The first six months of naval operations in the Great War came to a close without battle between the main fleets of the navies of the warring nations. The British navy had kept open communication with the Continent, allowing the Expeditionary Force, as well as later military contingents, to get to the trenches in Flanders and France. It had, in addition, made possible the transportation of troops from Canada and Australia. The ports of France were open for commerce with America, which permitted the importation of arms and munitions, and the same privilege had been won for the ports in the British Isles. The northern ports of the Central Powers were closed to commerce with all but the Scandinavian countries, and the oversea German possessions, where they were accessible to naval attack, had been taken from her. The German and Austrian flags had been swept from the seven seas, with the exception of those on three or four German cruisers that now and then showed themselves capable of sinking a merchantman. In the four engagements of importance which had been fought by the end of January, 1915, the British had been the victors in three--the battles of the Bight of Helgoland, the Falkland Islands, and the third German raid of January 24, 1915--the Germans had been victors in one--the fight off Coronel. British and other allied ships were unable to inflict damage on the coast defenses of Germany, but the latter in two successful raids had been able to bombard British coast towns, offsetting in a way the loss of oversea dominions. Great Britain, after six months of naval warfare had lost three battleships, the _Bulwark_, _Formidable_, and _Audacious_;[1] the five armored cruisers _Aboukir_, _Cressy_, _Hogue_, _Monmouth_, and _Good Hope_; the second-class cruisers _Hawke_ and _Hermes_; the two third-class cruisers _Amphion_ and _Pegasus_; the protected scout _Pathfinder_ and the converted liner _Oceanic_; losses in destroyers and other small vessels were negligible. [Footnote 1: The British admiralty did not clear up the mystery of her disaster.] Germany had lost no first-class battleships, but in third-class cruisers her loss was great, those that went down being the eleven ships _Ariadne_, _Augsburg_, _Emden_, _Graudenz_, _Hela_, _Koeln_, _Koenigsberg_, _Leipzig_, _Nuernberg_, _Magdeburg_, _Mainz_, and the _Dresden_; she lost, also, the four armored cruisers _Bluecher_, _Scharnhorst_, _Gneisenau_, and _Yorck_; the old cruiser _Geier_ (interned); the three converted liners _Spreewald_, _Cap Trafalgar_, and _Kaiser Wilhelm_; and the mine layer _Koenigin Luise_.