The majority of the Royal Navy's strength was deployed at home in the Grand Fleet, in an effort to blockade Germany and to draw the Hochseeflotte (the German "High Seas Fleet") into an engagement where a decisive victory could be gained. The Navy's Northern Patrol and a mining program closed off access to the North Sea, while the Dover Patrol closed off access to the English Channel. As well as closing off the Imperial German Navy's access to the Atlantic, the blockade largely blocked neutral merchant shipping heading to or from Germany. The blockade was maintained during the eight months after the armistice was agreed to force Germany to end the war and sign the Treaty of Versailles.