I certainly see your points as well.
Just for info the carrier Battles of the Eastern Solomons on August 24-25 and the Santa Cruz Islands on 25-27 October 1942 were part of the Guadalcanal campaign.
The surface actions around Guadalcanal are the stuff of disasters, legend and lessons. Iron Bottom Sound.
The author of Shattered Sword referred to the Guadalcanal, et al, as the ‘sausage grinder’ the US had to have to heavily attrit the Japanese. It was fought the way we fought best.