Mikawa continually asked where American carriers and other forces might be before committing his surface ships. He avoided daylight situations in which carrier aircraft could destroy his force before it reached the flattops. Even so, Eighth Fleet continued bombardment missions and other operations required by the Solomons campaign. Mikawa argued that the theater was a black hole consuming Japanese soldiers, sailors, airmen, aircraft, and ships without adequate strategic return. When the campaign failed, the high command blamed and reassigned an officer who had warned against the commitment. Japan nevertheless needed his experience, and he later served with the Second Southern Expeditionary Fleet in the Philippines and the wider Southwest Area before moving to shore duty after Leyte Gulf and retiring from active service in May 1945.
Chapter · 27:42-30:12
Mikawa calls the Solomons an attritional black hole
Mikawa husbanded scarce ships and opposed a campaign he believed consumed Japanese sailors, soldiers, aircraft, and warships without strategic return.