Torpedoes did not guarantee victory against a battleship. They raised the danger of serious damage and encouraged an opponent to bring superior numbers. The argument treats the encounter as an exchange calculation while keeping the battleship superior. If an armoured cruiser disabled an enemy battleship, the Royal Navy could accept the cruiser's loss without removing one of its own battleships from the battle line. Fleet size shaped that risk: a weaker navy could not necessarily absorb the same nominal exchange.
Notable Point · 6:44-7:09
Why a cruiser could still worry a battleship
The video frames the cruiser as a threat worth trading if it could damage or distract a stronger capital ship without breaking the Royal Navy battle line.