Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade supplies an analogy for the danger early destroyers faced. Torpedoes could be devastating, but their short effective reach forced lightly built destroyers into enemy rapid-fire and heavy-gun fire. One way to force a hit was to send enough craft to absorb enormous casualties. The scout cruiser offered another edge: it could lead a destroyer pack, clear a path, and shield the torpedo attack as far as its guns allowed. This was a flotilla-support ship rather than a cruiser meant to impress on foreign visits. Forward's protection was scarcely better than that of the destroyers it supported, showing how exposed the ship remained.
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Why destroyer flotillas needed scout cruisers
Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade frames why the Forward class was meant to give early torpedo-boat destroyers a fighting chance of reaching torpedo range.