If I where a CBG C/O charged with going to the far north to attack Kola during the Cold War, I'd probably keep 1-2 with the CBG. I can see a few situations where I might be willing to risk them being shot at.
I agree with Gunner, depends on the time frame. I've been meaning to write a blog on this for quite some time. No firm answer but I think any self respecting BG commander would clear the non-combatants out of the way if s/he could, measured against the risk of that asset sailing independently or with a minimal escort. Today that means taking a DDG-51 or Type 23 out of the line of battle - that is a big cost! I suspect there are a lot of unescorted AOEs out there these days, but the threat is much lower. In the cold war days this escort task was often the role of the Knox class or OHPs (Type 21/22 etc). There were rarely dedicated escorts for the USNS ships in the rear areas, a sort of zone defence was used. Ideally 2x ASW escorts were needed in the combat zone but often only one or none were available. The problem with all this of course is escorts.
I believe the concept for the French was 2x Durance class per CV so they simply rotated. NATO carriers worked a similar system but often used USNS ships to replen their AORs or shuttled them straight back to a port. CVNs made the process much easier than with the CVAs. I think the response may be dependent on the timeframe, but from what this old army guy has read about it - if there is a known battle about to happen - not likely would the replen ships remain with the BG.Ībout half way down this blog, I talk about how I think they would have been used in 1994+/- īack then, with CVBGs (when ships and escorts were a little more plentiful) the 'USS' replen ships would shuttle between the CVBG and a replen area while the 'USNS' ships would shuttle between the ports and that replen area: The AO, AE & AFS would replen the AOE/AOR which would then be escorted forward to replen the BG.