Judging Admiral Fletcher's caution without hindsight

Was criticism of Admiral Fletcher for being too cautious warranted?

Not as a simple hindsight verdict because Fletcher had to balance incomplete information against the risk of losing ships and crews.

An easy hindsight judgment that Fletcher was simply too cautious ignores the conditions of command. A commander has to act on the information available during the battle rather than on the complete picture assembled afterward. Excessive recklessness could destroy the fleet and kill people whose lives the commander is responsible for. Fletcher's caution should therefore be assessed in context instead of treated as an automatic failure of nerve.