An audience comment points out that 1890s torpedo gunboats might have proved formidable had a general war tested them. They could prey on torpedo boats while using their own torpedoes to threaten larger warships. The first role made them direct counters to the small attack craft they were built to hunt. The second came from the disproportionate danger a torpedo hit posed to a much larger target.
Notable Point · 1:45:25-1:45:32
Torpedo gunboats still posed a serious 1890s threat
A general war in the 1890s might have revealed torpedo gunboats as dangerous counters to torpedo boats and asymmetric threats to larger ships.