 During this time the RAN also continued to carry out operations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.By 1915 there were up to 74 German ships which had taken refuge in ports in the Netherlands East Indies.The presence of these ships close to Australia and the sea lanes that connected the nation to the United Kingdom and the Middle East was a cause of concern to the Navy and so in the middle of 1915 the cruiser and the sloop "Fantome" were sent to the Bay of Bengal to conduct patrol operations.