What a modern carrier could and could not do for PQ 17

What if one escort of Arctic convoy PQ 17 temporarily became USS Nimitz?

Its aircraft would help greatly, but without its normal escorts and an integrated task group it could not use its full capability and would remain a major target.

A Nimitz-class carrier suddenly joining PQ 17 would bring anti-submarine helicopters that could help protect the convoy. Its aircraft could inflict damage during the short period before the convoy reached shore. The carrier normally operates at the center of a task group whose ships have trained together, however, and these wartime escorts would have no experience working with it. That unfamiliarity limits how much of the modern ship's capability the group could exploit. Nimitz would still need escorts of its own and would become a major target alongside the merchant ships.