er engaging them. By
the time that Admiral Beatty was again on a battle cruiser the
action was virtually over. The _Indomitable_ passed a cable to the
crippled _Lion_ and towed the latter home, the rest of the British
fleet keeping to the rearward to be ready for possible resumption
of fighting.

Much criticism was made by the British press and by laymen on account
of the sudden termination of the fight, and there was great complaint
in England because the career of all the raiding German ships had not
been brought to an end. But when the engagement ended the opposing
fleets were within seventy miles of Helgoland, and the German admiralty
had ready a fleet of dreadnoughts and another of battle cruisers to
engage the British ships when they got within striking distance.
By ending the fight when he did the British commander chose not to
be led into this trap. Nor was there dissatisfaction in England
alone. In Germany the complaint was that the ruse had not worked,
and not long afterward Admiral von Ingenohl was replaced as commander
of the High Sea Fleet by Admiral von Pohl. None of the blame for
the failure was laid at the door of the officer who had actually
been engaged in the fighting--Admiral Hipper--which showed that
his senior officers had considered the engagement as part of a
larger action.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XL

RESULTS OF SIX MONTHS' NAVAL OPERATIONS

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 e