How cruiser squadrons mixed presence missions with hunter groups

Did Royal Navy cruisers operate alone or as squadrons?

Both: they dispersed for presence and patrol work but concentrated into multi-cruiser hunter groups when a wartime threat required it.

A cruiser squadron assigned four ships to an area without requiring all four to sail together. One ship might refit, another serve as flagship, and the remainder conduct independent patrols. The Mediterranean concentration could reinforce commitments in either direction, while Home Fleet ships also passed through deeper maintenance. In wartime, dispersed cruisers could concentrate to hunt surface raiders. Ajax, Achilles, and Exeter at the River Plate illustrate how several cruisers could confront a raider expected to defeat any one of them.