Was the commerce destroyer an answer to blockade limits?

Waiting near a liner's destination with a blockading cruiser was cheaper than chasing it across an ocean. The United States, however, could not assume it would control those approaches against Britain or Germany, the two principal foreign liner powers. Columbia therefore offered an insurance policy for commerce attack or protection when a distant blockade was beyond American strength. Britain's large cruiser force could still station a stronger escort near likely arrival points and neutralize the American speed advantage.