A tiered Royal Navy cruiser force for global commitments

How should the Royal Navy balance unprotected, protected, and armoured cruisers for worldwide duties?

Use numerous cheap cruisers for routine presence, retain protected and armoured ships as reinforcing combat power, and preserve much of the expensive force in reserve until tensions rise.

Unprotected cruisers provide communications, searches, and day-to-day presence, while protected and armoured cruisers supply escalating combat power behind them. In a pre-radio fleet, numerous small ships could extend search grids, repeat signals, and reveal where heavier forces were needed. A modest station ship also represented the frigates, battleships, and carriers that its navy could send after it. The proposed budget mix keeps much of the expensive force in ordinary while using cheaper ships heavily in peacetime. As war approached, the protected ships would commission and the cruiser network would redistribute for combat, making reserve policy part of force design rather than an afterthought.