Why a carrier pursuit can proceed below maximum speed

Why would a US carrier force pursue an enemy at less than its apparent maximum speed?

Fuel limits, night-combat risk, and the need to keep a large formation together constrained the pursuit speed.

Fuel concerns and reluctance to force a night action could make an all-out carrier pursuit proceed at a seemingly cautious speed. A carrier force also had to keep numerous escorts and supporting ships together, so one ship's maximum speed did not determine the formation's pace. Fleet coherence set the practical limit: an operational formation moved at a speed its whole force and logistics could sustain.