sentences: "Braunschweig" and "Elsass" participated in the early portion of the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915, where they kept the Russian pre-dreadnought at bay while a Russian minefield in the Irben Strait was cleared, but the Russian forces put up a strong defense.Schmidt decided to withdraw his forces when it became apparent that the mine-clearing had taken too long, and there was not sufficient daylight left for the minelayer to lay a minefield of its own in Moon Sound to block the northern entrance to the gulf.