Interesting. I’ve had a similar within as well. I’m considering Two CV; one in med and one in Baltic. Land two fighters there in non-combat phase. With a BB to absorb hits, and planes to hit hard, I think a defensive fleet in the med works.
As for the Baltics, the real question is what do you do with your subs. I’ve done a sub attack on UK BB and it basically forces UK to build a navy if they ever want to threaten an invasion. On the other hand, US is free to operation Torch in tge very next turn. I can’t help but feel that I prefer a knocked out US fleet than a knocked out British one.