One-versus-one comparisons between a carrier and a missile-armed opponent misstate the problem. The relevant unit is the carrier battle group and its wider supporting force rather than the carrier hull alone. Sending a carrier ahead without escorts turns an artificial comparison into a real vulnerability. Mississippi and the other nuclear escorts mattered because they preserved the combined system during urgent movement.
Notable Point · 56:00-56:31
A carrier must be judged as part of its battle group
The carrier-versus-missile comparison is misleading because the real contest is one combined force against another.