Freeboard and habitability could make a cruiser a better flagship

A viewer argues that these large cruisers offered enough freeboard and internal volume to serve as practical peacetime flagships. Low-freeboard ironclads in the Mediterranean might possess heavier combat power but offered poor accommodation for an admiral and staff. Better living and working space mattered for health, administration, and sustained command even when it did not appear in a gun-and-armour comparison. The flag could transfer to a stronger ship when war began. Habitability and command function could give an expensive cruiser value beyond its place in the battle line.