The post-Napoleonic logic behind British naval presence

The proposed interwar presence force continued a British method used from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the First World War. A capable cruiser or other representative warship could arrive in a foreign port while being openly described as something less than the navy's principal battleship. The visible ship then encouraged local observers to imagine what the undisplayed battle fleet could do. This was peacekeeping on British terms: naval presence supported diplomacy by making resistance look costly before a battle began.