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I'll stand by my photo op assertion. As for 1982, the New Jersey would have just been recommissioned and thus they hadn't put together its SAG.

I'm not the all knowing source of the universe, but in nine years of flying from the Kennedy, the Eisenhower, and the Kitty Hawk, I never saw an escort come up close (inside 5 nm) unless it was unrepping or doing a photo op. Usually, they were much farther out. I understand that it had been customary to use them as plane guards in the past, but we always used a helo for plane guard.

My point about the BB not having a tactical role in a CVN strike group is that it serves no good purpose. You can attach any ship you want to a strike group, but the Navy usually likes to have a reason. This isn't to say that the CVN strike group wouldn't be tasked with air cover for the SAG, but the BB will require DDGs or CGs to provide protection. If you put it in the CVN strike group, you then must take ships away from guarding the CV or you must run the BB in close proximity to the CV. The latter is counter productive, as the BB must be close to the shore to use its guns, while the CV does not desire to be that close. The BB can launch Tomahawk, but the CG can launch more of them. It would make far more sense to attach it to an amphib group.

Like I said, I'm not the ultimate source of all knowledge, but if you've got a good tactical reason to run a BB with a CV, I'm all ears.

I understand that it had been customary to use them as plane guards in the past, but we always used a helo for plane guard.

Could be we're talking about different periods. I was on board Chicago from '73 to '76. Like I said, we had a near miss with Kitty Hawk (I think it was the Kitty. I know it was a near miss). I don't believe an unrep was involved. As far as I know, we never did anything like that with a carrier -- only various supply ships.

The BB can provide a considerable amount of defensive fire, even in a carrier battle group. As for air ops vs. shore bombardment, that would be an excellent reason to have different groups.

We could well have a couple of more-or-less ad-hoc situations pictured, but there they are.