenland.