Guadalcanal as luck, communications, and attrition

Was the naval campaign around Guadalcanal less one-sided than later accounts suggest, and could greater Japanese daring have changed it?

It was chaotic and costly on both sides, but Japan still had to overcome American resources and strategic commitment in an attritional campaign it was unlikely to win.

A simple story of Japanese daring against uniquely poor American communication misses failures on both sides. Both forces took risks, suffered coordination problems, and depended on luck. Night fighting magnified chance through lookout reports, uncertain radar performance, and fleeting visual contacts. Guadalcanal also mattered directly to Allied supply lines, ensuring that the United States had strong reasons to keep committing forces. Japan therefore needed an implausibly favorable exchange rate to make the Americans abandon the Solomons, turning the campaign into attrition that favored U.S. resources.