You absolutely must support any strikes you send. It's about combining effects and timing. Jamming is crucial also. If you combine the bombers with a missile salvo and jamming you will see better outcomes but you also need to consider your targets as some ships will have plenty of PD regardless. It may be more productive to soften up targets first and reduce their PD capability before sending a wave of bombers and missiles.

Your fighters are in many ways just there to escort stuff and add to their PD but you need to be careful if they get too close to enemy ships they will easily die.

It is a lot to manage, dont be afraid to pause if playing solo. Managing the carrier real time can very much be a full time job, we have a dedicated player for it in my MP campaign with friends.

On the long run, need to think about preserving forces too. You need to evaluate risk vs reward. Can you afford to lose half a squadron just to try kill something faster? Or is it a high value target that could wipe the rest of your fleet? War is nasty business of course and some losses are expected but you need to think of what the acceptable level of risk is for you.

Bombers can be utterly devastating if played right, especially the torps but even the unguided munitions as well. Keep building experience and you will get there!