Why the Allies could trade a capital ship for a raider

Was sacrificing an equal or lesser ship to cripple a commerce raider considered acceptable?

Potentially yes, because an equal exchange removed a far larger share of the Axis capital-ship force.

Britain and the United States possessed more capital ships and had major new construction entering service. Losing one Allied hull was grave, but removing one of Germany's four capital ships represented a much larger fraction of enemy strength and improved the long-term balance. The calculation was brutal for the crews involved, yet strategically one-for-one exchanges favored the coalition with the deeper fleet and shipbuilding pipeline. German and Italian capital-ship totals show why percentage losses, rather than equal hull counts alone, shaped commerce-raider interception policy.