I think the last scenario has been a nice illustration about the importance of air cover in naval warfare. And this doesn’t necessary mean having a full blown carrier air group. For hours I had helos hanging around just outside of weapons range of the enemy surface vessels, continuously monitoring their exact position, and there was nothing the Soviets could do about it. This has greatly helped me to use my assets to their full potential and execute precise attacks.
This also explains the reasoning behind the later various small Harrier carriers, as well as the Soviet Kiev class with its Yak-38. It doesn’t really matter how crappy the aircraft is, if you can put up something to prevent these reconnaissance flights, the survivability of your surface units increases substantially.