Read the book, I forget the author, titled Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Told from the perspective of the blue jackets that fought it. Absolutely rivetng.
I could not believe the courage of those American Captains. Those little destroyers and destroyer escorts attacking a Japanese fleet full of cruisers and even the Yamato.
The truly amazing thing to me is how effective they were. They put up such a fight that the Japanese thought they were fighting a much larger force and eventually retreated.
James D. Hornfisher. He also wrote “Neptune’s Inferno” which details US Navy actions at Guadalcanal. A great read.