During the Cold War, the United States Navy had three types of battleships. The most prominent were those based around supercarriers, followed by those based around amphibious assault ships, and for a brief time in the 1980s there were some groups based around a modernized
Iowa class battleship. Could the USN have developed a fleet strategy which included other types of battlegroups?
For example, one type could have been based around a
Midway class aircraft carrier or the 1970s
Aircraft Carrier (Medium) concept. It would essentially be a smaller carrier battlegroup, perhaps with a reduced escort force. Perhaps it could be called a Fleet Carrier Battlegroup.
Another could have been based around an
Essex class aircraft carrier or the 1970s
Sea Control Ship concept. It would have an anti-submarine focus, and perhaps also be intended for defense of convoys in general against air attack as well. It could be called a Sea Control Battlegroup.
Another type could have been based around cruisers for general operations. There aren't enough aircraft carriers for all destroyers to be assigned to escort one, but cruisers are rather powerful. This would simply be called a Cruiser or Surface Battlegroup.
Are there any other concepts you can think of? What kind of impact might there have been for the USN going forward from the 1960s and 1970s if it had developed battlegroups around some of the other ship types?