The intended CVA-01 escort group

Were Queen Elizabeth-class carriers meant to do what CVA-01 would have done, and what escort screen was planned for CVA-01?

They share the broad role, but CVA-01 was designed around a large, layered screen of destroyers, frigates, supply ships, and later potentially an SSN.

The proposed screen combines paired Type 82 and Type 42 destroyers, Type 22 and Type 23 frigates, supply ships, and an escort group of roughly ten surface vessels. An accompanying nuclear submarine became more practical only when communications and coordination improved in the 1980s. Earlier practice kept submarines clear so surface forces could operate freely against contacts.