Halsey should have been relieved of his command for leaving station to chase down Jap carriers that had no air groups. If he’d even left one Essex carrier those destroyers would not have had make suicide charges. The Japanese withdrew because the thought it was a trap. They didn’t believe there were no carrier groups in the area.
Absolutely agree. He wanted his own Midway. I would have transferred him to guard the Panama Canal for the duration.
Nimitz disagreed. But what did he know?